Unscripted Moments: A Candid Photography Experiment

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Recently, I bought myself a new phone—hence the photography rampage in my blog, snaps, and Waves activities. 😅 I didn’t mention it before, but I’ve been receiving comments asking whether I took my photos using a specific camera or if I used a phone. So, it seems the phone I got is capable of producing something worth noticing, which makes me feel relieved that my purchase actually made a difference in the quality of the photos I post here on Hive.

With that in mind, I’ve decided to stop gatekeeping the phone I’ve been using and share some of my recent captures that showcase candid photography.

I’m using the Oppo Reno 13, the basic version. There’s a Pro version with better specs, but I figured I could save a few hundred by going with the standard model. To be honest, I hadn’t planned on buying a new phone this early in the year—it just so happened that my old iPhone was already failing. I didn’t want to risk reaching a point where I couldn’t back up my data to a new phone, so I decided to get one now and start transferring everything as a precautionary measure.

I’m still learning the photography techniques that best suit this phone, so I’m getting the hang of it bit by bit. While using a phone as a camera is generally easier to handle, I still need more practice, especially when it comes to composition and stability. Many of my photos don’t have perfect alignment or are slightly skewed. I could transfer them to my laptop and fix them in Lightroom, but that feels like a waste of time—especially when editing a large batch of photos. My goal is to capture images in a way that requires minimal editing because it’s inefficient to take a ton of pictures, knowing I’ll have to spend hours fixing them later. If I’m too lazy to edit by the time I’m writing a post, I’d rather just get the shot right from the start.

Speaking of capturing photos, one of the most challenging photography styles for me is candid photography. Unlike staged shots, candid photography is all about capturing spontaneous moments—where neither the photographer nor the subject is prepared for the shot. The subject is unposed, uninstructed, and unaware of the camera, making the captured moment feel raw and authentic. It’s about preserving life as it happens in a fleeting instant, with no expectations of the outcome—or at least, that’s how I feel whenever I take candid photos like the ones I’m about to share with you.

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I’m curious—what do you usually do when you're riding the MRT or any other form of public transit? For me, I’m usually in my own zone, casually observing the people around me in the cabin. 🤣 And honestly, it’s a relief to know that most of us are doing the same.

I realized this when I started paying closer attention to people during my commutes. To my surprise, taking candid photos in such a crowded, tight space is actually much easier than I expected. At first, I thought it would be intimidating—after all, people are literally rubbing elbows with each other. I assumed I’d get caught snapping photos, but the opposite happened. People are so absorbed in their own world that they barely notice what’s happening around them.

It still blows my mind how little attention people pay to their surroundings inside the transit cabin. And with that, let me show you some of the candid photos I captured during my commute.

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Have you ever noticed that whenever you're walking down the street or in a mall, there’s always someone in front of you? I feel like no matter where I go, there’s always someone ahead of me. But I don’t see it as a bad thing.

In fact, I decided to experiment by taking photos of people walking ahead of me—whether I was on foot, riding the escalator, or waiting for the green light. Some of the shots turned out pretty interesting, at least in my opinion. But I’d love to know what you think! 😂

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For the final part of my candid photography session, I experimented with capturing silhouettes and half-silhouettes to see what kind of results this phone could produce. I took the shots in a dimly lit space, and to my surprise, the images turned out better than I expected. They weren’t as noisy as I thought they would be, and the overall quality was quite impressive.

Considering that this is just the standard model, I’m even more curious about what the Pro version is capable of. Anyway, here are a few of the shots I took!

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Photography is all about experimenting and discovering new perspectives, and this candid session reminded me how even everyday moments can turn into compelling shots. Whether it’s silhouettes, people lost in thought, or the simple act of movement, there’s always something interesting to capture. I’m excited to keep exploring and refining my technique—who knows what unexpected moments I’ll capture next?

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hive-194913 photography candid life blog neoxian appreciator singapore ecency
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102 comments
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hence the photography rampage in my blog, snaps, and Waves activities. 😅

Which is a cool thing! And it definitely influenced your rewards, as I noticed.
"rampage" is a good and proper word, I like it. 😜 !LOLZ
Candid photos with or without eye contact is a very cool thing to do.
I like some of the photos in your selection. Especially this one:

Wish you more cool walks and finds! !BEER

PS
almost forgot what I wanted to note: in a way, good smartphone may beat the camera in this field (of getting candid photos), cause, obviously: when you have a big camera with a long telephoto lens in your hands and point it at someone - said someone understands he is being photographed (and then various options are possible, but lets face the truth, unstaged photography is out of the question under such conditions). But when you have only a phone in your hands, everyone stays relaxed and doesn't notice they are being pupped. Perfect for paparazzi style! ...but, of course, to get good photos with a smartphone, it's better to have good lighting conditions too...

