Weekly Poll: Candids or Posed?

[Nicole]

It was interesting last week finding out how many of our forum members have professional aspirations

This week, I thought I'd ask a question specifically devoted to portrait photography. When you're taking portraits, do you prefer candids or posed shots? (And yes, you have to pick one or the other) .

Why do you prefer that type of portrait? And while we're at it, if you prefer candids, do you use a short lens and get up close to your subject or do you prefer a longer lens, keeping you out of the picture (as it were).

Note: I'll update this week's poll with some more info in the morning, but I wanted to get it started on it's usual day.

[velvet4269]

I like candids, but they're harder to get. The moment people see the camera, they either freeze up, or they pose, but with a candid, you're able to capture the true feeling of the moment.

For example, one of my favorite pictures of my daughter is a candid I took on Easter in 2005, showing my Ex that yes, the camera did work, and was able to take good pictures (please ignore the really messy background). She was distracted and didn't notice me taking the picture - which worked beautifully.

Later that same year, a friend and I took my daughter to one of the parks here in Austin, because I wanted some photos to be able to send to family. Him with his spiffy Olympus E-300, me with my little Kodak DC4800 (at the time). 90% of the photos we ended up getting were posed. She knew we were there, knew we had the cameras, so she posed (or downright refused to cooperate). But with both of us there with cameras, we were able to get some very candid shots, that, at least IMO, turned out better than the posed shots.

[Sime™]

...so, as velvet said above me here, when people see a camera, they freeze up... usually it's ME...so, that's why I prefer shooting candid. I can get photos of people that don't know (most of the time) that i'm shooting them and everyone wins...

Like this..I guess? | i'd NEVER be able to ask this woman if I could take her picture...

[oriolhdz]

What I say has no importance because I have never shot candid, and just a few portraits hehehe. But I think when shooting portraits you have a little more control on the portrait person face/attitude …... But as all previously said, candid photos take the "real" moment so I vote for candid as well. Hope I win my shy and go out downtown and take some!

[peeperita]

i seem to be far happier with the results i get when i have the control that oriolhdz mentioned...especially when photographing women...i'm not a very good "on the fly" shooter....so being able to take my time and think about light placement and fstops truly improves my portrait work.....not to mention the right poses can make or break how my subject feels about the shot....

on the other hand, children are a challenge for me to pose properly and they tend to get tense with the amount of time it takes me to actually shoot more than a few pictures in a studio enviroment.....so with them, i sit back with my 28-70 zoom, click away.....and hope for decent backgrounds.....

peeper

[Teewinot]

Candid all the way. Often only with candid can you capture a REAL moment, emotion, event, or person. Priceless.

[Isilwen]

It's impossible to choose only one, but I voted candids for the sake of percentage of shots. With children (and uncomfortable adults), I have to play along with them and snap whenever I see the right moment. Posing them would just make things look terrible. My husband is a good example of this and through me, he's learned he needs to be chuckling in order to take a decent shot of himself. Other photographers look at him like he's wierd (the times we've gone to studios for portraits) but we know what it takes to look natural for him.

On the other hand, it is good to throw a few posed shots in the mix - especially if you're doing a shoot for a client wanting to frame some fairly standard shots. I make sure the poses are more natural and almost candid, but they're definitely somewhat posed on my end of it. This is especially true for sports photography, though we had an awesome shoot with a softball team where we took "action" shots that were actually posed. Fun, and the smiles on the girls' faces showed it!

[dloumakis]

Heres another vote for candids. I almost always use a long lens and TRY not to be noticed. I also have better luck with outdoor shots, I am not real good with indoor lighting but I am working on it.

[klew]

Since I must choose, I pick candids. I much prefer getting an image that is a real "piece in time" such that the subjects were doing whatever they were doing, even if they were aware of me. When an image I like focuses on the scenery and not the people, I often ask if I can take a photo to give them a chance to get out of frame if they wish. If they don't want to move, I don't mind at all, as it gives extra information (either through interaction, scale, etc.), sometimes they will pose, so I take that photo and wait a bit to take another, more candid, photo. Nor do I mind the occasional posed image, but that mostly a request by others.

[shazzt]

I voted candids because I love getting a "natural" looking shot - and I simply don't have the confidence and knowledge to pose people properly.