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04/16/2009 07:51:39 PM · #1 |
| What are your ideas on "Candid"? To me it pretty much means anything not set up to be taken as a photo. Does this mean it should include people? Pets? Sporting events? accidents both personal and automotive? AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH The choices are endless! What do you think? |
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04/16/2009 07:53:13 PM · #2 |
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04/16/2009 08:30:35 PM · #3 |
| I was trying to work this out, too. From the wiki article, I took it that wildlife and sports weren't candids because you are stalking and anticipating. If the ump and the batter get into an argument, that could be candid because you're not waiting and setting the shot (getting the perfect pitching motion, waiting for the slide into third). |
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04/16/2009 08:46:28 PM · #4 |
In my opinion it just needs to be unscripted. Short and sweet.
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04/16/2009 09:04:29 PM · #5 |
| Would street photography be a subset of candid? |
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04/16/2009 09:12:15 PM · #6 |
| I'll probably enter whichever shot I like best, but I was wondering what people think of eye contact in a candid shot? If eye contact is made during a spontaneous moment, does it make it less candid? |
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04/16/2009 09:47:03 PM · #7 |
Originally posted by Runzamukk:
What are your ideas on "Candid"? To me it pretty much means anything not set up to be taken as a photo. Does this mean it should include people? Pets? Sporting events? accidents both personal and automotive? AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH The choices are endless! What do you think? |
The question of the ages - it's been debated before on other forums.
Here's a simple explanation - any image where the subject is acting naturally and is unaware of the photographer taking the image. Some will try to define this and redefine it to exclude whatever their personal bias leans towards, but that's the simplest definition of candid one can make.
It can be anything - an up close sports shot, a person walking down the street, a dog eating or doing something weird - it's a spur of the moment, one time image that you capture. Don't let anybody tell you that if you are carrying your camera around and you rip one off that it's stalking because that's what good photographers do - stalk good subjects. :>)
Later,
Tom |
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04/16/2009 09:48:02 PM · #8 |
Originally posted by Yo_Spiff:
Would street photography be a subset of candid? |
I think it's the opposite. Candids are a subset of Street photography.
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04/16/2009 09:49:30 PM · #9 |
Originally posted by mindbottling:
I'll probably enter whichever shot I like best, but I was wondering what people think of eye contact in a candid shot? If eye contact is made during a spontaneous moment, does it make it less candid? |
In the eyes of the voters? Probably. In my experience voters rarely give the photographer the benefit of the doubt especially in challenges like this where the voter is likely to have a strong opinion in regards to the topic. That said, if you like the photo and don't care that much about the potential of a low score by all means enter it.
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04/16/2009 09:51:02 PM · #10 |
Originally posted by vawendy:
I was trying to work this out, too. From the wiki article, I took it that wildlife and sports weren't candids because you are stalking and anticipating. If the ump and the batter get into an argument, that could be candid because you're not waiting and setting the shot (getting the perfect pitching motion, waiting for the slide into third). |
Yeah - I read that and it's the dumbest thing I've ever read.
If you are carrying a camera with the intention of capturing an unanticipated, unstaged and unscripted image, you are stalking and it doesn't matter if it's a wolf eating an elk or an umpire and batter spitting in each other's faces.
Later,
Tom |
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04/16/2009 09:51:58 PM · #11 |
Originally posted by Yo_Spiff:
Would street photography be a subset of candid? |
It is the essence of candid.
Later,
Tom |
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04/16/2009 10:08:50 PM · #12 |
Originally posted by neophyte:
Originally posted by Yo_Spiff:
Would street photography be a subset of candid? |
I think it's the opposite. Candids are a subset of Street photography. |
you are both right (or wrong :)) Mathematically speaking, they are two partially overlapping sets.
Candids usually strongly convey emotive human presence, and they should not be set up (although there are examples when even famous photographers set up fake "candid" shots). That said, a candid may be shot, for example, in a studio between properly set "studio shots". A street photo, on the other hand, can be devoid (or almost devoid) of a human element, and be mostly about light and/or composition.
Message edited by author 2009-04-16 22:41:02. |
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04/16/2009 10:09:34 PM · #13 |
Originally posted by Teafran:
Originally posted by vawendy:
I was trying to work this out, too. From the wiki article, I took it that wildlife and sports weren't candids because you are stalking and anticipating. If the ump and the batter get into an argument, that could be candid because you're not waiting and setting the shot (getting the perfect pitching motion, waiting for the slide into third). |
Yeah - I read that and it's the dumbest thing I've ever read.
