Candid Photography

The Unguarded Moment: What Street Photography Taught Me About Capturing People Authentically
Video Tutorials

The Unguarded Moment: What Street Photography Taught Me About Capturing People Authentically

There’s a tension I’ve carried since my wedding photography days that I never quite had a name for. When I’d lift the camera during the ceremony, guests would stiffen. The flower girl would stop being a flower girl and start being a performer. I’d get the shot, but I’d lose the moment. It took me years of working in retouching - staring at the difference between a face that’s alive and a face that’s posing - to understand what was actually happening.

How to Ask Strangers for Photos: Field Lessons from a 10-Minute NYC Street Portrait Challenge
Video Tutorials

How to Ask Strangers for Photos: Field Lessons from a 10-Minute NYC Street Portrait Challenge

There is a particular kind of paralysis that hits even experienced photographers the moment they consider walking up to a complete stranger and asking to take their picture. I spent years doing wedding work, photographing people in high-emotion moments, and I still felt that knot in my stomach the first time I tried street portraits. The technical side of photography is something you can practice alone in a studio. The human side, the actual asking, has to be learned in the field, usually through a string of awkward moments before it clicks.