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Hahaha I was on a true rampage, the difference between an iPhone 7 to a new Android phone gets me pumped to keep taking photos. That's where I got the motivation from.

Candid photos with or without eye contact are a very cool thing to do.

I think this is a good point too. It's all about the moment or overall picture too. I'll think about it on my next photo walks.

And you made a good point about using big lenses for candid or street photography. The best ones are the small ones and in this case, the phone is already able to do a good job capturing the moment. And to be honest, I don't feel comfortable carrying a DSLR (if I have one) in a public space :D

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All you have said is absolutely reasonable.
Viva la difference of species!
(I do feel comfortable carrying a DSLR, the problem is a weighty backpack where I want to fit 2, 3, 4 lenses ;)))) so I usually restrict myself to 2 lens only: 50mm or wide angle, or macro + wide angle, or 70-200mm + wide angle. The less is more!) 😉

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I went on a 3-hour trek + photo walk at a nature reserve this morning and came across a pro photographer carrying DSLR+telephotos lens, bag for other gears, and a HD tripod... I'm amazed by his dedication to his craft 😲. It takes discipline and real passion to be okay with it.

Meanwhile I'm only carrying a phone 😅, but I don't think I'll survive the trek carrying all those stuff so I'm felt good afterwards.

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It takes discipline and real passion to be okay with it.

...and a strong mule's back! 😂 ofc having a car also helps. I dont have car, only bike, and I find it impossible to operate on such scale. My tripod is sitting at home 99% of time. 🙃
I mean, it all just outlines the benefits of a decent smartphone.

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I love these! I much prefer the spontaneous shots over staged shots. Capturing life, capturing moments--this is for me the greatest value of photography.

This reminds of years ago when I was in college. My best friend was a psych major and had to do 'experiments'. For her the experiments involved catching people unawares in public. She would use me as a prop. We would go into a crowded area--a subway car, Grand Central Station--and she would have me behave oddly. I was supposed to do something that might startle or surprise people. She would record their reactions. It was an interesting exercise. Although, in hindsight, I'd say it probably put me in some risky situations:))

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I think so too, capturing raw emotion or expressions has that interesting appeal that is very difficult to replicate with a staged or posed shots. Candid shots appear natural 🤩.

Oh my, I'm not sure about the culture back then but nowadays public pranks is a thing and people are usually okay with. Some will even play along.

Your best friend was ahead of her time doing public experiments. People tend to make the best reaction in public places. They will appear shock or surprised at first and then smile or laugh after knowing that it's just a social experiment 😁.

But of course, there are instances that it won't turn out well 😁.

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don't you need permission to take photo of strangers o.o. i see you take a lot of photo of meinu :)

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Hmm it's a bit tricky to ask permission for a candid shot 😅

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well after u take it? like how they do those prank videos . those people usually ask permission to show on youtube etc

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Ah, now I get what you mean. I'd rather not, never tried it before, I think it wouldn't end well. 😟

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Hello my friend. Congratulations on your new mobile phone🤝🤝 and I hope you take beautiful photos, and that you have taken very high-quality photos. To be honest, when I ride public transportation, I occupy myself with the shape of people's faces, noses, mouths, and how they dress, and I don't think any of them are bad. I only pay attention to God's creation and people's tastes.

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Being observant is not a bad thing, it's part of our nature :)

I only pay attention to God's creation and people's tastes.

True this!

Thanks, I'm enjoying the phone right now 🍻

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Thank you for liking my sentence. You have a great soul.

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You made a nice comment :) It's worth reading and upvoting too.

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You do a wonderful job with your phone! I take more of nature shots and would also love to take candid photos of random people but I’m too shy to do that.

I especially love this one

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Thanks for the nice comment and you did well spotting a good one. There was another comment saying this photo caught their attention 😁.

It's good to have your feedback as well. Have a good day!

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I do enjoy looking at the photos! You have good framing and I am looking forward to more photos!
If I may ask, what type of phone have you got;

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Thanks for the nice feedback. I'm using Oppo Reno 13 (standard model).

I'll be sharing more photos in the coming days 🙂

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I hope nobody complains when being shot stolen.. nice pics!

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So far none, probably because they know yet LOL

To be honest, there was a time when I caught someone taking a photo of me in a public place... didn't bother, and moved on. 😅

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Thats grest. Singapore is a busy place anyways. :)

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True. People are constantly moving 🏃

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Even kids there are on the rush. Lol

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True. Trying to catch with everything related to their studies 😔

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Well, that is still a good thing to the people there. Young yet organize. Here, the motto is to grow old and get a pension-spouse. No need to work hard! Lol. Or just tiktok is life! Geeez

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Or just tiktok is life!

