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Decisive Moment


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I have found that my most "decisive moment"-like images have come mostly from happenstance by having my camera at a lucky moment, but also from going to areas at a certain times, and knowing that chances for certain things happening in such an aera are high. Then it's just knowing when to grab the shot.
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I think the decisive moment has to be more than one particular occurance in the frame to be concidered a decisive moment photograph. The entire frame has to sing decisive moment. Every item possible should relate to the main predominant moment.<br><br>

 

HCBs famous decisive moment pic<br><br>

 

"<a href="http://www.cc.gatech.edu/~potts/Photo.Manipulation/hcb.html">a man attempting to leap a puddle in Paris</a> blurred in flight, caught just at the moment before the inevitable splash, the tiny gap between his leading foot and its reflection riveting our attention; as well as being mirrored in the water the leap is also repeated by the dancer in posters on the fence behind (and, less obviously by the hands of the station clock.) Here we have the text-book example of the 'decisive moment'." - from a website I kinda lost when typing this up..........sorry to whoever said this.<br><br>

 

As seen it is the entire frame working together....not just one item.<br><br>

 

On another note......regarding decisive moment.....I am beginning to think that the amount of actual decisive moment pics........even by HCB...are minimal. I think the label is getting slapped on a lot of things that aren't. Even some quotes ive read from HCB seem to indicate that he wasn't so much interested in the decisive moment to the level the puddle pic displays...........but just the whole concept of making the frame work together. It is a moment, and it is decisive, but it does not have to so much imply motion, persay. Thats the part I think people are taking wrong.<br><br>

 

For instance the man and the ball above. What grant means, im sure, is that, yeah, the man and the ball relationship may be a decisive moment, but the rest of the pic does nothing to enforce this. If those couple guys on the upper right heads were doing something to also follow the ball, and maybe one of them still watching the guy.............and then the guy on the upper left doing anything besides reading the newspaper (well, at least looking at the man, the ball, or the other guys)..........I think the pic would be that much more decisive.........and also be much more in line what HCB meant by the term.<br><br>

 

Actually, I dont think decisive moment pics even have to have motion......but they do have to have numerous relationships between diferrent items in the frame........something tht is not likely to happen again in that configuration for a long time

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Bill, it's nothing personal at all..... None of these photos are "decisive moments" and none of them work. There are too many elements, both in content and form, that don't complement each other. What Grant and Thomas are saying is legitimate, and is in fact constructive criticism. It's important to try to be objective in assessing your own work.
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<p>Are decisive moments in scenes of sports (although these are not sports photos per se) different from those in sp?</p>

<p>I agree that a decisive moment often consists of more than one element. But I think you can get a good sp without it being all "decisive moment".</p>

<p>I don't have many sp shots I'd consider being "decisive moments" in the sense of many elements, but very often, if not always, capturing a specific moment is critical to a good shot. The shot below, for example. I saw that woman on the other side of the caution tapes loaded with bags. I pulled the camera to my eye from across the street, and under my breath said "c'mon, do it!" Ten seconds later she did. The red hand was just luck. So this has a number of supporting elements. But I still don't think of it as all "decisive moment" - just timing, and being ready for a scene to develop, and sometimes getting lucky.</p>

 

<center><img src=http://www.johnsidlo.com/images/CautionCrop2sm.jpg /><p>CAUTION!</p></center>

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I should have. That is how I show a busy place without making a busy composition. Only photographer like you will be distracted by the half faces. Casual viewers like me even missed the most interesting part at the first glance.

 

 

=8-)

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It's a mistake to write off Jamie's comment. It applies whether someone is a photographer or not. The photo is ill-composed and cluttered, looking like a family snapshot that other people inadvertently populate. The kissing couple carry no weight or significance.<p>

 

As has been pointed out, none of these photos demonstrate "the decisive moment." If anything, they demonstrate how difficult good street photography is. In the same way that you can't take a camera and tripod into the woods and come back with great nature shots, you can't walk out on the street with a camera and take great street shots.

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The photo I posted and the comment follows are just for fun. It was a snapshot, after all. And that is part of the fun. I was joking about the term "photographer" in my comment.

<p>

Here is a quote of Elliot Ewritt (in "interviews with master photographers")

<p>

<i>

... The failing that I see in most photographers is abolute seriousness, which drive me up a tree. Photographers are really very pompous and very serious, generally speaking.

</i>

<p>

Seriously (with out a smiley), this is the only "decisive moment" I have taken. You can even write an essay about it.

<p>

<img src="http://www.photo.net/bboard/image?bboard_upload_id=17104784">

<p>

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