5 Ways to Make a Good Candid Photography

Everyone loves candid images, since they truly do freeze a moment in time for us. These moments once past will of course never occur again, and a candid image is thus the closest we will ever get to relive those moments gone by.

Here are a few tips to help you get better at candid photography:

1. Shoot Without Flash

A true candid photographer blends into the background as much as possible. Shooting with flash immediately makes everyone around you aware that you are taking pictures and they need to suddenly get self-conscious and look ‘pretty’ for the camera. Moreover, flashlight can ‘kill’ some facial features, and with them, the emotions they convey.

2. Get as Many Images as You Can

It’s a great idea to shoot on the camera’s burst mode, so you have a selection of images to pick out your most decisive and descriptive image from a lot of say ten of fifteen images. If you are not using flash, this helps with the burst mode as well (no flash recharge time required). Shooting digital, there is no reason for you NOT to take as many images as you can get, in any given situation.

3. Don’t Get In-Your-Face with The Subject

As mentioned in point one, you don’t want to make your subjects self-conscious. A long lens (zoom in as much as you can) ensures you are able to distance yourself from the subject while they are least aware of your presence. Try and find a corner for yourself to get into position, and out of the way.

4. Capture That Decisive Moment

Candid photos should of course capture people in some form of action, for the candid image to to be most effective. NEVER ask anyone to pose for a candid shot – that’s not a candid image at all! Look for situations where people are deep in conversation (maybe a grandparent telling eager grandchildren an interesting story). Wait for the ‘peak’ moment, which photographers refer to as the decisive moment. This is when an action reaches its maximum effectiveness. A decisive moment in a candid image could be a child bursting out into laughter, a person clapping after having witnessed something exciting, a man slipping over a banana peel even! You get the point!

5. Blend In

Shooting candid, you need to become practically invisible, and we cannot stress on this enough. If you own a camera with a swiveling LCD, try and keep the camera at waist level and fire away – this helps your shooting go unnoticed. Moreover, you get some unusual perspectives from unusual angles as well. This works well for candid images and even some tilted images are acceptable.

We’ve just jotted down a few of the important tips to help you get better at candid photography. Remember that spontaneous images are what we need to get a feel of, to become better at candid photography. Try and capture life as it happens around you without having to pose anyone.