If you are carrying a camera with the intention of capturing an unanticipated, unstaged and unscripted image, you are stalking and it doesn't matter if it's a wolf eating an elk or an umpire and batter spitting in each other's faces.
Later,
Tom |
I see what you're saying, but I think that they're trying to say that you can make the shot happen with patience and time. If you wait out the game, you'll get a sliding shot, if you wait out the bird, you'll get the flying shot. I think candids are capturing the unexpected, spontaneous. If you've been waiting the whole game for the sliding shot, it's certainly not spontaneous. |
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04/16/2009 10:14:28 PM · #14 |
| Thanks for the wiki link. I had been there. I also visited a few other sights and the variety was even larger than the descriptions on this forum. All the examples actually made the decision making more difficult! At this point I think I shall keep camera handy, hope the batteries are charged, take a bunch of shots and enter the one I like best without regards to an "exact definition" of candid and see if I can at least maintain my current average of 4. lol |
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04/16/2009 10:21:04 PM · #15 |
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04/17/2009 10:30:45 PM · #16 |
Originally posted by mindbottling:
I'll probably enter whichever shot I like best, but I was wondering what people think of eye contact in a candid shot? If eye contact is made during a spontaneous moment, does it make it less candid? |
I think the spontaneity is the key. A spontaneous moment with eye contact is no less of a candid. It's still a "moment" captured. |
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04/17/2009 10:50:49 PM · #17 |
| I noticed that 8 of the 12 ribbon winners in the 1st 4 Candid challenges have been B&W or duotone. Is this coincidence or is B&W more suited for candid as is often the case with street photography? |
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04/17/2009 11:43:49 PM · #18 |
I had to do some digging, but I found a post of mine from a couple years ago on this subject. These are my feelings, and are things I take into consideration while voting on Candid challenges:
To me a candid shot is a shot of a person, unaware that they're being photographed, going about their daily routine in such a way that they would not expect that they were being photographed.
Therefore, the following items do NOT qualify as being candid:
1. People who are looking straight at the camera, and are posing for it. Seems obvious enough, but every other Candid challenge has featured several of these.
2. Young children. Yeah, sure they don't know they're being photographed, but they also don't know they shouldn't be eating paste. This is a cop-out. Step out of the comfort zone!
3. Pets. Similar to photographing young children. Pets have no clue what a camera is. ANY shot of a pet is, by nature "candid," because they don't know any better. Simply put, if the subject is incapable of posing, they can't be the subject of a "candid" shot. And please don't tell me your pet knows how to pose.
4. Performers. This covers anyone who is on a stage, or playing a sport. They all have some degree of expectation that they could be photographed while doing these things. Again, get out of the comfort zone!
5. This should be obvious, but inanimate objects are NOT possibly the subjects of a candid photo! One previous challenge featured a "candid" shot of a set of pottery for heaven's sake! Oh, and let's not forget a couple "candid" shots of the moon that have crept in there, too.
6. People who are asleep, in a coma, or otherwise incapacitated. 'Nuff said. |
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04/18/2009 12:24:41 AM · #19 |
Originally posted by alanfreed:
I had to do some digging, but I found a post of mine from a couple years ago on this subject. These are my feelings, and are things I take into consideration while voting on Candid challenges:
To me a candid shot is a shot of a person, unaware that they're being photographed, going about their daily routine in such a way that they would not expect that they were being photographed.
Therefore, the following items do NOT qualify as being candid:
1. People who are looking straight at the camera, and are posing for it. Seems obvious enough, but every other Candid challenge has featured several of these.
2. Young children. Yeah, sure they don't know they're being photographed, but they also don't know they shouldn't be eating paste. This is a cop-out. Step out of the comfort zone!
3. Pets. Similar to photographing young children. Pets have no clue what a camera is. ANY shot of a pet is, by nature "candid," because they don't know any better. Simply put, if the subject is incapable of posing, they can't be the subject of a "candid" shot. And please don't tell me your pet knows how to pose.
4. Performers. This covers anyone who is on a stage, or playing a sport. They all have some degree of expectation that they could be photographed while doing these things. Again, get out of the comfort zone!
5. This should be obvious, but inanimate objects are NOT possibly the subjects of a candid photo! One previous challenge featured a "candid" shot of a set of pottery for heaven's sake! Oh, and let's not forget a couple "candid" shots of the moon that have crept in there, too.
