Tips on Composition to Enhance Your Candids

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Composition can amplify what you feel about the subject matter or invoke a reaction all on its own. Today I’m going to share with you 5 tips on composition to enhance your candids. These are all tips I use as a candid event photographer in Los Angeles as well as in my street photography.

#1 Use a Dutch Angle.

The dutch angle, also known as a dutch tilt, canted angle, or oblique angle is when the horizontal or vertical lines of an image are tilted. In cinema, it is often used to convey anxiety, tension, or things gone awry, but incorporating a dutch angle into your candid photography you can give the viewer a sense that it was captured in the spur of the moment.

The Dutch angle is an effective tool for enhancing the candid feel of a moment, but should be used sparingly. Especially in a collection of images in which its strength lies in it being an outlier, not a norm

Fun Fact:

The Dutch angle coinage does not refer to holland. It is fact a reference to early German, or rather “Deutch” expressionist filmmakers.

#2 Shoot Through things to Frame Your Subject

When it comes to photographic composition, framing is most often used to draw your eye in toward your subject. But when shooting through things it has the added effect of conveying a shot was made in the spur of the moment or that the photographer was somewhat removed from the moment like a fly on the wall. From my point of view, this has become an increasingly popular technique used by event photographers. I have also begun to see this more commonly used by photojournalists: Think of photographs of campaign rallies in which the photographer shoots through a crowd of people and political signs to get a photograph of a politician on stage.

#3 Use a Tilt Shot to Shoot from Extreme High and Low Angles.

Shooting from high or low angles not only offer varied perspectives but also convey different meaning.

Images made from below convey importance, prominence, power. Try shooting from below when photographing a powerful politician, a local hero, or anyone you want to portray as strong, etc. Personally, I often choose to photograph the downtrodden and disenfranchised this way as a way of dignifying them.

Images made from above tend to evoke opposite feelings about a subject than shooting from below. Shooting from above can convey a sense of powerlessness, weakness, etc. You can use this technique to highlight the downtrodden or perhaps even as a way to visually dis-empower someone whom has plenty of it. The choice is yours. As my lab instructor in college used to tell me, “you’re the artist.”

Carefully consider how you use these angles. Yes, they can be used to just offer something different, but when used effectively they can amplify the feelings already conveyed in the subject matter.

Sometimes I’ll sit on my skateboard in busy places and go unnoticed. I especially enjoy photographing candid moments that look like they could have been posed.

#4 Don’t Be so Clinical with Your Composition.

Rules of composition are excellent tools for creating visual interest and drawing viewers draw your subject matter. But sometimes when several rules of composition are utilized at once, your composition can feel a bit too on the nose. This feels clinical and has the potential to feel contrived or lifeless- not candid.

I recommend experimenting with shooting a bit looser. Try adhering to fewer rules, or make sure the rules you do follow are less obvious.

You can argue that well balanced visual elements underpin the foundation of a strong composition. For example, in a composition using the rule of thirds, the subject matter occupying one third of the frame is balanced out by the two thirds of less important real estate.

Balanced elements should not be confused with symmetry: if, for example, you have an object of a specific size on one side of the frame you mustn’t have one on the other. We are not looking for equally sized objects or like colors to achieve balance. Rather, we are looking at the overall visual weight of things. Certain colors and shades will draw your eye in different ways. Something small but of more importance such as a person can be balanced out by something much larger but less important.

I admit the idea of visual weight can sound a bit murky.

But Try this:

One way to see how things are visually weighed is to defocus your eyes. See where your eye is drawn without the distraction of textures and subject matter.

#5 Be Unconventional. Break the Rules.

There are traditional ways to frame formal portraits whether candid or not. These traditions are in part formed by adhering to specific rules of composition such as the rule of thirds. But beyond rules of composition, we are used to a visual language developed by over a century of image making.

Experiment with breaking these norms. Try unusual cropping or usage of rules. Instead of having leading lines lead toward your subject, have them lead away. Subjects tend to look inward in a frame. Try having them look outside the frame and see how it makes you feel.

If you are looking for an example of how to effectively break rules, one of my favorite examples is Mr Robot. Do yourself a favor and check it out.

See How I use these tips in my own work

Thank you all for your support, I truly hope this helps you on your photographic journey. And as always I look forward to your comments below!

When photographing events in Los Angeles, outside of shooting photos like group shots and formals, my goal as a photographer is to never be noticed when making an image. I want to make honest images. I want to photograph people’s true self, not the version they want to present. I do this by not letting them know I am photographing them in the first place.

As a professional event photographer, I take a full body approach to my craft. Rather than limit my growth to the accumulation of technical knowledge, I take a holistic approach to how I constantly work at improving my skills as a photographer. This article will touch on some of these techniques I use as an event photographer in Los Angeles to go unnoticed by my subjects and capture emotion filled candids.

