Lesson Info
25. The Decisive Moment
Lessons
Class Introduction - Three Steps To Creative Photography
03:48 2Firing The Creative Mind - Part 1: The Camera Points Both Ways
03:10 3Firing The Creative Mind - Part 2: Letting Go Of Judgement
06:53 4Firing The Creative Mind - Part 3: Detaching From Outcomes
04:12 5Practicing Mindfulness In Photography
02:43 6Finding The Visual Narrative
02:39 7Behind-the-scenes: Naples
07:52 8Seeing Beneath The Surface Of Things
02:30Finding Inspiration
03:19 10Slowing Down
03:57 11Three Reasons To Shoot RAW
02:29 12Choosing the Right Frame Format
03:52 13Don’t Be Limited By The Shape Of Your Camera
05:07 14WYSIWYG
04:15 15Choosing Lenses
05:02 16Perspective
02:44 17Considering Foreground And Background
03:10 18Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad But Three Into Two Is Better
03:43 19Separate And Isolate
02:32 20The Art Of Creative Exposure
06:38 21Focus On The Story
04:20 22The Passage Of Time
03:00 23Creating A Visual Sense Of Mood
04:24 24Color vs. Black & White
03:09 25The Decisive Moment
03:00 26Using Color As A Cohesive Tools
01:51 27Photography Is A Two-Part Process
06:55 28Case Study: Recreating The Art of Sumi-e
07:04 29Case Study: Making Something Out of Nothing
04:32 30Case Study: Moody Blues
03:29 31Image Reviews
03:02 32Image Review: The “Thinking Man”
01:55 33Image Review: The Golf Course
02:32 34Image Review: Dreamstate
02:38 35Image Review: Gone Fishing
02:24 36Image Review: Promenade
01:47 37Image Review: Sky and Reflections
01:57 38Image Review: Grass and Field
02:20 39Final Word: Show Me What The World Looks Like To You
04:44Lesson Info
The Decisive Moment
One of the great gifts of photography, I think, is his ability to observe suspending time and record for posterity, character full moments in life that normally passed by unnoticed and are lost in the giant vault of undescended history. Sally Gardner is one of the most influential collections of photographs of all time. Shot in 18 78 by the British photographer Edward My Bridge, the collection was created using a then revolutionary technique called instantaneous photography, which essentially was the photographic world's first ever motor drive to cut a long an interesting story short. One of the images proved conclusively that a horse, when galloping at one point, has all four hooves off the ground and that this occurred when the legs were gathered beneath the body and not extended, as had been depicted in paintings for centuries. In terms of human knowledge, it could be said it captured the decisive moment. Except it didn't. The decisive moment is a phrase attributed to the iconic Fre...
nch photographer and founder of modern photojournalism, Henri Cartier Bresson. His disposition went beyond the simplicity of timing to the exact moment the peak of action happening in front of the camera corresponded with the optimum composition in the frame. It's an important distinction. Essentially, what Cartier Bresson was saying was, the decisive moment isn't necessarily the best moment or the rarest one or the one hardest to capture. It's the one best represented in the camera. In other words, as a photographer, as well as paying close attention to the best moment, you also have to be mindful of where in the frame you position that moment, this image is a perfect example of a decisive moment. Now, pretty much any time of a tiger running in snow is the best moment. But this image goes beyond the singular dimension of action. The tiger is perfectly positioned center frame to draw your attention and hold it. The implied diagonal adds visual energy. Its gaze is staring you straight in the eye, creating tension between subject and viewer. And the eye level perspective adds to that tension. And finally the extended pores suspended just above the snow, creating separation between object and ground, which adds a sense of movement. So we have an iconic subject, compelling action, compositional integrity, dynamic perspective and separation, all coming together in one cohesive frame. The decisive moment All in all, what I'm saying here is photography isn't just looking at events and pressing the shutter release indiscriminately at the same time. Your eyes are observing the moment your mind must be assessing nuances of composition and design is multitasking at the speed of a computer, and it's not easy. But then, if it was, everyone would be doing it. After all, everyone owns a camera, right?
Ratings and Reviews
Gary Hook
Wow, what a wonderful journey. I love the concept of telling a story with one's photos and as I go through past images, I'm seeing them in a much different perspective. That's the good news, The bad? The lost opportunities I never 'saw' before; however that is a good thing. There is so much to internalize with the material so that it can get out of the head and into the 'heart'. I also found the concept really helps me with composition, both in camera and post. Biggest take away, as Chris underscored in his closing, is to slooooow down, take the time and feel it. Don't be so quick to leave one scene as there remain other aspects, yet to be discovered. A great experience that I truly enjoyed Thank you
Glenda
I loved this course - in particular the latter part of it in which he demonstrated how post processing lets you really tell the story of the image. Another fabulous course. Thanks Chris & thanks Creative Live.
Abdullah Alahmari
Thanks a lot to mr. Chris Weston This course is great and It is a 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 course for me. Beside the other course ( mastering photographic composition and visual storytelling) both courses are Complementing to each other and highly recommended.
Student Work
Related Classes
Fundamentals