6. People who are asleep, in a coma, or otherwise incapacitated. 'Nuff said. |
LOL. You sure this wasn't just your list of what you don't like and not so much what is or isn't candid? Number 2 in particular is like a film photographer saying to the digital photographer, chimping is a cop-out so put down the digital camera and shoot film. :P
ETA: Not that I necessarily disagree with your cop-outs.
Message edited by author 2009-04-18 00:26:52.
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04/18/2009 01:11:42 AM · #20 |
Originally posted by alanfreed:
I had to do some digging, but I found a post of mine from a couple years ago on this subject. These are my feelings, and are things I take into consideration while voting on Candid challenges:
To me a candid shot is a shot of a person, unaware that they're being photographed, going about their daily routine in such a way that they would not expect that they were being photographed.
Therefore, the following items do NOT qualify as being candid:
1. People who are looking straight at the camera, and are posing for it. Seems obvious enough, but every other Candid challenge has featured several of these.
2. Young children. Yeah, sure they don't know they're being photographed, but they also don't know they shouldn't be eating paste. This is a cop-out. Step out of the comfort zone!
3. Pets. Similar to photographing young children. Pets have no clue what a camera is. ANY shot of a pet is, by nature "candid," because they don't know any better. Simply put, if the subject is incapable of posing, they can't be the subject of a "candid" shot. And please don't tell me your pet knows how to pose.
4. Performers. This covers anyone who is on a stage, or playing a sport. They all have some degree of expectation that they could be photographed while doing these things. Again, get out of the comfort zone!
5. This should be obvious, but inanimate objects are NOT possibly the subjects of a candid photo! One previous challenge featured a "candid" shot of a set of pottery for heaven's sake! Oh, and let's not forget a couple "candid" shots of the moon that have crept in there, too.
6. People who are asleep, in a coma, or otherwise incapacitated. 'Nuff said. |
Please, young children are more difficult to shoot candidly than this suggests. More often than not they know exactly what you're doing and ham it up for the camera so bad, you have to resort to ninja tactics. This is something I've encountered in children as young as 6 - 8 months old.
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04/18/2009 01:13:03 AM · #21 |
Looking at the high scores of previous challenges it seem that candids are a subset not of street photography, but of black and white photography.
Too bad about the eye contact rule, or I would have thought that this was a very good candid
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04/18/2009 01:23:36 AM · #22 |
Originally posted by BrennanOB:
Looking at the high scores of previous challenges it seem that candids are a subset not of street photography, but of black and white photography.
Too bad about the eye contact rule, or I would have thought that this was a very good candid
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I don't know why someone needs 'no eye-contact' in their definition of Candid, but that shot clearly stands as a candid. Just because a person in a scene you're shooting candidly happens to make eye-contact with you at the moment of shutter firing, doesn't nullify it. As has been mentioned already in this thread.
Edit-to-Subtract what could have been considered a personal attack
Message edited by author 2009-04-18 01:24:28. |
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04/18/2009 09:14:16 AM · #23 |
Originally posted by alanfreed:
I had to do some digging, but I found a post of mine from a couple years ago on this subject. These are my feelings, and are things I take into consideration while voting on Candid challenges... |
As always, I defend anyone's right to their own definition but I think I'll stick with Webster's simple definition: "relating to or being photography of subjects acting naturally or spontaneously without being posed". Adding a bunch of qualifiers seems to just stifle the creativity.
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04/18/2009 10:47:14 AM · #24 |
Like I had said, these are the things I take into consideration while I'm voting. When I see a candid shot of a 2-year-old, it says to me that the person who took the shot took one of the easiest possible solutions to meeting the challenge, and I vote accordingly. There have admittedly been some really good candid shots of kids in the past, and there have been others where the kids were cop-out entries. In my opinion, this is a challenge that encourages people to step out of the comfort zone.
Originally posted by yanko:
LOL. You sure this wasn't just your list of what you don't like and not so much what is or isn't candid? Number 2 in particular is like a film photographer saying to the digital photographer, chimping is a cop-out so put down the digital camera and shoot film. :P |
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04/18/2009 10:52:28 AM · #25 |
Originally posted by alanfreed:
In my opinion, this is a challenge that encourages people to step out of the comfort zone. |
Where do read that in the challenge description details?
"Take your camera with you everywhere this week and capture a candid moment."
Message edited by author 2009-04-18 11:09:11. |
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