This is a quieter moment, the light in the frame gives the image more weight and allows for more interesting composition and mood.
I was walking through Chinatown in New York City this weekend, making photographs of dumpling stalls, and I started thinking about moments, and what a moment really is in a photograph. I’m always telling people about moments and how important they are and how they can elevate an image, but what do I really mean when I say that?
A moment is what gives a photograph its life and breadth, and has the ability to elicit a response in the viewer. They pause for a second, notice the image, relate to it, maybe they even feel something. A moment can be just about anything: it is the instant of peak action in a frame, like the surprised look right before someone laughs, the light hitting the outline of a person’s body as they cross the street, or when all the different layers in a composition come together perfectly.
This approach to photography is my favorite; the ability to capture an image that’s anchored in a moment. When I’m shooting, these are the scenes that help me understand the world a little better, or maybe remember it, hold it steady for just a split second longer and if I am lucky, everything in the frame starts to come together with interesting layers, light and composition, and then the image says something new and different. It takes on meaning, has a weight to it and can hold the viewer’s eye a little longer.
I pulled a few images from some of my favorite New York City restaurant counters in order to help illustrate a moment; how sometimes they can be quiet and just about light, and sometimes they are all about timing and composition.
In this image the motion and movement give the frame tension and create a moment of interest.
This is a quieter moment, the light in the frame gives the image more weight and allows for more interesting composition and mood.
Lovely images, as usual, Penny!
Was just at an event at Todd & Diane’s yesterday and they played a video of you savoring tacos in TX and searching for a close replacement to your mom’s tacos. Bikes, tacos, fun times…it was great seeing you!
Averie-Thank you for this comment. I love that iphone video series, hope to do more of them for sure.
Your timing and composition are what make you so great! Great way to illustrate the feeling you can get from a photo.
This is so true, and difficult to achieve. As a food blogger, I think when you’re out and about to do food photography, you sometimes need to let go and just let moments ‘happen.’ Observe, and capture. I fall intro the trap of clicking so often that I forget to notice an interesting moment and refocus on it instead of the plate before me.
Thanks for sharing this mini lesson Penny.
I found your photography through food photog blogs and Saveur, but I have to say- I have been absolutely digging this series of b&w life-moment shots. Beyond just liking your way of seeing and composing in the moment, I think it’s fascinating that really, while the clothes, cars and gadgets have changed, the life moments look remarkably similar to those taken in past decades.