Imaginative Arts Journeyman Month 4

 

We've reached one of my favorite topics in photography: How to take beautiful candids. I take and share photos all year long and do you know the ones that get the most response from family and friends? The candids. 

It's no wonder that these are the favorites; seeing people laughing or caught in a beautiful moment or living a joyful life evokes feelings in the viewer. They see themselves in that moment or remember a similar experience or FEEL a bit of the feelings that are captured in the photo. 

The key to candids is being prepared to take a picture. Figure out your lighting, your settings, pay attention to your background and where you want to stand and then let the people do their thing while you unobtrusively take photos of it :) When the light + the action + the emotion are all top notch you'll find that you captured some of your all time favorite photos. 

ASSIGNMENT #1: READ THIS ARTICLE ABOUT CANDID PHOTOGRAPHY

Now all candids don't have to be this action packed, but those are some of my favorites :) 

Another type of candid is what I call the "faux candid." This simply means YOU set up an opportunity to capture people acting naturally ... but it's fake ... but it's not :D For example, asking the person you are taking pictures of to DO something or to INTERACT with others in some way can create a much more interesting photo. In the picture of Melody with her cousin it was easier to ask them to give each other a huge hug then to try to get a non-cheesy/fake, holding-still-smile. A snapshot became a little bit better by turning it into a faux candid. 

I ALWAYS work faux candids into photo sessions and they add a lot of variety so you can capture more than just posed and styled photos. Ask the people in the photo to hug, to laugh, to jump, to walk .... there are so many options! What actions can you add to the list?

ASSIGNMENT #2: Make a list of TEN photo action/interaction prompts you can use when taking photos. Sorry, you don't get to use hug, laugh, jump or walk since I already shared those! 

We'll be sharing our ideas in class. 

ASSIGNMENT #3

Take a GREAT candid photo of someone. Pay attention to your light and composition, we are building on our skills so don't leave those out. 

Before noon on Wednesday email me your BEST photo. If you send me more than one I'll pick the one I think is the best for the slideshow. 

There will be winners and the way to win is to show a photo that had thoughtful/intentional lovely light, solid composition and a great candid. Go for the gold and shoot for having ALL THREE elements in your photos!