Cardinal de Retz once said, “There is nothing in the world which does not have its decisive moment,” and it inspired Henri Cartier-Bresson, founder of Magnum Photos and the father of street photography. 

Due to technology limitations, Henri Cartier-Bresson had to pick the best moments and press the shutter once to capture them, but in this day and age, things have changed. You’ll still have to choose the right moment to take a snap but you don’t have to shoot just one photo. There are 10fps to 30fps cameras that can eliminate these problems. My reliable Alpha 7C’s 10fps continuous shooting feature helps a lot in that aspect. Can’t pick out the best moment that stands out from your burst shot? You may decide later.

Interesting compositions

In this photo, I thought that their action could give me an interesting shot, so I adjusted the composition and aperture as I waited for the special moment. I used a fast 1/1000 second shutter speed to freeze the sand mass flying in the air between the two shovels. This shot cannot be achieved without the help of the Alpha 7C’s 10fps continuous shooting mode, which captures every moment as it happens.

Find wonder in the ordinary

Some scenes may not seem interesting at first, such as this photo of children playing around. I used a high shutter speed of 1/3200 seconds because of the strong sunlight. The high shutter speed combined with the Alpha 7C’s continuous shooting mode captured the spontaneous moment of a passing bird’s shadow being cast on the wall above the window. That shadow filled in the frame and made a seemingly normal photo such as this look more fascinating.

Juxtapositioned subjects

Decisive moments don’t just apply to action shots with birds flying or men jumping. You may find the perfect photo opportunity with static subjects through juxtaposition tricks. For instance, in the picture above, the cyclist’s head is overlapping with the centre of a bicycle wheel. Try to find a good scene and capture it at the right time with help from the Alpha 7C’s 10fps continuous shooting mode. Another tip is to use the Alpha 7C’s “Autumn leaves” mode in Creative Style, which will give you fine contrast and a colourful photo. This allows you to have more fun playing with light and shadows. Don’t forget to shoot your photos in RAW in case you have to process your photos later.
 

Seize the moment

Still waiting for the right moment to happen so that you can get a stunning, memorable photo? Get out there and start shooting! Have fun exploring the world through your own unique perspective and capture visual stories that only you can tell.