by Photographer Jess
So what is it that you want out of your pictures? Sometimes we look at others' photos and think, "That's so incredible!" But why? Why do we think it's incredible? Is it the spontaneity? The expression? The location? The angle? What makes you stop and go, "Ahhh. I love that."? Let's examine several famous photos and break down each one, looking at how all these things play their part.
SpontaneityNothing inspires ahhh like a real moment frozen in time. Everyone remembers this hugely famous image from the ending of WWII:
The sailor kissing a woman in Times Square
Talk about being at the right place at the right time! This image captured for everyone the feeling of the day. The raw emotion that was being played out in hearts all over the country. You didn't need to know this couple to know what they were feeling and for it to strike a cord with you. That is just the incredible beauty of this image. We, as the viewer, get it; completely and even without a caption.
When you are taking pictures to capture spontenaeity, you not only need to be in the right place at the right time but you need to know what moment will be a defining moment of that day. You need to see it coming before it happens. I highly doubt the couple in the photo above was lip locked for very long! But other couples were kissing and had been kissing and this photographer put himself in the best place to hopefully capture some kissing!
John and Jacqueline Kennedy at their wedding
The Young Afghan Girl
These are spontaneous moments that are not posed or scripted. The photographer just perfectly captured a moment in time that we never want to forget once we've seen it.
Are your pictures usually posed or spontaneous? Which end up being your favorites?
Talk about being at the right place at the right time! This image captured for everyone the feeling of the day. The raw emotion that was being played out in hearts all over the country. You didn't need to know this couple to know what they were feeling and for it to strike a cord with you. That is just the incredible beauty of this image. We, as the viewer, get it; completely and even without a caption.
Comments (21)
I love spontaneous above all else. Those are the moments that truly capture life as it is and us as we are.
I usually go for the spontaneous shots and I would have to say hands down they are my favorites.
Both. I like the spontaneous ones better.
I like spontaneous ones more.....I feel that the posed ones are really designed for those that are photogenic which I am not. My posed pictures look horrible.
I love random pictures. Anything, anywhere, anytime. Just grab a camera and go. I'd have to agree Lady_Kelacy.
i like both actually... sometimes posed comes out looking amazing (if they can find that angle to make ANYONE look beautiful that is..) and candid shots are just great overall... shows you at your best (or worst).
i've seen that picture of the afghan girl before... never have forgotten it either! i think it's the intensity in her eyes that make it so memorable for me.
Hello. I'm just reading blogs to occupy my mine. I like your topic point. Photography is nothing without spontanity.(spell error.)
Spontaneous pictures are always great! (in my opinion) Posed ones usually have a 50/50 chance of being good or horrid. (in reference to year book pictures, yikes!) But say, posed family photos, those usually turn out nice. But, candid shots are usually more breathtaking than posed pictures.
Spontaneous pictures are, hands down, the best. It shows true emotion and that's what draws me in. Anyone can do a "Say 'Cheese!'" smile but the "We're all really happy!" smiles are so much more beautiful!! I think the problem is that when we're taking pictures we're too busy looking for the perfect pose that we don't open our eyes to see the great shot sitting right in front of us.
i take my camera EVERYWHERE i go...its either in my backpack or my purse. because of that, i take pictures like 24/7. :P its probably a good thing i don't have kids yet... i took a weekend vaca to west virginia, took like 600 pictures in two days. lots of scenery pics, all but a few (so most) are spontainous. "oo i like that lets take a pic!" or the infamous "*shouts out persons name*, they look, you snap pic" picture :P
~Kelly
I think that everyone wants to be posed for some pictures... just to make sure they have the elements they want to capture as memories... but the best ones (almost) always end up being the best because it's something that the person in the photo will always remember... but they had no idea that they would have an actual piece of it frozen in time on paper =]
My daughter poses spontaneously! Seriously, she was at soccer the other day running down the field practicing and as soon as she saw the camera man, she stopped and posed.
Here's the link to the picture
http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/orderpage.aspx?pi=04DH00FF000028&po=28
I love the spontaneous ones too - but I am too slow usually to get what I wanted, so most of the time have to deal with posed ones - on the other hand I am not that much good at anything that is close to portraiture as these are. More into the nature pics where my own personal photography is concerned.
Well, posed pictures don't turn out well for me (especially the ones I've been thinking about for forever) and I always miss the spontaneous ones by a fraction of a second.
Actually, my very best pictures happen when I'm totally joking.
I'll be like "HA HA!" *snap, *snap*, "Whoa...that actually turned out to be pretty fantastic."
http://i36.tinypic.com/24yckkz.jpg
I actually have pictures that aren't portraits, but still.
That one happened on accident like 2 or 3 years ago. I honestly didn't think it would turn out like that.
the pictures that i take, i'm not exactly sure if they're posed or spontaneous. i guess i'd say they're spontaneous just due to the fact that i when i see the setting sun or this brilliant light in my backyard or water drops on my grass or something of the sort, i go "omg ! i gotta go get my camera !". but i guess it's not the spontaneous you're thinking of. xD
at times, i take seeveral pictures of one thing at once, and i usually get a really nice one that i like. (:
nice post !
there is of course always the problem that a spontaneous photo ends up looking so perfect it simply must of been posed and becomes criticised for no reason. When the eyes truly speak you know you have a good photo though.
I like spontaneous vs. posed. Like someone said, some people are photogenic and well, others like myself have to work to make the picture "perfect".
Just capturing the simplicity or core of the subject
i've been taking a lot of pictures of my kids and usually i have to semi-pose them to even see their face. i think with the recent crazy boom with "journalistic" photography - and i predict this is totally a fad - think the "classic" wedding shot of the whole party jumping in the air. for me there's barely a line between posed and unposed. the picture of the afghan girl - really, if you think about it, it's posed. she's looking directly into the camera... she knows what's going on. i have one on my site that i would say is basically posed... i put up a black sheet, plunked my kid down on it, and waited till i got the expression that i wanted. totally posed. but i didn't tell her what i wanted, i just set up the background and waited until she did her thing. maybe it's a mix of spontaneous.
after several years of seeing the exact same jumping in the air bride and groom shots for years, i'm ready for our photography to move back towards the posed side - with a focus on lighting and technique, and not just expressions.thanks for the post though. it makes us think, which is always good for amateurs!spontaneous ones are way better than posed ones, unless you are working with a professional photographer who helps you pose to the utmost advantage, in which case those will look better... but still the candid is more interesting =)
I think it depends upon the event being captured. The subjects in posed photographs sometimes appear very unnatural, which is why I like spontaneous photographs. But I have seen many posed photographs which depict a lot of emotion and a create a whole story through the lighting, the angle and the facial expressions while not losing the focal point of the shot. Spontaneous shots are very difficult to capture, and if the photograph is taken even a millisecond too soon or too late, it can ruin the atmosphere of the picture, but if captured at the right moment, they tend to be some of the most memorable photographs in my mind.