Tips to Taking Candid Shots at Weddings

Tips to Taking Candid Shots at Weddings by Pritham D'Souza

From Candid Photography at Weddings

Its a never ending headache for a photographer to carry the right lens at weddings. a few of them depend on a general walk around lens like EF 24 to 105 mm f 4 L IS lens which is an excellent choice offering group shots and even medium telephoto range to capture those precious moments.

for the others, there's the always dependable EF 70 to 200 mm f 2.8 L IS II which renders sharp images even at very low light and is a super fast lens with wide aperture of 2.8

i did the right thing and carried both of them and used them extensively at a wedding i covered few months back.

below are some photos i clicked using EF 24 to 105 mm f 4 L IS USM lens

From Candid Photography at Weddings

ISO: 400

Exposure: 1/60 sec

Aperture: 4.0

I like this photo coz it has the old lady in the foreground and her grand daughter in the TV frame in the background. i could never have asked her to pose for a photo so i patiently waited for her to walk past the image.

From Candid Photography at Weddings

ISO: 400

Exposure: 1/60 sec

Aperture: 4.0

Focal Length: 60mm

here i managed to capture another moment where the friend of the bride is truly happy for her and she is unable to hide her emotions...

From Candid Photography at Weddings

ISO: 400
Exposure: 1/60 sec
Aperture: 4.0

Focal Length: 35mm

It pays to be patient. in the above photo i saw the girl enjoying a good conversation with her family and to my luck she just happened to turn her head and look at me in a fraction of a second and i manged to capture her expression

From Candid Photography at Weddings

ISO: 640
Exposure: 1/160 sec
Aperture: 4.0
Focal Length: 105mm

In the above photo, i tried to capture a story. the groom looking into his brides eyes, while the family photographer waits to capture a moment.

From Candid Photography at Weddings

ISO: 3200
Exposure: 1/200 sec
Aperture: 4.0
Focal Length: 105mm
Flash Used: No

using flash or speedlite can be quite distracting and so in the above pic, i made use of a high ISO setting and fast shutter to take a candid pic of the bride blessing her cousin whose wedding bells are around the corner. . also the max 105 mm focal length was really helpful .

Now some photos examples of Candid shots using EF 70 to 200 mm f 2.8 L IS II USM lens

From Candid Photography at Weddings

ISO: 1250
Exposure: 1/200 sec
Aperture: 2.8
Focal Length: 145mm
Flash Used: No

The above photo is easily one of my favorite shots. u can see everyones reaction here when a pretty woman is hugging the groom. The expression on the wife's face and the kids in the background is priceless

From Candid Photography at Weddings

ISO: 1250
Exposure: 1/320 sec
Aperture: 2.8
Focal Length: 200mm
Flash Used: No

The above photo shows a young couple with their son. for some reason this photo speaks about the parents love for their child and how patiently the young kid listens to his parents. The photo is very sharp in spite of the the maximum focal length

From Candid Photography at Weddings

ISO: 6400
Exposure: 1/125 sec
Aperture: 2.8
Focal Length: 100mm
Flash Used: No

I had to crank up the ISO to 6400 and ended up getting a very nice photo of this pretty girl seen here sharing a lite moment with her close friends at dinner. no flash used, just the fast lens and wide aperture

From Candid Photography at Weddings

ISO: 400
Exposure: 1/60 sec
Aperture: 2.8
Focal Length: 130mm
Flash Used: Yes

i used flash but managed to get another crisp image of this girl just sitting quietly and observing the event.

enough of pondering over the image and now for the tips

• u want candids, so never compromise on focal length. more focal length better candid shots
• never jump in the middle of the crowd and try to take a candid pic! that can never happen. try to be as discreet as possible without intruding on anyone's personal space
• if its a big hall, where bouncing flash might not work, crank up the ISO ( in low light situations only) and use a very wide aperture
• if u want to click candids in a small room filled with people, then a focal length of 24 to 105 is the best.
• when using a speed lite always use manual controls. set the ISO to 400 or less to get those high res sharp images, while shutter speeds of 1/60 and 1/40 is pretty much ideal. aperture of f4 constant gives a good background bokeh at longer focal lengths keeping the main subject in focus
• patience is a virtue and instead of trying the usual shot gun approach of clicking 100 photos in 10 minutes, wait for the right moment to get the shot that u want.
• anticipate whats going to happen next and always keep ur finger halfway pressed on the shutter
• for still shots use 'one shot' option and for scenes which might have some action, like dancing, laughing, running etc its better to shift to Servo AF .
• and the most important tip of all DONT GET CAUGHT

Happy clicking