Who doesn’t want to capture some fun and surprising photos of their friends? I love it. I’m sure you are too. Candid photography is my favorite genre as it liberates you from getting your subject ready, teaching them shooting poses, arranging the background, etc.
The whole point of candid photography is to record untold and spontaneous moments of people. Candid photography can be of immense help in understanding the person from different angles.
Some Tips for Candid Photography
However, you need to get in touch with amazingly common tricks to capture memorable candid moments of your friends:
1. Explore Candid Photos Online
Search online for available candid photos to have an idea about how candid photos are taken. Observing already published candid photos would broaden your vision as to what angles, light exposure, shooting modes, and equipment give the best shots.
2. Simple Tips to Keep Candid Shots Silent
An easily usable machine is one of the main keys to having near-perfect candid images. Make shooting invisible to capture the best candid moments. Prefer a lightweight small camera that does the job almost quietly.
Also, you can do some simple modifications by yourself like keeping the camera lens cap removed and turning off the flash so that your friends may not lose the momentum of being natural if they hear flash noise or see you setting the camera.
3. Chose Special Occasions
Although every moment spent with friends is a special one, it would be better to choose special occasions for candid shooting such as birthday parties, farewell parties leaving high school, or weddings. Special events bring the utmost excitement out of you and your friends.
That’s why, such times are great to make some candid memories while offering a toast at weddings, or recording some fun moments after you received a high school degree.
4. Observe when your friends are most absorbed in the Moment
You know your friends. Rights? That’s why they are your friends. You would have noticed that some of them are very much expressive, laugh loudly, and act careless whereas others may have a shy nature, particularly when it comes to shooting.
You got to have sufficient knowledge of how your friends react if they see you taking their pictures. Also, you would have to be a little careful as you won’t want to miss anyone of them just because of their shyness.
This is the reason that knowing your friends concerning photos can help you take some amazing and memorable candid images.
5. Use Burst Mode/Collages
Burst shooting mode provides you the opportunity to capture as many images as you want. It is particularly helpful if your friends are in a moving condition. The burst mode will capture each of your friends’ movements and you can sort those images later as to what to keep and what to delete.
You can combine these photos into collages, one particular event or part of it in one collage. Nikon and Canon cameras have been at the top for taking candid photos.
6. Use Zoom
Zoom-in would help shoot from a distance. The zoom feature is particularly helpful to capture the candid expressions of your shy friends as they won’t be able to notice you carrying the camera immediately.
A precise zoom lens is also helpful to capture close-up shots. It enables you to take shots without moving closer to your friends. A 50mm lens is good to go for this purpose.
7. Do Not Let Your Friends Know That You Are Taking Photos
Try to capture candid expressions silently otherwise the whole point of this genre will be lost. It does not mean that you entirely keep your friends unaware of your intentions. Rather, you discuss it well before with your friends and ask for their permission to do so. So you need to seek their consent every time take out your camera.
Your friends do know that you are going to make their images but are unaware of the exact moments until they saw the results.
8. Using Filters
Filters have become popular in all kinds of photography today. They can be utilized in candid photography as well. You can generate different effects using filters such as vintage, black & white, autumn, etc. Also, you can enhance the feel of candid expressions of your friends by combining filters with portrait photos.
9. Capturing the Details
Shooting details such as the rings, watches, bow ties, eyes, books, coffee cups, etc. give a start to candid photography. I love capturing details while shooting my friends around.
If you do not have any previous in candid photography, then you can start by focusing face, hands, and eyes which are the most expressive feature of a human being. Similarly, you can combine all those close-up shots in one frame to convey a powerful message to any of your friends.
An awesome close-up would be the one where your friends would be facing the sun and you zoom into their faces for shooting. Their expressions would be greatly enhanced by the touch of sunlight, especially in winter.
10. Move Around to Get A Comprehensive Shot
Try to make candid shots comprehensive. It won’t be impressive if you make all the photos from just one angle or perspective. Make your effort count. Get up and randomly move around your friends. You can take an angle from their backs and take shots while they are turning their heads to the sides or dancing around. This way you can capture them the way they naturally move.
11. Looking for Contrast
As far as candid photography is concerned, contrast is not necessary but the naturalness of your friends. However, just look around and see if there is any contrast for your candid shots as it would make your photos look even better.
12. Let Your Friends Be Themselves
A photographer should be the observer. It becomes more important when you are shooting your friends’ most candid moments. Make your friends comfortable and let them be expressive. Do not try to teach them any angles, poses, or perspectives otherwise your candid shots won’t look candid at all.
Being candid is being one’s true self and capturing that self as it is, is what candid photography is all about. So make sure, you do not interrupt the emotions of your friends in any way especially while shooting.
Conclusion
Candid photography is full of fun. In the age of smartphones, every one of you would have been involved in taking candid photos of your friends on different occasions. It is a nice way to show your friends some of the amazing aspects of their personalities. Candid photos can be used to make people realize what they look like during sad and happy moments.
However, it is good if you do it with proper permission, practice, and sufficient equipment as these elements would make your shots priceless.