A little confession: luck & anticipation

Photographers often talk about their ability to observer, to anticipate and catch the "decisive moment" or spontaneity.

Rather than that, it could be just luck...

I have to confess that I had luck in couples of my photos. Take this as one example :)

(photo taken @Shanghai street, Olympus E520, Zuiko 14-42mm)

My wife & I stood at the crossroad when the traffic light was red. I saw this scene through the viewfinder, set shutter speed to 1/5 sec @Shutter Priority mode to "keep" the motion of the vehicles. However, for me, there was still something missing to make this shot strong enough...

So I kept the camera to my eyes and wait...

The traffic light turned green. Cars in both directions were still moving. My wife couldn't wait for me anymore. She crossed the road and get into the frame... That was it. My luck came. Everything turned right, with her and the bicycle on the opposite directions. I pressed the shutter once & moved.

Yes, I didn't anticipate but this shot is still my favorite, for all these reasons :)

Analox