How To Capture A Moment

This is what sorta kept me going in photography. People said I could just "capture a moment". My dad said this a lot and somehow the way he says it makes you feel so special like you are performing miracles. So I kept it up and really focused on what moment I was trying to capture. It sounds a little odd, capturing a moment. I mean, no matter what when you take a picture you capture a moment. The beauty of the image lies in capturing the perfect moment, that 1/60 or 1/1000 of a second you held your camera open. Honestly and sadly not (most people) everybody can't do it. With me, I foresee the future when watching a scene I may photograph. Sounds freaky but you have to understand how human beings operate. It's like guessing the next scene in a movie and getting it spot on. Capturing a moment is not about taking 10 pictures in a row in hopes you will get "it". It's about planting that eye in the view finder, finger ready to push the shutter and watching until it happens. You really have to anticipate it going to happen because as the moment is happening and you haven't pushed your shutter button, you lost the moment. You are now not good at capturing a moment. I am not going to lie, it is really hard and I do watch a lot of moments go by that did not get captured. Also I have captured moments that were blown because the composition was wrong, someone in the back photo bombed the scene or it wasn't in perfect focus. Also and interestingly enough you can actually create a moment by post production. That's right, sometimes all a regular picture needs is a turn into black and white and suddenly you have this image that stirs the heart. My biggest suggestion though is when you are with your family and you are trying to capture that wonderful, says it all moment. Stop. Put the camera away. Your family is going to remember you behind the camera, not interacting with them. That is sad. So go ahead, take a few pictures and stop. If you can anticipate the moment coming up, go for it, but then put it away and spend your time with them. Those memories will last longer than the pictures, trust me.