Avoid Eye Contact, Use Your Peripheral Vision

As a kid I used to love sneaking around like a ninja. My friends and I used to play capture the flag at night. But instead of flags we tagged each other by throwing oranges at one another like crazy people. This usually resulted in drawn out brawls of throwing oranges back and forth. But my approach was always different. Rather than engaging in a back and forth fight, I would stalk my friends or wait in hiding until I could sneak up behind them with an orange in my hand and tag them. They never saw me coming. One of the ways I achieved this was by never actually looking directly at them. You know that feeling of being watched? In my experience when gazing at my target they could sense my presence. Rather, I tracked my subject using my peripheral vision.

When on the job this is something I employ. I want truthful images. When someone knows they are being photographed they tend to perform. But through the use of some deceptive tactics, I am able to prevent someone from knowing they are being photographed. In addition to using my peripheral vision, often I will point my camera just slightly in someone else's direction. I do this while concurrently monitoring my true subject with my peripheral vision.

I minimize my ability to quickly capture something like a big smile by pre focussing before I point my camera away from the subject. Back button focusing tremendously helps with this.

Pre Visualize Your Shots

Knowing the image you’re trying to make prior to raising your camera to your eye saves time. This will allow you to go unnoticed by not raising your camera until you take the shot (if at all).

A large part of your ability to pre visualize your image is by knowing your focal lengths- or in other words: your field of view. This mostly works with primes as they have a set field of view. If you know it, you are able to quickly move into position to get the framing you want, without actually looking through your lens. This is a skill gained through repetition. If you work as a photographer, I believe it is something you will develop intuitively. But if you are just starting out, I recommend practicing. Do this by bringing your camera wherever you go and try to guess your field of view prior to raising the camera to your eye. You can even do this without a camera at all. Just start training yourself to see in focal lengths in your day to day life.

How I Hold My Camera to React Quickly

I never grip my camera. I hold it as gently as possible so that I am relaxed and not tense. If your muscles are tense, your breathing and mindset will be tense and vice versa. Often I shoot long days without a break. Just this week I shot for 10 hours straight without a real break. If I were to have been firmly gripping my camera for that amount of time, my hands would have cramped.

In addition to avoiding fatigue, the way I hold my camera directly affects how nimble I am and therefore how quickly I am able to respond to things. Rather than grip my lens, I use two to three fingers to create a pivot with my left hand. This allows me to swing my lens (especially my long telephoto) agily into position.

How I Move as a Photographer

How I move is probably the most important factor in me going unnoticed. I move intentionally: every move I make, from the steps I take, to how I navigate crowds, is done deliberately. To be clear, moving deliberately is not the same as moving robotically. Everything should flow. Don’t be a rhino. Rarely is athleticism discussed in regards to a photographers skill, but it is in fact essential to anyone looking to take their craft to the next level.

Do Photographers Need to Wear Black?

The short answer is no but it depends on the job. In my opinion, rules are for people with a boss. If you take your craft seriously, you will understand the game. You will know when not wearing black is acceptable.

It is my opinion that the methods discussed go much further in allowing you to go unnoticed as a photographer than what you are wearing will. On the job, you’ll likely be in a sea of people, all wearing different colors, many of them wearing black or grey. Do you really think this is going to be the pivotal thing that allows you to effectively blend in? Of course there are some exceptions to this rule. If I know I am going to be on stage or blocking people’s field of view to get my shots of, say a guest speaker or award recipient, I prefer black. It goes without saying that you should not wear anything flashy. I personally stick with black and grey suits, but this is more out of a preference than a rigid rule.

How to Dress as a Photographer. Can You Look Too Good?

No. You can never look too good as a photographer. I’m not a very material person, but one thing I like are well fitted suits. In fact, when on the job, I often get complimented on them.This is a good thing. It leaves a strong impression and can lead to more work from attendees. Remember, most people will never see your images at an event, but they will see how you conduct yourself.

Although you can not dress too well, you can overdress. Until you just kind of get a feel for how you should dress, my advice is to simply ask your client.

Conclusion on How to Go Unnoticed and Capture Candid Moments

There's a lot more to going unnoticed as a photographer than what you wear from how you move, where you look, and even how you hold your camera. In fact, there are probably many things I employ to be ninja-like that I’m not consciously aware of. I’ll keep thinking on this to come up with more ways I go unnoticed. That way I can work on them further and share them with you. In the meanwhile, what are some of the ways you go unnoticed as a photographer?

See my candid photography in action

How a Los Angeles Event Photographer Uses Composition to Enhance His Candids