Go capture it at Vander Veer Conservatory

Two images of the same young man from opposite sides.  I was within his field of vision, but he didn’t care. There was no physical rearranging his body into the image he wanted to project.  Someone trusting who they are enough not to pose.   The other side to that is trusting the photographer enough to kill a bad image.

This is a young man comfortable in his own skin enough to continue enjoying what he was doing while I did what I was doing.   It is this kind of trust we need between bride and groom and us.  When this magic occurs we get fun, honest, wonderful, endearing, exciting, and a lot of other adjectives portrayed in the images.

50mm lens, no flash, and pretty unflattering lighting.  50mm lens means I was the zoom stepping forward and backward as I framed the shot.

Another example of being unaware of the camera.  Everyone knew I walking among them with a camera, but they felt no need to be on guard.   This allows us freedom to capture images like this one.    This is a grandfather and grandchild……..just not belonging to each other in that relationship.  Why are they together? Simple.  The world seems like such a better place when you hold an innocent child in your arms.   Try it.

Camera aware…..but look at his eyes….. they are calm and peaceful.  No hint of body language that screams, “Don’t you dare snap that shutter”!   I have known him for years.  He has great presence among people.  Quiet, at peace, thoughtful, dignified, but a lover of laughter.

Trust.   Do you trust the images your photographer is going to give you from your wedding day?

OR

Do you tell everyone how much you hate having your picture taken, and there is no such thing as a good photograph of you???

OR

Do you plan on micromanaging all the images of yourself?

d

d

d

Some call it journalistic style, and others call it candid.  Both are all about “un-posed” shots. Generally but not always it is more than one person interacting.  The idea is to capture moments that tell stories.

This first image is about a grandfather and his granddaughter.  He is busy talking to someone out of the frame while she is just enjoying being held by him while passively watching me take the shot.  You can see the Joy of the Moment in her smile and the sparkle in her eyes.   By the way her name is Joy.

Joy with her dad.  Can you tell how much he loves her.  He nuzzles and breathes her in.  Parents hug their children this way often.  When Joy grows up from images like this she will always remember the love of her father.  Right out of the picture you see her mother’s arm cradling Joy’s new baby brother.

One person totally unaware of the camera.  He is praying.  Because we recognize prayer as an intensely private moment, images like this will often make us a little uncomfortable… like we are intruding or interrupting.  Again a candid moment.   If this were your dad or your grandfather you would cherish a moment or glimpse into his private life.

Good candid photographers work constantly with or without a camera in their hands watching, waiting, studying the flow of life around them.  It’s all about being aware and not rushing the snap of the shutter.

I post this as an example because we get couples for wedding photography trying to explain they want some formal posing but would like us to capture the day for the rest of the time.   They are often at a disadvantage trying to adapt to our jargon to describe what they want.  It helps if they see images like these to decide if we capture the day the way they envision their photos turning out.

Back to my title question. Why do we all love candid captures?   Simple answer…..they trigger memories. They are a tangible trigger to set off the memories in our minds we can only see.  The ones that recall important events and people important to us.

One of our more popular panaromic albums 9 x 12 opening to 18 x 12.  Photographic paper has a linen weave in it to prevent center seam cracking.   Cover is canvas printed with our design.   Our layouts are carefully thought out for each album presentation.  Forty nine images in the book and one on the cover.

This a photographed image rather than showing layouts.  You get less quality in this image than the actual book, but this is a better representation of an actual album until you see one in the studio.

to photograph is one that the knows the only way to live is to seize every moment and live it to its fullest. Such is this young friend of mine.   She doesn’t walk into a room…she explodes into it.   As a photographer I constantly find myself reassuring people they really do look ok.  We at this point in history have become very critical of how we look and have medical procedures and products to fix just about anything.  Anything that is except be uniquely the way we are made……..one of a kind……. rare…. only crossing planet earth one time.  I plan on photographing this one over and over………and I promise……..she will always be the girl not afraid of stepping out from behind the mask of “proper”.