Candid photography is a nice genre for people who prefer spontaneous, natural and sincere scenes.
It’s important for every photographer to know how to take good candid pictures because it will help you to improve your skills in any genres.
Now you can learn everything about candid photos and gear that is necessary for these pictures.
We will share different recommendations and ideas on capturing interesting scenes and emotions. Some ideas you can find on stock video footage where a lot of photographers present their works.
What does candid photography look like?
In this genre you shoot unstaged things and people who don’t pose for professional pictures.
It helps to catch sincere and natural emotions and funny moments.
A photographer should recognize the perfect moment to take a shot. At the same time, it’s not necessary that models don’t know they are objects of shooting.
But it’s important to maintain sincere interactions without posing.
The relation of candid photography with other genres
If you like this type of photos, you can work in different genres. First of all, candid photography is related to street photography.
You can shoot your models naturally while they go about their business. It’s related to portraits as well. Sometimes people call it lifestyle photography.
Candid genre is used in wedding shots, family photography and other genres where the emotions are really important.
The right equipment
If you want to download your works on royalty free stock images, you will have to take care about the proper equipment. The advantage of this genre is that you can use any high-quality gear to get the best results.
For example, mobile photography is suitable for these pictures. If you can afford a new equipment, pay attention to DSLR camera with several lenses.
Buy a 50mm fixed lens so that you can shoot with a wide range of apertures. If you want to take pictures of the objects that are far away, use lens 70-200 mm.
The tips for original candid photos
If you want to download your results to video stock footage and share them with other photographers, follow these recommendations and use some ideas for candid pictures.
- Pay attention to shutter speed priority mode. If you shoot people, you will have to use fast shutter speeds. It will be difficult even to an experienced photographer to choose the right settings in a manual mode because they need to take a shot as fast as possible. That’s why it’s worth to choose a shutter speed priority mode that will help you to choose different settings automatically. It may not bring precise exposure, but you can adjust different settings a bit later, no need to sacrifice the best shots you can take.
- Use intentional motion blur. Candid photography doesn’t always require sharp and precise images. There are a lot of kinds of wonderful candid pictures where you can see the contrast of a blurred subject with sharp surroundings and background. You can try slower shutter speeds that will help to add a lot of life and dynamic in your works. As a result, your subject will be blurred but the background will be sharp enough. Pay attention that you will have to stabilize your camera for long exposure photos because you can’t keep your gear steady for a second. If you don’t do that, not only the main subject, but also surroundings will be blurred.
- Try specific locations. There are a lot of locations that will give you interesting subjects in urban conditions. You can go to a train station, a marketplace, visit different parties and walk on the city streets during daylight. There you will find busy people who are the perfect subjects for natural candid photos.
- Be movable and change the angles. A good candid photographer should be careful. You will have to be as discreet as possible to help models to keep their natural expression without posing. If you work with a prime or a fixed lens, don’t forget to change your position often. If you shoot from the one angle all the time, your models will feel awkward and uncomfortable, the candid effect will be ruined for sure. That’s why move constantly in order not to disturb your subjects.
- Be moderate using the flash. An external light source is good for people who shoot at night. But when it comes to candid genre, you should be careful when you use the flash. It may disturb your models or they will notice you if they don’t know they are your models. Moreover, a built-in flash and a speedlight in your equipment may lead to unattractive shadows or to a big contrast when you shoot portraits. If you want to add some light to a scene, use an external flash with a light stand, also you can use a diffuser that it’s easy to create at home. Place these things in the background if you have time for these actions (it suits for family candid pictures).
- Use contrast and details to make the pictures interesting. Sometimes it’s hard to create something unique and original. But you have a lot of ways to make you candid photos splendid and eye-catching. When you look for the perfect location, bear in mind it should be surrounded with interesting details, don’t forget about contrast. A person you are going to shoot wears something flamboyant? Then you can create a contrasting background (for example, a black one for white clothes). Catch some outstanding details you could use in your frame.
The conclusions
Candid photography is an original and a little sentimental genre that any photographer will like. Now it’s hard to underestimate its meaning and influence on many other genres that are popular today.
A skill to take sincere, playful and cheerful pictures will be useful for any photographer who wants to work with portraits or street photography.
Once you learn how to take candid pictures, you can share your results with other photographers on stock clips websites.
That way you can find new interesting projects that will help you to make money and to become a well-known professional.
