Capture The Moment

Pro photographers have known for years the magical ability to just capture a moment when they press the shutter at just the right millisecond. Occasionally such moments can be planned, and regularly they can not. Occasionally they are just there, and you have to snap it without thought for composition or lighting or any of the other elements we all know are urgent for quality photography.

As an example, you can plan for a photograph full of the energy of the wind when somebody or a vehicle crosses the line of sight.

Or when you know something galvanizing is prepared to happen, like the arrival of a baby, having a camera prepared for that first moment of life could lead to an amazing picture. Such life moments can be caught if you are prepared with your ability and talent and apparatus.

That moment when just the right elements come together for surprising composition, is often nothing that you may have planned or set up. Latterly my partner and I escaped and spent a weekend in the mountains where, one evening at dinner, we were seated on the veranda of the dining room. Just as our salads were served, the sun moved from behind clouds and the brilliant metal roofs of mountain homes were illuminated across the meadow. Bright red and green and blue and grey roof colours flooded our senses as if a bucket-full of marbles had been tossed against the green and brown mountainside.

The sight was so full of energy and virility that we could hardly talk with the vibrancy of it all.

That moment wasn't planned. It just happened. Often such experiences can be imagined ahead of the circumstance. As an example, you know a crop moon will be a magnificent sight, and you can make arrangements for shooting it by being in the right spot at the right time. The unpredictable can be made easily controllable with a little forethought.

You can imagine what may be, before it truly occurs. Demonstrating patience may open doors for a selection of abnormally composed stills, particularly if you want to attend on just the right natural light, or shade, or form or energy.