Candid vs Traditional photography

 In a Nutshell , Candid pics vs Traditional pics

Candid wedding photography involves taking pictures of people who are unaware that they are having their pictures taken.The photographer is always on a FLY – simply capturing the scene without actively altering the scene by giving direction to the people in the photo. However sometimes a photographer also have to give certain directions in order to get better pictures as apart from candid clicks, some posed pictures are always necessary and needs to be documented

Traditional photography is the style of photography which  we all have witnessed over the fast few years, where you have photographers approaching you on regular intervals at a wedding asking “LOOK HERE, SMILE PLEASE”

Wedding photography has two styles First one is  Candid or Photojournalistic and other is called Traditional.Lets see how they are different from each other and compare the two side by side.

Does using high quality gear makes a difference ? 

On a personal experience and with gear rates dropping , I have seen traditional photographers use  similar equipments as candid photographers ,but what makes a significant difference is technique and approach. Eg. Their are many people who can afford to buy a Ferrari , that does not mean that all will become Michael Schumacher one day.The difference between Candid Photographer Vs Traditional Photographer is based on following pointers

• How both of them see the same scene differently.
• Understanding the environment around you and adapting to it.
• How both will frame the same subject standing at same place differently.The Art of Composition.
• How they both see light falling on subject and how  they plan to blend natural light with flash lights.
• Understanding the gear  limits and then using it to get the best results out of the given scene.
• Understanding colors and what color temp. to set your camera to shoot the scene.
• Lastly, how well will they do post processing on images to achieve the look they looking for.

Picture Quality Differences.

Traditional photographers  most of the time focus on posed portraits with standard poses almost in all the weddings.Their pictures are super sharp and Mr. Singh & Mrs Singh standing in front of camera is fully visible along with the person standing far far behind on a  reception/wedding venue. Everything in those pictures will be seen crystal clear.

We live in a age where we daily see glamorous pictures online or in magazines of models /pretty brides and everyone somewhere deep in their heart think of being clicked some day in same way.Welcome to the new age of Candid wedding Photographers, As mentioned above the way they see light or use same gear they can give you same gorgeous quality images on your big day.

Lets do a case study based on some images below clicked by Candid Vs traditional photographers.left ones are candid and right ones are traditional.

In below picture see how Candid photographers & traditional photographer saw the same scene differently.Both pictures were clicked at same time at same position.

Candid – We saw bride standing bride and than we saw  buildings & some tress in background, we decided to move little bit to get into a  position so that we avoid the building in background  and get only trees.Post that same advance camera setting &  correct flash output so that bride pops out of the image,Also a warm tone to image blends well with background.

Traditional :- We personally feel the image looks plane white looking straight into camera with overdoes of flash.

Candid – Imagine you paid a bomb to get dancers from Russian to do a special performance by name ‘The night dance”.A candid photographer showcase the scene in same way how 1000 people saw the live dance in a dark ambience only following the patterns coming from blue led of dancers dress as seen in left pictures.

Traditional :- Now same seen is clicked by traditional photographer with flash light showcasing dancers face & dress but lost the mood of the dancing night.

 

Candid -We all love first dance done by couple on Sangeet night, usually for this performance the decor guy keeps the best light/smoke  effects.A candid photographer with right settings on camera and right amount of flash ensures that colorful ambience is shown in picture as it happened live.

Traditional :- On the other side, this time the tradtional photographer does not use flash, but due to insufficient knowledge on gear will either make the picture totally flashy or dark as seen in below pictures.Seen in below pics the ambience color of room & dance-floor is missing totally

Candid – On below 2 pictures on left, see how you can see the entire ambience of venue and mood of couple is shown in the pictures,The colors of surroundings along with light effects for which your vendor charged you a bomb.

Traditional :- The below 2 pics on right missing any of the lights & color drama in those pictures, also camera angle is very poor for clicking the frame, the pictures lacks punch & its not true representation of how scene unfolded with lights and drama.

Candid – On below 2 pictures on left, see how a candid photographers used his camera and lights in a way to click same pictures with either getting the background blurred (The couple pic)  or getting details on background sky(groom on barat)

Traditional :- The below 2 pictures clicked at same time but totally tells a different story of same scene clicked by a tradtional photographer.

For which functions do you choose Candid photographer Vs Traditional photographer

By now  you know the difference between the two, so depending upon your need & budget, you can hire one.However no matter what are the functions , candid moments can always be captured all the times.As candid photographers usually run a lot from one place to another and with super heavy gear approx. 8kg weight of just one camera and they usually carry two cameras, to ensure that they get the same scene from various angles to have a wide variety of pictures, Also by using different lens to shoot same scene can tell a totally different story.

Traditional photographers on other hand prefer standing at one location most of the times and shooting same scene , without changing lens or trying different lighting gear to get some more variety in pictures.Not to forget how they look at the scene is different than how a candid photographer will look at scene.In short a candid photographer will give you loads of creative angle of your precious moments as seen below by utilizing his gear smartly as seen below with smart choice of lens.

Telling a story through pictures as moments unfold.

Million of moments happens during  a wedding at various stages, which the wedding couple often miss seeing as most of the times  they are busy with wedding rituals,hence to capture these beautiful moments we request to have additional photographers at wedding based on scale of the wedding,  so that you get to see all those precious  moments. Hence it is also important to have a decent size of photographers team which can tell story of your wedding day.

The association does not end their, a photographer has to ensure that albums layouts are also done neatly and in a way that narrates your Wedding Story.Below are some of the shots clicked by us showcasing moments as they unfolded.

 

So which one do you choose ?

Chose a photographer whose work you love,Never see only few pictures on social media, rather meet them , ask them to share a complete wedding picture gallery, if you love the frames they have captured, then select them  otherwise look for alternatives.Certain functions like receptions’s mainly demand only group pictures hence traditional photographer is a must.If you family members prefer having loads of group picture and you wish to have candid pictures, then hire a candid photographer who can also get a traditional photographer team, so that they can work in sync and cover the wedding.Never make a mistake of getting a different candid  & Traditional team as most of the times they will end up fighting for space and you as a client will be in loss , as both the team most of the time is just thinking of clicking pictures fast before other team comes or fighting for space, and not thinking enough on getting creatives shots.

To check some of our Wedding & Pre-wedding shots click here.