Recently I’ve been talking about candid photography with a couple of people (Fil and Tim) and they inspired me to blog about it. It’s something I’ve been doing for a while now and I’m quite used to it, but I remember way back when I bought my first camera and I would wander about London trying to get shots of people and ended up getting shouted at most of the time which wasn’t much fun, so I thought I would post up a few tips about how to get good candid shots (and avoid being shouted at or beat up…hopefully).
Candid photos are probably one of the most difficult kinds of photos to get. If you ask someone’s permission it becomes a portrait and you lose some of the natural value, so you have to get a photo without the subject being aware of what’s going on. A lot of the time you can get photos unnoticed, but of someone does see you, just smile, acknowledge them and hope they aren’t going to get angry. If someone sees you and you turn and get out of there, it looks dodgy and trouble could ensue. There are several techniques for increasing your chances of avoiding these situations though:
Using a telephoto lens
First off, perhaps the easiest, but not my personal favourite; using a long telephoto lens. If you aren’t confident in getting close to people, it’s easiest to photograph them from far away with a long lens. This way you are more likely to avoid getting seen, you maybe have a bit more time to think about what you are doing as you are removed from the subject and if you get the shot right, you can get a nice bit of background blur. On the downside, someone or something could get in between you and your subject and if you aren’t far enough away, you have a lot less space to frame your shot. Here’s a couple of shots I took with my 80-200mm lens.
Wide and close without using the viewfinder
One of my favourite techniques is getting up close to people and shooting them with a wide angle lens. In these situations it can sometimes be hard to be subtle if you are bringing your camera up to your face and rattling off shots, so sometimes it’s good not to use your viewfinder and just hold your camera at waist level, open the lens up wide and snap a few shots. With a wide angle lens you get a lot into your shot. If you use autofocus in these shots you can sometimes get focus nowhere near where you want, so manual focus comes in handy.
For example, sitting down to eat, hold your camera just above table level and shoot other people nearby.
On the train, holding the camera right up close to people, if they are engrossed in something else they hardly notice you. If you crouched down in front of them and held the camera to your face you’d probably be arrested, but when it’s hanging at your waist, finger on the shutter release, lots of noise on the train to muffle shutter sounds (pulling in and out of stations is a good time) and you can get some nice snaps without being noticed.
If you can get something interesting in the foreground it also adds something to the image. Here’s one from a temple in Hong Kong.
Even sometimes for street shots you can get good moving images of people by holding the camera down at waist level, having the focus pre-set and move your body along with the movement of the people you are photographing and snap off a few shots of them in movement. Here you can get some nice low angles which gives a great perspective for your shots as well.
Shooting wide with the viewfinder
In these circumstances it’s good to get the focus on something nearby you, but look as if you are focusing your attention more in the distance. If you are staring at the guy sitting next to you and bring your camera to your face you are probably going to get in trouble, but with a wide lens you can look a meter or so in front of the subject and still focus on the person without them really being aware of it.
In a crowded situation you can just pick out a spot in the crowd you want to focus, look further away from the people who will be in shot and you get a nice image of people walking past mostly ignoring you. Even if someone does look at you, it can add a bit of personality to your shot.
Anticipating the shot
Sometimes the best shots are the ones you see coming and can line up. Someone standing still, someone coming towards you, someone engaged in doing something that keeps their attention off you. Here you have a bit more time to move if you need to, think about composition etc and you can get some good results.
In this shot I was just amazed by the amount of bicycles parked around and waited for someone to come along and park.
In this shot in a temple in Tokyo (sensoji) I liked the fountain decorations, thought they would be a good focus point and waited for someone to come along in the background.
Being in the right place at the right time
Sometimes a lot of candid photography boils down to the pure luck of being in the right place at the right time. Something interesting pops up in front of your eyes and you are there for the shot.
