10 Tips for better candid shots
Posted by Jorge Bernal March 11, 2008
If you like this article, vote for its publishing at JPG Magazine: Candid shots
One of my favorite subjects in photography is people. Not people posing for the shot, but doing what they usually do.
The basic idea of candid photography is to make the photographer invisible in the pictures. I have some tips that might help to go stealth
1. Use Long Lens and Cropping
You should have some long lens at hand if you plan to take sneaky shots of people. But don’t try to take every picture at 200mm. Even with image stabilization, focusing can be quite difficult when people are moving.
You want to find balance here. I have a 6-megapixel camera so I can’t crop too much for JPG Magazine, but less resolution is usually fine for the web. I’ve been uploading pictures to Flickr resized to 1000px for a year.
2. Shoot from a Bar or Restaurant
Taking shots of people in the streets without being noticed can be difficult. Try a coffee with big windows and enjoy your pictures of unaware pedestrians. This is especially useful if the place is dark and the street is well lit.
3. Use High ISO
You want clear images, so you’ll have to use relatively fast shutter speeds. You also don’t want to use flash if you want to stay unnoticed. There isn’t much more to adjust, so push the ISO settings in your camera to 800 or 1600. Of course you will get some noise, but then you can try converting to B/W and see some magic happen.
Don’t obsess with quality. When you are taking pictures of moving subjects in low light conditions there’s no room for studio quality, so forget about it. This is all about capturing the moment, not every detail.
Also, you can bump the exposure afterwards in post processing. I’ve got some nice portraits that way that looked almost black at first.
4. Carry Your Camera Everywhere
You might be thinking about your camera’s weight. I know they can be heavy. I carry a DSLR with a heavy lens almost every day in my backpack. It might not be very comfortable, but sometimes it’s worth the pain. A few weeks ago, some friends called me to go to a free concert just after work. I had my camera with me and I got great pictures there. I might be starting my professional career because of this event.
Also, you can always carry a Point-and-Shoot in your pocket. They are getting really small lately.
5. See Boring Moments As Opportunities
I don’t like shopping: I find it really boring. But last time we went to Camden Market I just forgot about all the shops and used the whole afternoon to take pictures. There is a lot of human interaction in a place like this, and a lot of people. In the case of Camden there are weird people too, so you definitely can get great pictures.
6. Shoot in Museums
Museums are places where I love to shoot. You can find there every kind of people, they are often well lit and you can get great face expressions. Most people will be watching closely the exhibition, so only a few will even notice your presence.
This goes back to the last point. In our last trip to London we went to the British Museum, but I had already been there. So I tried not to complain and use the opportunity to take pictures of people.
7. Use Events in the Streets
If you happen to find someone singing in the street, some band playing, or any other kind of performance it’s a good idea to capture the show. But look around you: there will be people enjoying the moment, with great expressions in their faces to portrait.
8. Try Black and White
Black and white is not a thing of the past. Especially in low light conditions, when you have to push ISO to the maximum, noise can be a problem in color, but in B/W noise can give more emotion to the image. And with digital photography, you can always go back to color if you don’t like it.
9. Watch out for Kids
I’m sure you already knew this one. Cameras love kids. Try to find them in the streets. They are much better in groups, when they are playing. Look for the kid you have inside.
10. Take Pictures of Everything
This is one dirty trick, but it usually works. Take pictures of everything: people, furniture, plants, objects… If everybody sees you doing so they won’t find weird that you take some pictures of them (at least not so weird).
I realized this one in a conference. Since I was taking pictures of everyone -and everything- people just started to ignore me. The other dozen of photographers also helped with that.
Extra tip
As a bonus tip, when you are trying to do all the previous things, avoid having someone by your side taking a picture with flash. It has happened to me.
Remember, if you liked this article, vote for its publishing at JPG Magazine: Candid shots
Also, if you liked the pictures in the post check out my Strangers set on flickr.
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