Can·did (k
n
d
d)adj.
1. Free from prejudice; impartial.
2. Characterized by openness and sincerity of expression; unreservedly straightforward: In private, I gave them my candid opinion.
3. Not posed or rehearsed: a candid snapshot.
n.
An unposed informal photograph.
Photographers
Henri Cartier Bresson
Bresson is a French photographer who is often called the father of modern photojournalism.
These images all show great emotion, the composition or the way the subject just catches the cameras lens adds to this feeling.
Robert Frank
These images show people going abou their everyday lives they are not arranged or posed they just show people going about their everyday lives. They capture the mundane and the normal and make them into something more interesting.
Paul Strand
These images are taken as portraits. Time has been taken to ensure that these images are captured as true portraits without the subject actually posing for them.
Alfred Stieglitz
These images capture everyday life again. However time has been taken to ensure the image is captured just the way the photographer wants. With people being crammed into small spaces time was taken to ensure there is action in each part of the photo frame.
My plans for candid - Including evaluations
While researching candid photography i decided to split my photographs into 4 sections with 2 photos for each section giving me 8 total photographs. I wanted these images to best represent the human condition in todays society so i thought of what 4 core feelings, emotions, actions or reactions best portray the human condition in todays society. I also decided that social status should in some way play a part in this.
1 - Acts of selflessness or bravery.
For this section i looked at what makes people risk there own lives to save others. Or what makes people dedicate there lives to looking out for other people. At first i looked at soliders, but i felt this was too obvious and without being able to take pictures in a combat zone it wasn't really possible to show heroism at its fullest extent.
Although i liked these images i felt that they didn't quite convey the right message about heroism. I hadn't captured the act of heroism, i had captured the heroes returning.
Next i went to watch the Great Manchester Swim and while there i noticed there must have been at least 100+ life guards in the Keys making sure no one got into trouble. I knew it would only be a matter of time before they were called upon to act, so i waited. I was then able to catch a lifeguard dropping his lunch and heading to help a lady who had almost drowned.
Below is my final image, i decided to use the image where the lifeguard sees or hears on his radio that there is a woman coming in who needs assistance. I believe i captured the moment in his mind where he realises he will have to stop eating and get to work. The image below shows them assisting the woman out of the boat and attending to any medical needs she may have.
I chose to use a diptic to present the image as i felt the two images need to complement each other so you can clearly see the link between the two.
2 Love and Support.
The next core emotion i decided to look at was love and support. Everyone has someone who will always be there to love and support them so i wanted some images to represent this. While at the great Manchester swim i knew i would be able to capture these images.
Contact sheet above
While at the swim i decided to look at the starting line for people showing outward signs of support. They were not hard to find. I managed to see a little girl who had come to support her Dad mixed in with the crowd so i decided that she would be a part of my first image. She is holding a sign saying go Daddy go surrounded by love hearts. In the next image i decided to show the start of the race showing what the little girl was supporting. I felt without the image of the race it was unclear just what the first image was about. It was a competition but without a clear picture it made the images appear a little hollow. So the race image was added.
I chose to use a diptic to present the image as i felt the two images need to complement each other so you can clearly see the link between the two.
3 - Young and Old
Even though age is only a number it does affect the way we interact with the world around us. Here i wanted to take pictures of the way young and older people interact with their local village. I decided to take these pictures in Wells. Wells is a very tight knit community and it seems that most people know each other and tourists are very easy to spot. There are many tourists in Wells as it is a town known for its beauty as well as its huge cathedral. It has also gotten international fame as the village where the movie Hot Fuzz was filmed.
Locals were easy to spot but where few and far between. I found a group of young lads with a audience of girls watching them play guitar and sing. I decided to focus on those playing and singing and having a good time. It seemed as if they did this every day. I felt this best represented the more positive influence young people can have have on their town. Next i found a old lady cleaning up a flower bed and picking flowers for herself. It may have been a little stereotypical to have a picture of a older lady doing what could be called gardening. But i felt this more represented a lady who cared deeply about how her town appears to tourists and gives up her free time to come and make sure that everything looks nice and tidy.
4 - Celebrity
For my final images i decided to focus on everyone obsession with celebrity. It seemed fairly straight forward that i would capture some images typical of paparazzi. I went down to the Manchester United player of the year awards to catch the players arriving for the party. I chose the best images i had taken and used those as my final images.
For my final images i decided to choose the two images which would most likely be used in a publication of some form, these images i felt were my best attempt at paparazzi images. I hoped they would be used be some form of media or other and this would justify there inclusion in my brief showing that all we seem to care about today are other peoples lives or the lives of the rich and famous. We especially like it when they are dishonest or they are knocked from their perch.
As i suspected these images were, tweeted, blogged about and posted to websites around the world. proving the interest in celebrities.
Other none used human condition candids
Holiday
Sports
Protest or the right to protest/free speech
Pride of possessions/status symbols
Others areas of the brief not chosen for final area of interest
Fine art
This was a light set about 45 degrees to the subjects real, set up with some daylight balanced lights.A black reflector was used to the subjects right. I then took a little clarity away in lightroom to give it a softer look. 1/250 - f4 25mm
This was a daylight balanced light at 45 degrees to the subject, with a reflector to the left of the subjects face. 1/320 - f1.8
This was a strip daylight balanced light behind the subjects head. 1/80 - f1.8
This is a quick candid shot i took.
Corporate work
This was taken to show a pose that could be used for photographing women, to create a more flattering look. (not that it is needed) There was a Light with a honeycomb diffuser and the background light had a snoot on it to create a circle of light on the backdrop which is not visible in this image. 1/125 - f11
This was taken to show a straight on photograph of a woman. There was a Light with a honeycomb diffuser and the background light had a snoot on it to create a circle of light on the backdrop which is not visible in this image. 1/125 - f11
There was a Light with a honeycomb diffuser and the background light had a snoot on it to create a circle of light on the backdrop. Overall i am very unhappy with this image. I feel i framed it very badly. It feels slightly overexposed to me, even with my camera set to the metered settings. My white balance was set correctly. I tried to recover it a little in lightroom, however in doing so have given the back light a very gray feel. Which is exactly the opposite of what i wanted. 1/125 - f11
These are the final versions of the corporate images, they work best in black and white. In the last images above i feel i got the lighting set up prefect.
Environmental shoot
I decided to use my wedding shoot pictures as the environmental ones. Early in March i shot a wedding and these are my results.
Heres a selection of images from that shoot.
