Black & White Challenge: candid photography

[gk fotografie2 1]

Welcome!

This challenge is all about learning to 'think - see - create' in black & white and not just randomly converting color photos. Only new black and white photos taken during the week of this challenge, please!

Some thoughts to go with challenge #16: Candid photography is actually photographing people in a certain situation without them knowing they are being photographed and therefore cannot prepare for it. What is strived for isn't people posing as a model, but spontaneity and the freezing of the moment.

So, have fun!

 

[zulu42]

 

[zulu42]

 

[zulu42]

 

[Pixeldawg1]

I still occasionally take my trusty little Nikon N1AW1 out to play around with it, and today was walking around campus and spotted this woman working on the landscape, weeding a garden. She said hello to me, which is quite unusual for an elderly person here in China to do, so I had a conversation with her and she was delightful. I asked if I could make a photo of her and this is the shot that I chose, of the five images made. Hope you enjoy.

 

[gk fotografie2 1]

I still occasionally take my trusty little Nikon N1AW1 out to play around with it, and today was walking around campus and spotted this woman working on the landscape, weeding a garden. She said hello to me, which is quite unusual for an elderly person here in China to do, so I had a conversation with her and she was delightful. I asked if I could make a photo of her and this is the shot that I chose, of the five images made. Hope you enjoy.

View attachment 197440

This is a nice, posed portrait, but it does not belong in this candid photography challenge.
The characteristic of candid photography is to photograph the human being without them being aware of it, not being given the opportunity to pose and thus obtaining an image as lifelike as possible. The hallmark of candid photography is spontaneity, it is the technique of freezing one moment in life, also notice my info in the OP

 

[Pixeldawg1]

I still occasionally take my trusty little Nikon N1AW1 out to play around with it, and today was walking around campus and spotted this woman working on the landscape, weeding a garden. She said hello to me, which is quite unusual for an elderly person here in China to do, so I had a conversation with her and she was delightful. I asked if I could make a photo of her and this is the shot that I chose, of the five images made. Hope you enjoy.

View attachment 197440

This is a nice, posed portrait, but it does not belong in this candid photography challenge.
The characteristic of candid photography is to photograph the human being without them being aware of it, not being given the opportunity to pose and thus obtaining an image as lifelike as possible. The hallmark of candid photography is spontaneity, it is the technique of freezing one moment in life, also notice my info in the OP

Would be nice to be asked about this prior to making a public statement that is incorrect. She was speaking to me when I shot this. Not posed. Thanks for this though. No more for me here.

 

[johngpt]

Nothing as fun as Zulu's fantastic shots of the kids, but this past Monday found us outside the Apple Store waiting for our purchase to be brought out to us. I thought I'd whip out the phone. I used to use the Hipstamatic app with its filters of Lowy lens and Blackeys XF film quite a bit years ago. I really liked the shadows and that no one was looking at a phone.


distanced queuing

.

 

[Derrel]

I don't think that the subject being unaware of the camera is a required part of what is called "candid photography". In one way candid means frank and honest... Not necessarily voyeuristic or hidden camera. I think any picture of people going about their daily business without the photographer directing them into a specific pose falls under the umbrella of candid photo. I would strongly disagree that "candid" photos require that the subject be totally unaware of the camera.

 

[Derrel]

 

[Dean_Gretsch]

Yes, I always interpreted candid as being " unposed or undirected ".

 

[johngpt]

I don't think that the subject being unaware of the camera is a required part of what is called "candid photography". In one way candid means frank and honest... Not necessarily voyeuristic or hidden camera. I think any picture of people going about their daily business without the photographer directing them into a specific pose falls under the umbrella of candid photo. I would strongly disagree that "candid" photos require that the subject be totally unaware of the camera.

While I totally agree with your more broad definition of candid, the way Gerard wrote the brief narrowed the definition for this week's theme. If Gerard would like to broaden the scope for this theme, fine or if he would like to keep the more narrowed definition, fine. I'm good either way.

 

[Derrel]

I don't think that the subject being unaware of the camera is a required part of what is called "candid photography". In one way candid means frank and honest... Not necessarily voyeuristic or hidden camera. I think any picture of people going about their daily business without the photographer directing them into a specific pose falls under the umbrella of candid photo. I would strongly disagree that "candid" photos require that the subject be totally unaware of the camera.

While I totally agree with your more broad definition of candid, the way Gerard wrote the brief narrowed the definition for this week's theme. If Gerard would like to broaden the scope for this theme, fine or if he would like to keep the more narrowed definition, fine. I'm good either way.

His two posts above have been edited. I am not sure that his first post was as it appears now on Thursday. it was edited on Monday. I am not sure about the time difference between Mark's post and GK photography's area, or as it relates to my area on the west coast of North America. I am not suggesting that the brief was edited to reflect GK's own definition after the accusation was made against Mark for having posed the subject.but I do think that my definition of candid photography is the more accepted one;street photography for example is often referred to as candid, even though people know that you are there photographing them.

For a person to be truly unaware that there is a camera pointed at them seems a bridge too far for me. unless you are using a very long focal length lens or are shooting through glass such as from a car or a house shooting thru the window, or are taking voyeuristic and hidden camera photos, then I think the more traditionally accepted definition of candid photography means not posed. But of course the guy running the contest can call the shots and if he requires people not to be aware of having been photographed, then that is his right.

I am looking forward to seeing some photos shot from blinds/hides, through two-way mirrors, and through peep-holes, and of course some photos shot with 500 to 1,000 mm lenses,either conventional or catadioptric.

 

[Derrel]

If a key characteristic of a candid photo is that the subjects are unaware that they are being photographed, then what are we to make of the children playing on the trampoline?

are we to suppose that they were completely unaware that there was a grown man standing within 15 ft of them and pointing a large camera at them? Are we to assume that they were so blissfully engaged in their play that they failed to see an adult with a camera repeatedly making pictures?

 

[photoflyer]

The juxtaposition of their shirts makes me laugh.