Glasgow, 23/11/07
A friend of mine recently had a "saw this and thought of you" moment while flicking through the Wired "how to" wiki. On the site, there is an article on how to "snap killer candids" by paparazzo Ron Galella and reading through it, I begun questioning the advice given especially if read by a beginner.
There are, unsurprisingly, a couple of tips explaining the importance of light and how to harness hallways and low ceilings for bounce flash, and there is even a neat trick of "inverting the light". Of course the inevitable "don't pose your subject" section seems a little redundant in that the article is about candids, by definition unposed.
As a "purist" I've always tried to get the composition and exposure just right in camera and aim to do little or no cropping wherever possible. Galella's advice then, to "compose later" irks me more than it probably should. By all means, correct a photo in photoshop, but it surely makes sense to make that a last resort rather than a beginning philosophy.
The final piece of sage advice is the classic...
"Rely on Burst Mode. If you shoot 6 pics, at least one will likely come out good."
...Of course, for a beginner this must seem like perfect advice. Just stick your finger down and trigger it. At least one of the shots will be ok. With this reasoning though, I could suggest that you all go out today and buy six lottery tickets because it is likely at least one of them will be a winner. You might strike it lucky, but you might not.
This little gem is anathema to me, at the very least when shooting street or candid. If you're shooting sports, burst mode is an almost inescapable inevitability but if you are out on the street photographing life as it happens, there is little more satisfying than opening the shutter at that "decisive" moment.
When it comes down to it, you get from photography what you put in. Taking time, walking the streets, staying alert, seeing an opportunity, composing in camera and patiently waiting for the right moment to occur may bag you a photo like Cartier-Bresson's classic "Behind the Gare St Lazare". Following the advice of the famous paparazzo by being opportunistic and trigger happy, you might be lucky enough to catch a Paris Hilton in her bikini. From my comparatively young and relatively uncynical outlook, I know what photo I'd rather take.
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