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STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

The Decisive Moments

“Photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as of a precise organisation of forms which give that event its proper expression.”

Famous photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson described the Decisive Moment” in Photography.

Interpreted to daily life in photography this means that you find a scene of interest, select the framing you expect to be good and wait for the moment when the interesting things happen.

This can be the basketball players in the top photo where I waited for a good expression. I took 32 pictures of that one scene and ended up with three good pictures to save.

“The Decisive Moment” in the Basketball series is when there is good action and emotions. The scene is selected. The aperture, ISO and shutter speed are selected. The rest is about sensing what happens and having a bit of luck.

In the photo below I observed a man doing exercise in a park. 

The elements in the picture are a double bench and trees making a clear line and balance point to the man training his body.

After finding the motive and selecting the frame it’s just a matter of waiting until something of interest happens in the chosen scene.

The two pictures shown here were taken during the recent Paris street photo workshop.

Photographed with Leica M9 and the 50mm Summilux f1.4 ASPH lens.

Below is a screenshot of the series shot at the Basketball field. 32 pictures were taken and three of them were selected for the portfolio.