Candid Photography

I have been the second photographer at quite a few weddings over the past year now and have been commissioned to provide candid images from these wedding by a colleague of mine

So what is candid photography? candid photography is photography that focuses on spontaneity rather than a technique, which focus on events rather than focusing on setting up a staged situation or pre prepaired  camera setup.

Candid photography is best described as un-posed and unplanned. This is in contrast to classic photography, which includes aspects such as carefully staged portrait photography, landscape photography or still life etc. Candid photography catches moments of life as they happen usually of people when the subject is unaware that a photograph is being taken


The images recorded are often private, they involve people in close relation to something they do, or they involve people's relation to each other. Candids are the kinds of pictures taken at children's birthday parties and on Christmas morning, opening the presents or pictures or what a wedding photographer takes at the reception, of people dancing, eating, and socializing with other. I have included some candid images here.These were taken at some of my most recent  weddings over the last couple of months

The shots above were taken from a local wedding which was planned with a fifties style theme. I find shooting this kind of image has to be taken at the "decisive moment" this is the moment when I feel the shot will have the most amount of impact which can be very rewarding. I find the best shots are always taken when your subject is totally unaware that the shot is being taken. These moments tend to be when the subject is just carrying on with their everyday activities and are just acting naturally. Most of my images tend to be taken from a distance where I am not intrusive to my subject. Posed or preplanned images do not possess any of characteristics that a candid image produces and cannot show the spontaneity, humour,fun etc

Henri Cartier Bresson the famous French photographer might be considered as the master in the art of candid photography, capturing the "decisive moment" in everyday life which he recorded in a unique moment in time.I have tried to capture this "unique moment" in my photography shown above at another wedding I photographed recently