Thought i'd kickstart a bit of discussion about what is and is not Candid photography so i can clarify what the term means to me. I often have quite shaky notions about this stuff and, like my recent views on what is a portrait, often learn a lot from others to the point of completely re-defining what those notions are. I'll just cut and paste some thoughts from another thread .
Originally posted by clive_patric_nolan:
Originally posted by PennyStreet:
what makes a good candid? |
It's a good question and one which i'm sure will be debated after the challenge. For me for a photograph to be candid the subject must not be reacting to the camera, once a subject does that it is no longer candid in my opinion. Thats not the same as not looking at the camera though, as that split second between noticing the camera and reacting to it often produces great candids. I think the key to it is to bypass a subjects inherent knowledge of what a camera does but that inherent knowledge is important. This is why i don't particularly think you can have candid animal shots as whilst they can look at a camera and react to being watched, they are not reacting to what a camera does. Also, i don't really think that you can have candid images of people on stage etc as they are already aware of being watched. All this is just my opinion on it though! |
Not sure i agree with some of that now after thinking about some of Steves thoughts on the matter...
Originally posted by pawdrix:
I define candid as being the opposite of formal. Some actions don't fall into the category of formal OR informal, if you can see the difference. Such as, hammering nails or throwing a ball are actions that many people wouldn't consider being a candid moment. I know based on previous Challenges that some people consider a person sleeping as being candid BUT I would have a tough time saying that a person that's asleep, is being "informal".
I'd say that's a very Candid Portrait. Even though he was quite aware of my camera, his reaction was genuine, informal and the camera while present, wasn't what he was communicating to. It was an honest unguarded moment. |
I can see what Steve means by an 'honest unguarded moment' here.
Message edited by author 2010-01-06 14:47:26. |
