{"id":29967,"date":"2016-08-16T06:00:25","date_gmt":"2016-08-16T13:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=29967"},"modified":"2016-08-13T13:09:24","modified_gmt":"2016-08-13T20:09:24","slug":"7-tips-how-to-capture-the-decisive-moment-in-street-photography","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2016\/08\/16\/7-tips-how-to-capture-the-decisive-moment-in-street-photography\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Tips How to Capture “The Decisive Moment” in Street Photography"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Seoul,
Seoul, 2009<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“The Decisive Moment” — a fabled concept introduced by the founder of street photography (Henri Cartier-Bresson). The “decisive moment” is that beautiful fleeting moment– where all the compositional elements come together, and you only have a split second to capture the moment. How can you better capture the “decisive moment” — or better yet, identify the decisive moment?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

1. What is a “decisive moment” for you?<\/h2>\n
\"NYC,
NYC, 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To start off, you need to identify what is a “decisive moment” for you.<\/p>\n

For me, a “decisive moment” is a moment which I find personally meaningful, emotional, or stirring.<\/p>\n

When I see what is a “decisive moment” for me, I feel excited. I feel my heart thumping. I see the beauty of life. I want to capture that moment and share it with others.<\/p>\n

2. Follow your intuition<\/h2>\n
\"Santa
Santa Monica, 2010<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When I’m out on the streets, I try to follow my intuition<\/strong>. I try to get into a zen-like meditative state, when I’m walking, I don’t think of anything else. I either turn off or silence my cell phone, and I just wander the streets with no destination in mind.<\/p>\n

I keep my options open. I try not to have any pre-conceived ideas when I’m out on the streets. The less restrictive I am with my thinking, the more open I am to “decisive moments.”<\/p>\n

3. “Set it and forget it”<\/h2>\n
\"Santa
Santa Monica, 2010<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When I see a potential “decisive moment” I don’t think. I just click.<\/p>\n

In terms of technical settings, I like to “set it and forget it.” Meaning– I generally shoot in “P” (program mode, where my camera automatically chooses the aperture and shutter speed), ISO around 1600 (so I can have a fast shutter speed), center-point autofocus, and I just click.<\/p>\n

The less I worry about my camera and the technical settings, the more open I am to capture a “decisive moment.”<\/p>\n

4. Photograph what you’re afraid of<\/h2>\n
\"Berkeley,
Berkeley, 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Whenever I see a person or a scene that makes me feel afraid, that can also be a potential “decisive moment.” I use my fear as a gauge whether a scene might be interesting or not.<\/p>\n

For example, if I’m walking down the streets and I see a person or a scene that makes my heart beat fast, I make sure to take the photograph. I want to reduce any sort of regrets in my street photography.<\/p>\n

\"0-one<\/p>\n

Sometimes I see an interesting character and I walk by them. I feel nervous. I then turn back, and approach them and ask for permission to take their portrait. Sometimes they say no; most of the time they say yes.<\/p>\n

5. Look for emotion and gestures<\/h2>\n
\"Downtown
Downtown LA, 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I think the best “decisive moments” are the ones in which I see powerful gestures or emotions. I prefer not<\/em> to photograph people with their hands by their sides. Rather, I look for people who exude emotion. This can be shown through hand gestures (hands on their face, hips) or the look on their face.<\/p>\n

\"1-la<\/p>\n

I also listen to my own emotions. The days I feel alone and frustrated, I look for others who feel or look solitary on the streets. On other days when I’m feeling more extroverted and confident, I look for more joy on the streets (like kids playing, or an old couple in love).<\/p>\n

6. What is personally-meaningful to you?<\/h2>\n
\"Berkeley,
Berkeley, 2016 #cindyproject<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lastly, I look for personally-meaningful “decisive moments.” This doesn’t just need to be on the streets.<\/p>\n

When I am focusing on “personal photography” (documenting moments with the love of my life, Cindy) I make sure to always have my camera ready and on me. I look for moments when she feels stressed, anxious, happy, sad, or even mad. I try to make photographs that affirm my love for her, and sometimes even the frustration I have with her. But the key thing is that I make photos that I<\/em> find meaningful, not necessarily what others<\/em> will think is meaningful.<\/p>\n

7. Work the scene<\/h2>\n
\"SF,
SF, 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So at the end of the day, the “decisive moment” isn’t some sort of objective thing. It is whatever interests you<\/em>. And know that there are millions upon millions of “decisive moments” happening everyday. If you happen to miss a decisive moment– know that there is just another around the corner.<\/p>\n

Lastly, often you need to click the shutter a lot before you can capture or identify a decisive moment. Don’t just take 1-2 photos and run away. Always “work the scene” and take lots of photos whenever possible.<\/p>\n

\"Contact
Contact sheet<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I would rather shoot 300 photos of one scene and get 1 interesting shot, rather than taking 1-2 photos of 300 scenes.<\/p>\n

Be selective in terms of what you find interesting, but when you find that moment– try to make the best photo of that scene possible.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

Life is short, and moments are fleeting. Your job as a photographer is to capture a few decisive or meaningful moments to you, and to share that beauty with others.<\/p>\n

Never give up friend– share your vision with the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“The Decisive Moment” — a fabled concept introduced by the founder of street photography (Henri Cartier-Bresson). The “decisive moment” is that beautiful fleeting moment– where all the compositional elements come together, and you only have a split second to capture the moment. How can you better capture the “decisive moment” — or better yet, identify […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-posts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29967\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}