Candids are the best kind of picture to take. Here's why.
Everybody loves a neat, posed picture to hang above the mantle. As a photographer though, these are not my favorite pictures to take. My favorite you ask? Candids.
I love taking family pictures for all of my friends, family, and clients. But I love taking pictures when they aren't paying attention even more.
Yes, you still feel the love and laughter in a well set-up, posed photograph, of course. But you find the real, GENUINE love and laughter- in a candid. That warm fuzzy feeling everybody wants out of a good picture? You will find it almost every time in a candid photo of yourself and/or the people and things you love most.
The best part about a candid photo is the simple fact that it is unplanned. These pictures aren't just photographs to look at and remember a time when your hair was longer or a different color or "where the hell did that top go?". These are actual memories frozen in the release of a shutter. When you look at a candid, you can almost hear it. You are transported back to this very specific moment in time and you remember what was happening in it like its happening around you right now.
When you pose someone for a picture, a lot of the time you can actually see how uncomfortable they are. When people are being photographed, they feel the need to hide their flaws. You know exactly what I am talking about. The "suck-in" or the "are my eyes doing that crazy thing?" The "Am I smiling too hard? Is it starting to look maniacal?"
We ALL do this. Even I do this when someone puts a camera lens in front of me.
But when you take a candid of a person, it's in the moment. They don't have to time to evaluate what flaws to hide before you snap the pic. The result is a person captured in their purest form. No bullshit- just them...living, breathing, laughing, making a funny face. Candids don't just capture what you look like, they capture a persons soul. They capture a moment in time so simple, yet so worth looking back on.
Of course it's important to remember the big days- the milestones- Graduations,Weddings, Birthdays, Engagements. Candids are a great reminder that it is also important to remember the small moments. Grandpa playing with his grandkids, Mom laughing with Dad, Brother and sister being silly together- these moments are the ones that get us through day-to-day.
Sometimes we get so caught up in the gogogo mindset in life, that we forget to stop going and just be. Don't only take the pictures on those "big-milestones". Make sure you take the picture of the small moments too. The ones that make your heart skip a beat. The ones that make you think, "damn, maybe life aint so bad."
Take the candid. They will be more powerful on your heart strings than you ever could've imagined. Take the picture, even when there's nothing big happening. Take the picture, even when you think have nothing to take a picture of. I promise you, it will end up one of your favorites down the line.
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