Timing
By Doug Johnson
21 Dec 2007
It was either hit his right hub cap or whip around his front bumper when the garbage truck cut me off. In a split second, I chose to trust the physics and whip around his front bumper. The driver locked up his brakes and cussed me up one side and down the other, yelling at me to come back. I pedaled on.
Well what happened was that in a heartbeat, I was this testosterone filled moron that was chasing a parked car...it just happened to be a fully loaded garbage truck that wasn't watching out for a bicyclist under the concrete bridge. What does that have to do with photography? Why of course it's the blood pumping through your armpits at the thought that you could die....well maybe that wasn't the way to phrase that.
To me, photographing things in the split second is the same thing about deciding in the moment what is worth the effort. Those times people rush to grab their camera when everyone else is running away, or cheering the game. That's photographing in the split second. But this takes time to develop internally as a value. Not the photography things. Those come with instincts and training. What takes the time is the person behind the camera deciding to risk taking the shot.
As an amateur discovering digital photography for the first time, what I notice about myself is that many times, I shy away from taking out my camera. I'm on a schedule. People will think I'm weird. Many days it feels like I'm in junior high all over again trying to make sure the crowd won't notice the zit on my nose...a camera ends up being a pretty large zit.
But I'm glad when the other side of me takes over. Once on a cliff over a California beach, I decided to jump because I figured I could make it to the bottom if I hit a certain sand bar about a third the way down...this lady looked up to see my body flailing in the sunset. It was great. Today the evening light hit a building just right, and I had the same feeling. I haven't downloaded the photos yet, but it still felt right. Whipping out the camera, shooting off odd angles. Wondering what was going to be worth the editing later. It felt like jumping off that cliff. It felt like whipping around the bumper of that garbage pump, blood pumping in my armpits and, like the kid in the 'Incredibles' movie from Disney, yelling, "THAT WAS TOTALLY, WICKED!!"
In the end what makes me decide is the timing. I knew I could make it around the bumper. I knew I could hit the landing off of the cliff. My friend said that cutting in front of a paving truck was over the top, but physics said I had plenty of time. Whether you're dancing with your girlfriend, telling a joke or photographing a shot...it's all in the timing.
That's why I take photos in a split second.
