Not sure if I can express this question clearly enough to avoid off-the-rail and tangential responses, but here goes…

I’m trying to better understand and improve my reactions in response to shooting situations where things change (or could potentially change) rapidly - the subject moves, backgrounds or other visual elements change, lighting changes, etc. In those scenarios the photographer may have to make quick decisions - reposition himself, move the camera, change settings, etc. This need for quick mental assessments also applies to situations where the photographer is rushed to take a shot, as in a spontaneous event or fleeting moment (e.g., Eisenstaedt’s photo of the couple kissing in Times Square). In the Wikipedia article on Cartier-Bresson there is a reference to “…gut reactions to fleeting situations that he had happened upon.”

I’m not talking here about quickness in manipulating camera adjustments; that’s a matter of knowing your camera and practice. I’m talking about mental quickness in taking in a dynamic scene where the positions, qualities, relative strengths, etc, of its visual elements change.

So, the question is: Can quickness in photographically appraising a situation, and making the appropriate reaction decisions, be learned and improved? Or are some of us more “deliberate” thinkers, more suited for something like table-top photography, where we can play around with the lighting and position of the visual elements? Do some of us have innate physiological and/or psychological traits that are essentially fixed and limit our ability to engage in photography in dynamic scenarios such as photojournalism, sports and street?

Wise words of wisdom are always appreciated!

Interesting comments from you all; much appreciated.

I want to emphasize again that, as important as it is to learn and practice getting what you want out of the camera, in this topic I'm trying to concentrate more on the front end, the way we mentally process changing visual information and then make the decisions BEFORE we do anything with the camera.

I am not very good at quickly analyzing and processing visual data when faced with a dynamic scenario. One example would be watching a soccer match. I have trouble reconstructing the plays leading to a goal if the action was very fast (much easier with slow-mo replays!) So, when photographing in such a scenario, even with proper camera settings, I'm likely to come up with just a bunch of "delete" pictures.

But this is just one example of reading, or not being able to read, the big picture when the visual components of that picture are jumping around. As I mentioned in my original post, a similar situation occurs with fleeting events. Not that I aspire to the quickness of visual information processing of an Eisenstaedt or Cartier-Bresson, but can I at least improve a little?

As I was pondering the aspect of "deliberate thinkers," Gene confirmed they exist One person on UHH comes to mind as being the total opposite of me regarding technique (including very careful exposure) and preparation: rmalarz. I have come to love not knowing what's around the next corner, reacting spontaneously.

So if you find that not having the time to carefully compose and think is more stressful than pleasurable, maybe that is indeed just who you are.

But I want to mention again the importance of observation (at all times, not just on photo outings), and also of thinking less literally. Consider not only the light and shadows, but shapes, textures and out-of-ordinary: things that wouldn't normally go together and contrasts: of color, certainly, but also concepts like old/new.

These ideas may not sound relevant to "reacting quickly" but I think they are all part of the package, a way to get out of the analytical left brain and more into the creative right brain.

This is going to be a boring pic for most viewers, but it represents what I mean about being observant to "different." I actually turned the car around and went back for this shot

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It helps if you know the sport and the team / players. Soccer is a "long" game with few substitutions. Even with two teams you've never covered, you should begin to see the ball fed to particular players more often than others as well as the style of ballhandling by each player. Use that knowledge to anticipate their positions and movement and prepare your camera (zoom, focus point, shutterspeed, etc) in anticipation. 1 keeper is all you need from a sequence so don't be disappointed by the deleted images needed to achieve that one keeper.

Know too your depth of field. If in daylight, leverage a smaller aperture and set your focus points on the player's upper chest that is easier to follow than their head / eyes. At f/5 or smaller, depending in distance, you should have a great focus on the player's face even if your focus was on their chest.

Interesting comments from you all; much appreciated.

I want to emphasize again that, as important as it is to learn and practice getting what you want out of the camera, in this topic I'm trying to concentrate more on the front end, the way we mentally process changing visual information and then make the decisions BEFORE we do anything with the camera.

I am not very good at quickly analyzing and processing visual data when faced with a dynamic scenario. One example would be watching a soccer match. I have trouble reconstructing the plays leading to a goal if the action was very fast (much easier with slow-mo replays!) So, when photographing in such a scenario, even with proper camera settings, I'm likely to come up with just a bunch of "delete" pictures.

But this is just one example of reading, or not being able to read, the big picture when the visual components of that picture are jumping around. As I mentioned in my original post, a similar situation occurs with fleeting events. Not that I aspire to the quickness of visual information processing of an Eisenstaedt or Cartier-Bresson, but can I at least improve a little?

To all of this, that ugly component always has to raise its ugly head...., TALENT!
Just like some can always hit the basket or hit the ball, some will always have more ability to produce that shot. Just like sports, we need to train to stay crisp but the Talent component is what produces those OUTSTANDING shots, shot after shot.
We can’t train talent in but we can maximize the talent we do have.
Now to do it in a heartbeat as the scene presents itself is again to have developed that instant response to shoot the scene that our talent can spot that others may miss or never even see!
And the traning to position ourselves where those situations will be more likely to present themselves that give us the opportunity to even capture the scene.
SS