Decisive Moment or Spray and Pray
May 15, 2014 15:52:10 #
I occasionally hear about waiting for "The Decisive Moment," an expression attributed to Henri Cartier-Bresson. The purists say that the "spray and pray" approach is amateurish. The term itself (spray and pray) is a put down of the practice. They say one should wait for the right moment and then get that single, perfect shot. They probably shoot with 8 X 10 cameras with individual negatives.
Waiting for the right moment might be a good idea, if you know exactly when that moment will arrive. Like playing the stock market, if you know in advance what is going to happen, "planning" is much easier.
Naturally, a photographer should take care in deciding when to shoot, but taking five shots, rather than just one, gives him five times the chance of capturing a good image.
I just happened to see another article on this topic, so I thought I'd post my opinion.
http://www.digitalphotomentor.com/do-you-wait-for-the-decisive-moment-or-do-you-spray-and-pray/
Waiting for the right moment might be a good idea, if you know exactly when that moment will arrive. Like playing the stock market, if you know in advance what is going to happen, "planning" is much easier.
Naturally, a photographer should take care in deciding when to shoot, but taking five shots, rather than just one, gives him five times the chance of capturing a good image.
I just happened to see another article on this topic, so I thought I'd post my opinion.
http://www.digitalphotomentor.com/do-you-wait-for-the-decisive-moment-or-do-you-spray-and-pray/
May 15, 2014 16:09:27 #
Shooting for the decisive moment doesn't mean only shooting one shot in every situation. It just means waiting for something good before hitting the shutter. That might only be a second or two between shots. But each time you are seeing what you want to shoot. To me, "spray and pray" means shooting in burst mode so you aren't really seeing each shot. That can work sometimes with very fast action, but it is still a crap shoot. Many years ago, in the army, we were taught that even with an automatic weapon, it was better to aim and pick shots one at a time. I think the same thing applies to photography.
May 16, 2014 07:29:44 #
Hi Jerry. I can tell you as a sports shooter spray and pray is good most of the time. The action is going so fast and the movement of the athletes is so different at any given moment. You will miss some incredible shots if you don't. I shoot with a D7000 and a D800 right now 6 and 4fps. Hopefully soon I will have a S4S at 11 fps. I shoot a lot, then get rid of the bad ones which works well with digital. I do know all of the sports games I shoot though so I know pretty much when and where I should be shooting, so it is not JUST let it rip and hope you get some keepers.Thanks
Tom
Tom
May 16, 2014 10:00:38 #
I think of sports when this topic comes up. The professional cameras have higher frame rates for a reason. To catch the sequence of a decisive moment or moments. Like in a pole vault, starting with the climb and ending with the landing. With a high frame rate, you are likely to really catch that moment you want, and perhaps some other nice moments in between. So, it's not really praying, it's making a decisive choice to capture all that you can of the 'long' moment.
I agree with you on the importance of taking multiple shots. Once you own the cards, 'film' is cheap. People are often surprised when you take several shots, but it really pays off. Their mindset may be back in film days. Nevertheless, I always shot a lot of film too. Cost was far less important than missing the shot, especially when paying for a model or making sure the wedding party had their expectations met.
I agree with you on the importance of taking multiple shots. Once you own the cards, 'film' is cheap. People are often surprised when you take several shots, but it really pays off. Their mindset may be back in film days. Nevertheless, I always shot a lot of film too. Cost was far less important than missing the shot, especially when paying for a model or making sure the wedding party had their expectations met.
jerryc41 wrote:
I occasionally hear about waiting for "The De... (show quote)
May 16, 2014 11:14:06 #
And interestingly enough, HCB worked a scene pretty well also.
http://erickimphotography.com/blog/2012/10/03/10-things-street-photographers-can-learn-from-magnum-contact-sheets/
http://erickimphotography.com/blog/2012/10/03/10-things-street-photographers-can-learn-from-magnum-contact-sheets/
May 16, 2014 18:06:40 #
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