Oh no. Not the best way to spend their time and effort :(

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Then infectious disease called internet here in our country is incurable. Unless they destruct all the cell sites here, it wont stop. Its government problem anyways so i am just sticking to my own things.

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Congratulations! A lot of people seem to have forgotten that phones take pictures too, besides scrolling all day, haha. First - new era, second - you preserve memories, third - you make a bigger phone bill. And instead of wondering where your paycheck goes, just buy a new model - problem solved, haha. Plus, what's better than capturing a memory you'll never see again because your storage is full of 2485 photos of coffees and random clouds.

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I know right? It may not be perfect but phones have good cameras too.

Hmm I'm constantly deleting photos from my phone once I posted it here in Hive. And then I also delete the ones that aren't any good. :D

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Try transferring them to a USB, HDD, or memory card. There's no such thing as a bad picture, haha... just a lack of makeup or filters. 😱🤯😆🤣

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I was this when I had my first smartphone, memory isn't great back then, but nowadays I just feel like keeping the good ones and instantly delete the ones that I don't feel keeping :D

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because your storage is full of 2485 photos of coffees and random clouds.

lol

good comment, I !LUV it. !BEER

The more information you accumulate with years, the harder it becomes to find something you are searching. It is very important to organize your photo archive in a proper way, to be able to search what you need later.

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Yeah, or you just stop taking pictures every time the cappuccino foam shifts, haha. Personally, I put the pictures in folders as soon as I take them because it saves me time searching. If I haven't put them in, then they're for my special folder - trash. I usually don't delete because every photo is a memory.

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Some very interesting pictures my friend

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Thanks! I'm glad you like the shots.

Cheers!

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As many people in your photos I am doing my phone :) I check the sns, sometimes read the book, chat with friends or watch something :)

!BBH

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Me too. Sometimes, I just take a nap, but then I come back to check on it.

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When I am super tired I can sleep so deeply, so even miss my stop :)

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This tends to happen to me (sometimes) during my late night travels, few passengers, I could sleep the entire travel. 😂

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What a great picture quality the phone has.

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I agree. And to think it's just the standard model, I bet the Pro version will do better job processing the photos.

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Phone camera nowadays are really taking the photography world by storm. Sometimes I rather just whip up my phone rather than taking out my mirrorless dslr.

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Phone camera nowadays are really taking the photography world by storm

I checked Huawei a few days ago and I was o.o on how good it is. Double the price though 😁

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Haha honestly iPhone has really impressed me loads and it is easy to use.

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Wah you just take photos of random people? o.O

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Yeah for this photo walk 😅

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Haha I see!

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Not something that I would advise 😜

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Hehe yeah I know!

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The candid shots were amazing!

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Thanks! I'm glad you like the photos 😊

And for the reblog too!

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Maybe Sony is better, I also have an Oppo now.

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Nowadays, there are so many good options. The other day I tested Huawei, and I'm blown away. Double the price but double the power too.

I'll check Sony next time :)

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Mainly relies on software algorithm optimization

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!PIZZA

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Thanks for the !PIZZA 🍕

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Great, captures good photos. I love it.

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Thank you! I'm glad that you notice the photos.

Have a good day 😊

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Candid photography is one of the best art where you can capture the real emotions of the subject.

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Thanks for the input. I would be grateful if you could share a link where I could read more about candid photography.

I'm eager to learn more about it.

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I need to research first about this one @curamax if ever I could find it.

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That's so cool. Thank you so much 🙏

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"Such a beautiful reflection on the art of photography! You’re absolutely right—sometimes the most ordinary moments can create the most extraordinary images. The way you embrace experimentation and discover new perspectives is inspiring. I’m sure your journey will lead to even more incredible shots. Can’t wait to see where your creative eye takes you next!"

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I hope so too. Thanks @josim100, I'm glad you like the photos. 👍

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Hi,
You have replied to AI-generated comment.

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Hmm I thought he was sincere 😢.

Anyway, thanks @hivewatchers, I will mute that account. Good service!

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Almost no person is that eloquent in expressing themselves. Certainly not someone from Bangladesh who is unlikely to have such a high English skill, that even most native English don't :-)

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I'm now realizing it after checking his blog page. Oh man, seems I have to pay more attention to each new user that comment or engage with my post.

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Hehe yeah, we need to be careful nowadays when we interact online. You never know if we talk a to real person :-)

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"Your photos are truly amazing! Looking forward to seeing more wonderful moments. 📸✨"

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A very beautiful picture of you

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Thank you! I'm glad you like the photos.

!PIZZA

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I them Alot and also which you will like mine

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That's good to know. Cheers friend!

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Please I also want you to like mine

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I also want you to like mine

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The photos you shared are really beautiful and amazing.

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