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26.01.09
How to shoot candids
Words by Simon Armstrong
Street photography, of which candids make up a large part, is the most accessible way of shooting people. It’s also the most daunting. Sure, there’s no expensive studio, complex lighting or posing problems to worry about, but it’s intense, possibly confrontational and often cold and wet.
But by using a little common sense and following a few simple rules you can avoid the potential problems and enjoy the buzz you get from this style of photography.
People are just like electrons. As any self-respecting quantum physicist will tell you, the act of observing an experiment has an effect on its outcome. Similarly the act of pointing a camera at someone changes them. Get spotted and you won’t get a picture that reveals anything of your subject’s true self or their involvement in a given situation. What you get is a picture of a person having their picture taken. Yawn. Plus, in the time you take trying to convince someone to let you take their picture you could miss a much better one.
Many of the shots you’ll be taking will be of people on the move, so it’s worthwhile setting up your camera before you leave the house.
To make sure you freeze the action, shoot in shutter-priority mode and keep the shutter speed at least twice the focal length of the long end of the lens in use. Set your drive and AF modes to continuous and the metering mode to evaluative or centre-weighted. Avoid spot metering as you run the risk of letting the exposure be skewed by the guy’s white shirt or the woman’s black dress you’re focusing on.
ISO is something you’re going to have to sort out when you get to your chosen location. It depends on the lighting conditions you find yourself in. Ideally, you want to set it so the aperture is no wider than f/5.6 when you’re shooting into an area of heavy shadow. Don’t be scared to crank up the ISO. I shoot with it set to 800 as it’s much easier to reduce the noise later with software such as Noise Ninja than it is to correct softness because your shutter speed was too slow or the depth-of-field too shallow. And always, always, always shoot Raw.
The main reason for shooting Raw is that you’re going to be in a situation where you have very little control. The street will have areas of bright sunlight, heavy shadow and everything in between. You have no idea where you’re going to be pointing your camera next. The only thing you know for certain is that you’ll never get the opportunity to take that photograph again. But shoot Raw and you can, to a certain degree, go back and have a second bite at the cherry. You can improve an image or save one that, if you’d shot JPEG, you’d just have to throw away.
The last thing to do is turn off the LCD screen on the back of the camera. Why? Because you always want to be looking for your next shot, not looking at your last one. Right, grab a fist full of memory cards, a spare battery, and let’s go.
Ideally you want somewhere busy that will offer up enough interesting people and situations without being so busy that you can’t get a clear shot of the person you want.
What’s the most frustrating thing about shooting people on the street? All the other people who get in the way. Try and shoot with the flow, not across it. Your chances of success will be greatly decreased if you have to wait for people to walk through the frame before you can get your shot.
Places where people tend to meet are a good bet. If you see someone standing checking their mobile and their watch, get ready for the moment the person that’s late to meet them arrives.
Early morning is a great time to shoot. The light can be truly magical and shooting into it can produce incredibly strong graphic images. Also, people tend to be less aware of their surroundings… and you. They’re more inwardly focused, perhaps with their minds on the day ahead. You get people just waiting around, killing time before
the shops open or grabbing a quick fag before work. All good stuff.
Don’t worry that you’re doing anything wrong. You’re perfectly within your rights to shoot whoever you want in a public space, and this does include children. While they are not given any special protection by law, you should always be incredibly sensitive to the situation when photographing them. If you feel nervous about photographing kids don’t do it. Your body language and your attitude will probably be what lands you in trouble. Being furtive and sneaky will only invite suspicion and confrontation. Remember, while you’re looking through the viewfinder at someone, someone is looking at you.
If someone sees you taking their picture simply raising a hand in thanks or a courteous nod can be all it takes to put them at ease. If they ask what you’re doing tell them. Chances are they won’t be angry, just interested. If they ask to see the picture you’ve taken, show them. You’ll find it’s really helpful to print up some cards which have one of your favourite pictures and your contact details on; a phone number, email or web address. You can offer this to them and suggest they get in touch so you can send them their picture. I’ve found that being open and honest like this will ensure you gain respect as a serious photographer, not just some voyeur with a camera. Nine times out of 10 they’ll take your card but never get in touch.
There are amazing stories being played out around us all the time and all you have to do to capture them is be there. So grab your camera and give candid street photography a go. I’ll tell you quite openly, shooting candidly is a real blast.
KIT BAG
Hands up if you chose your camera specifically to shoot candid street images? I don’t think there will be many, if any, of you with your hands in the air right now, but not to worry, you don’t need a Canon EOS-1D MkIII and a 400mm f/2.8 to bring home some cracking shots. What you do need to do is set up your camera to give you the very best chance to bring home as many keepers as possible.
All the images you see here were shot with my Canon EOS 5D (a very sedate three frames-per-second) and a Sigma 100-300mm f/4 lens. I’ve tried shooting with a 70-200mm lens, but find I always want the extra reach the 300mm gives me. The further away you are from your subject the less chance you’ll be spotted. Saying that if your body has a cropped sensor a 70-200mm will fit the bill.
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