Street Photography — Finding That Decisive Moment

It is every photographer’s dream to capture unique decisive moments in their works, but it is difficult because such moments are rare and so many things have to be put together perfectly in just a split of a second. In this story, let’s talk about how do we find and capture those decisive moments.

Image by Author. Shot in Kawagoe.

In Photography, especially Street Photography, the ability to find and capture decisive moments is the key to success. It is undeniably true that capturing such moments has a lot to do with luck (i.e. appearing in the right place at the right time with the right equipment, etc.), especially for beginners; however, luck is only one of the variables in the success formula. In this story, I would like to talk about what is a decisive moment in the context of photography, share a few things I do to find and capture such moments on the streets (which are not luck-dependent), and how you can start your own journey in hunting for such unique and valuable moments.

What is a Decisive Moment in Photography?