…Or photographing people who are ridiculously drunk
OK, if none of my above advice works, just find someone who is ridiculously drunk and won’t notice you are taking their photo. I found this guy on the Hibiya line at Akihabara station the other night whilst I was on my way home. Hundreds of people saw me kneeling down in front of the guy and snapping away furiously, but luckily most people had had a few drinks and no-one really cared…only in Japan.
17 Comments
I’ve always wondered how you got such good candid shots in busy public places! Excellent insight and I had to laugh at the all-else-fails shot at the end. Classic Tokyo.
Great article sir! I have a similar photo from a Hong Kong temple. Might even be from the same place.
Getting the candid photos is a constant battle
Hey Goran, the temple shot was taken in man Mo temple, the one that had one room full of incense coils hanging from the ceiling, really loved it there, great for photos. I did a blog a while back on that temple.
Hello dear Will, first of all sorry i don’t come enough at your place, I’m busy plus i browse on Aminus3 first, but here i am now and i read with interest your topic of the day which talks to me so much since it’s my fav. I did by instinct all you said, tele-lens, many “hip-shots” with wide angle, now that i use mostly my 35mm digital lens with no wide angle, the challenge is even more exciting : getting these candid using the viewfinder and coming the closer as possible. Ha ! that’s a deal
But i love so much more now to come closer to the subject than i did when using my tele-lens… You can look at this one : no wide-angle (but i tested the space before), my camera over my knee in the metro, and i pushed the excitment for me to wait till that superb man looks right in the camera (he was so full of doubts, my finger over the shutter but my eyes turned not at him – even if i saw him 
.Et voilà : http://karinian.aminus3.com/image/2009-09-12.html
Love your blog and how we can share here (if i had more time, i would do that more, I’ll try….) Have a very nice day and many thanks for your very appreciated visits too, dear Will (love your metro pix and the drunk guy’s is a killer : the photo, i mean
Hi K@, thanks for the long comment. I really loved your candid shot of the man on the metro and the stories of how your candid shots have progressed over time. It is a joy to get the good ones after so much trial and error.
Great article and wonderfull pictures
Superb article and great shots. I find the waist level approach to be very rewarding and I shoot lower too. Would recommend people into shooting candid explore the idea of medium format if they are into film, with a waist level finder. Or one of the right angle finders for dslrs. But the whole zone-focusing method with a wide lens is such good fun too.
These are great tips that I’ll have to try sometime! I’m glad I inspired this post too!
What a superb series of candid shots! Well done indeed!
Stunning images as always Will, especially like the girls in the traditional clothing, so beautiful. Excellent street photos, what a fascinating place to live. The last one is very sad to see. One amazing thing is how well dressed he is.
Thanks for the comments everyone.
Alfie, the right angle finders for dslrs are nice, don’t have one myself, but always thought they would be good, especially for product shoots as well.
John, the last pic is of a young drunken salaryman, it’s actually not that uncommon a sight here. Young or old, lots of people can’t hold their booze here, you often see them lying on train floors or streets completely out of it. Luckily crime is fairly low here and they mostly get home with all their belongings.
Interesting tips. The wide angle and long zoom are my favourite approaches. I always wonder why the discussion about people getting angry etc. Something that I haven’t experienced to date … maybe I am just lucky. In general I believe that when I take pictures in public places not much can happen or should happen. Public is public. Best places would then be tourist type places, so many cameras – no-one notices. And the places normally abounds with interesting characters.
Anyhow, I liked reading and seeing your contributions of candic photography.
It’s beautiful series, I like the light and the composition. Très réussi.
A superb series Will. Candids are an area I’ve deifinitely had problems with.
love the site mate~ last pic is so japan so epic!
Will, great examples here to illustrate your very valid and useful points. I particularly like the photos from the eateries – Korea(?) and the kaitenzushi shop. Good stuff.
Cheers -
Norbert
Hi Norbert,
Thanks for the comment and the reply on your blog. Yes, you are right, the eatery is in Korea, you have a keen eye, something that no doubt comes from your extensive travels.