Behind The Frame: Creating the Candid

I know creating the candid sounds like an oxymoron, but 9 times out of 10 that’s how you get a great image.  The majority of my clients tell me they want authentic, unposed and romantic images.  However when I ask them to choose a few favorite photos in my portfolio they’re always surprised to learn those images were posed.  A posed image doesn’t have to be stiff and formal with everyone looking straight ahead a the camera, authentic moments can happen within a pose.  In this photo I was photographing all the bridesmaids on the porch of a beautiful Inn in Connecticut and the flower girl kept stealing glances at the bride.  I told the bride to look back down at her and she couldn’t help but smile at the adoring beaming face smiling back at her.  All the bridesmaids let out a “awww” and it created one of my favorite photos.  This is a candid photo, but the reason it is a successful photo is because it is also compositionally intriguing and well lit.  I like to bring my subjects into good light in a beautiful space and then set them up in a pleasing composition and then let the magic happen within the moment.  So many bridesmaids feel silly looking at each other to do the “bridesmaids laughing shot” but usually that silly embarrassed feeling creates genuine laughter as they share the moment and then you actually get the wonderful image.