Comment by geeunits
15 hours ago
I find photographers have a particular knack of seeing 'just slightly into the future'. Almost like the eyes are constantly analysing environmental studies and able to form a sixth sense for patterns and predictability. Most notable would be Henri Cartier-Bresson who coined much of the concepts of 'the decisive moment'
Bresson is from a time where you had 38 shots maximum, before you need to reload your camera. It takes an immense amount of attention, but also you’re statistically unlikely to take the kind of photo that you can get today (eg most of these bird images).
My current camera takes 20 photos per second sustained AND comes with a pre-buffer that captures 2s of images before you press the trigger. It’s wild!
(I don’t take photos anywhere near Bresson’s but still, it helps)
I don't do much sports or concert photography these days--or indeed a lot of photography outside of my iPhone--but I observe that while I still have some photos from film days that I think are pretty decent, being able to just shoot thousands of photos of some event helps to get the few keepers.
Getting expressions/the way people are aligned/etc. is just so unpredictable that, even if you're in the a reasonable location to shoot and the light is generally good, high-speed shooting and maybe thousands of frames helps to beat a few rolls of film. Even pros with motor drives were relatively constrained.
As others have observed though, there's also planning and just spending the time. The favorite photo I've taken in Death Valley over many visits is a fairly standard location/view but the sky is just really unusual for the area. I suppose these days (or really at the time given enough skill and imagination), I could just have done a photo-composite.
I've done a lot of street photography, and yeah I think the fundamental skill is scanning the environment, then predicting what will happen in order to snap the perfect shot. For example, you might see a fence making an interesting shadow, then figure out how to position yourself such that passers-by fit into the scene.
In practice, you end up standing around and waiting a lot. Moving quickly through a city is almost guaranteed to result in missing some great shots. (Saying this from experience.)
I take wildlife shots but mainly for the record, which I post on iNaturalist. On occasion, I do need to see 'slightly into the future' for some shots, like predicting where birds and flying insects might be when I'm tracking them for shots. (This can be hard for pollinating insects flying from flower to flower.)
I'm sure there's a talent to it, but practice helps a ton. I'm certainly not comparing myself to Cartier-Bresson, but in the very specific type of photography I regularly shoot (youth sports) you learn the rhythm and patterns and what to look out for. I'd imagine street or wildlife photography is much the same. Patience, practice, and accepting that 99% of the picture you make will be crap.
I’m not anything but an enthusiastic hack, but the 99% rings true. I’ve made a goal for myself to get just one photo I’m happy with of as many cat species in the wild as I can. It’s taken me about ten thousand shots to cross off lion, cheetah, and leopard. Going to shoot bobcats in California for four days in a couple months, and I suspect I’ll get lots of interesting photos, but I’ll be very lucky to get “the shot”.
Ooo bobcats! I live in the bay area near Tilden Park, and I spent a while on iNaturalist trying to figure out where the bobcats hang out, as my 6 year old is very interested in wild cats. I realized sadly that bobcats are usually out at morning/evening, when we are not in the parks. Still used the bobcat stalking as an excuse to take a walk in Tilden today though.
What's your approach to finding the bobcat locations for your shot?
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Have you ever shared "the shot"s you got of those 3 cats? Would love to see them if you have :) Best of luck with the bobcat!
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