04/30/2026
candid does NOT mean no direction.
to be real, we still need to guide couples along to capture candid photos ➡️ Especially the ones where the couple is together during portrait time.
We can’t just say, “go stand next to that tree and be yourselves!”
There’s so much involved with good candid/documentary photography ⬇️
✨THE GOOD LIGHT
most couples aren’t going to position themselves in the best lighting situations naturally. That one’s typically on us as photographers
✨YOUR TONE OF VOICE
ain’t no way your couple is going to show up authentically and look natural if your voice sounds belittling or the opposite of encouraging.
✨GUIDING BY INSPIRATION
This one I need to explain — your couple should think whatever they do to show their way of loving is the right way. Be inspired as a photographer by the way they naturally hold each other, by the way they naturally touch, and then you can build from there. This will keep your couple in their own comfort zone — which is especially nice if they requested candid over editorial images.
✨BE A WITNESS NOT A JUDGE
The second you start critiquing their style, their decor, their intentional choices, you’ve already lost the whole idea. Show up and shoot everything in a way you find to be beautiful. Slow down, take in those moments where he looks at her from across the room and CAPTURE THE F OUT OF IT. You are capable of making a little league game look like the World Series.
✨NEVER PUT YOUR CAMERA DOWN
Seriously don’t. Keep it up, keep it on you, show up with it ready to shoot. This has changed everything for me on the wedding days and it keeps me constantly alert and anticipating the moments. Big or small or the ones you could never see coming. that’s the exciting thing about weddings — unpredictable in the most alluring ways.
“You will miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
