How to capture indoor candids?

[wizjason]

Hi! I'm an intermediate-ish hobbyist looking for experience from others. I am happily learning a lot about all kinds photography, but I find that many times the opportunity to take pictures coincides with events where I want to take pictures of people. In particular, I find many times that I struggle with getting candid indoor pictures of my friends/family/etc. My primary lens is a 17-85mm f4-5.6 IS, though I do sometimes use my 50mm f1.8. I also recently got the Speedlite 430EX II, which has significantly improved the posed shots.

The problem is that the flash seems to really kill people, so I may be able to get on candid shot, but one is all before people are all too aware that I'm firing off the camera without asking them to pose. Obviously having a really 'fast' lens and avoiding flash is one solution. What solutions do some of you have for this problem?

Thanks!

 

[chrisburke]

bounce the flash and diffuse it so its not shooting directly at them blinding them...

 

[wizjason]

bounce the flash and diffuse it so its not shooting directly at them blinding them...

Good point! I do have a STO-FEN Omnibounce, and I usually have the flash angled up at 45-degrees (of course depending on the location).

I guess the issue is that in situations where it's dark enough that I need a flash, it's also dark enough that a flash gets attention...

 

[chrisburke]

Good point! I do have a STO-FEN Omnibounce, and I usually have the flash angled up at 45-degrees (of course depending on the location).

I guess the issue is that in situations where it's dark enough that I need a flash, it's also dark enough that a flash gets attention...

maybe drop down the flash power some.. you shouldnt need it on full power in candid situations

 

[NateS]

Get rid of the stofen. I used to do that too and it throws too much light directly at them. Save the stofen for shooting outdoors (outdoors fire directly at them with the stofen but only for a fill flash).


Once you get the stofen off your flash, try pointing the flash up and slightly behind you. If there is a wall within 10 5-7 feet behind you then try to point your flash where that wall and ceiling meet so you get diffused light on the subject from both the wall and ceiling. The larger your diffused surface the softer the light will be.

If your subject is about 10 feet away and there is no wall behind you then bounce straight up. If the subject is too far away then I would angle it at a 45 forward but normally you want it to bounce back toward them which means you should be bouncing away from them.

That's what works for me so give that a try and take that stofen off and bounce the flash away from your subject and not toward.

Here's an example of a shot of my son. The flash on this was bounced behind me toward the area where the wall and ceiling met. I still got enough bounce back to keep the eyes well lit too.