Photography: Staged vs. Spontaneous

When it comes to photography there are many different ways people will try, in order to capture the perfect image.

Two of the choices they have when photographing something like a musician, is whether they want the photograph to be staged or spontaneous.

Staged photographs, like the one on the bottom of the band A Day To Remember, give a very organised sense to the person looking at the image. While this method of photographing the artist will allow you to capture the exact image you want, thus being able to create the exact effect that you want. It has less of a personal feel to it, and may seem very forced, depending on how the artist is instructed to pose.

On the other hand, there are spontaneous photographs, like the image of Band of Horses featured at the top. This image would obviously have been harder to capture, as the photographer would have given the artist no real directions as to how they should behave. Therefore they would have to take many more photos in order to find one they thought was perfect. This method is good as it gives of a realistic sense of the artist, as they are positioned in a way that they felt comfortable, rather than how the photographer thought they should be. It gives more of a personal feeling to the photograph as it seems to truly capture the essence of that artist.

In my opinion, spontaneous photographs are better in this case, as it allows the artist to look natural, and will overall give off a better impression.