The Decisive Moment

[Black Pearl]

Met up for coffee and a photo natter with a friend today then went for a walk with the cameras.

Saw this location and the pair of us had a lightbulb moment - well if it was good enough for HCB then its good enough for BP...



....and yes that is a $3k Nikon Df and 35mm in his hand

[Mike Buckley]

An absolutely wonderful photo. Great concept and execution by both the photographer and the subject.

For those who are not familiar with the famous Henri Cartier-Bresson photo Robin is probably referring to, I assume it is the fifth one to the right in this series.

I don't know if HCB's camera had a motor drive on it. Even if it did, I'm sure it did not shoot at nearly the number of frames per second as made using this photo. Keeping that in mind makes HCB's photo even more special.

The nice thing about an image that has a reflection is that it's so easy to make it level by lining up one point in the reflection with the same point in the source. It's an exceptionally minor nit pick that you need to do that with this photo.

[Shadowman]

Nicely done.

[Geoff F]

Yes, everything is working well here.

[pnodrog]

I like it but was there another decisive moment that included a splash?

[Mike Buckley]

I like it but was there another decisive moment that included a splash?

I don't remember one, but that's not to say it doesn't exist. There is another one of a person leaping across water while holding an umbrella with the Eiffel Tower in the background but that person is not reflected in the water and the image is not nearly as famous.

[dje]

Very good Robin. I'm intrigued how you got this shot with so little ripple in the water !

Dave

[Mike Buckley]

Very good Robin. I'm intrigued how you got this shot with so little ripple in the water !

I also gave that some thought. I'm guessing the subject stood in the water poised in a stance that made it easy to leap and waited for the ripples to subside before taking the leap. The few ripples seen in the photo were created by the leap out of the water into midair.

[DEAN01]

Nicely captured.

[jonjdoe]

Superb!

[John 2]

That's nicely captured and converted. Like that a lot. My only thought is that the white window frames in the block of flats and their reflection are a bit eye catching, but that is a minor crit.

[Mike Buckley]

My only thought is that the white window frames in the block of flats and their reflection are a bit eye catching

That's an especially appealing characteristic for me because it appears as if the subject is looking downward at the reflection of that building. Indeed, the more I look at this image the more I like some of the finer details such as that one.

[TonyW]

This looks very well executed to me. I triumph of pp.

[Black Pearl]

Firstly - thanks for the replies.

Thought I'd add a little detail...

This was a spur of the moment shot having spotted the scene as we walked by but it was then planned carefully and this is the second attempt. I used a Samyang 12mm lens on my Fuji X-T1 and its very close to the water hence the exaggerated feeling of scale. The puddle is quite shallow, just rainwater from the night before, but it was a very windy day so thats where the ripples come from. My friend standing start jumped from as close to the edge as possible and yes he did pretty much make it across though a second lunge was then needed to be fully clear. On the first attempt he had his arms fairly static and while it looked good it lacked a bit of flamboyance - this time he gave it the full ballerina leap (there is a ballerina in the original HCB shot) and this mid-air frame (yes I used continuous drive) just seem to have the best shape and sense of expectancy. There is no trickery going on, I haven't cloned anything out, haven't moved elements or used multiple frames to create a montage - it is very much as taken. Obviously it has been cropped (not just to 1:1) slightly and I left the buildings in on purpose as I feel it adds to the scale while placing the shot in its surrounding better. The out of camera colour image is quite strong as there was a lovely blue sky but I wanted the end image to be mono to match the shot that inspired it. It was never intended to be a recreation of the original HCB image more a nod in its direction hence my past title.

BP

[mugge]

Robin, great shot. I do think it could be improved I can't think of anything at the moment though.
Cheers ole

[IzzieK]

Planned shots are always the best. I am glad that the two of you think alike and can coordinate with what one another must do and want to do...very lucky indeed! I am envious...really envious of your relationship.

[Sergio M.]

A cool idea and nicely done.

Sergio

[John 2]

That's an especially appealing characteristic for me because it appears as if the subject is looking downward at the reflection of that building. Indeed, the more I look at this image the more I like some of the finer details such as that one.

I don't think that I was suggesting that they might be cropped out Mike. Merely given slightly less prominence.

[Mike Buckley]

I don't think that I was suggesting that they might be cropped out Mike. Merely given slightly less prominence.

I understand, John. I only explained why the current prominence works for me.