Theme Day: One Way to the Decisive Moment

Posted in Signs, Streets, Theme day | Saturday, September 1st, 2007 | Trackback

Sometimes you just get lucky. Sometimes bad situations turn out good. Let me explain. See the theme for September 1st is Street lights and signs so I had made my mind to photograph a street sign illuminated by a street lamp; really, a situation very common in La Antigua Guatemala. Except, there has been a lot of rain lately and the photo I wanted to take was not feasible.

Plan B: go out and photograph a sign and a lamp in the same frame with some rain or street flood. So just the other day, in my lunch hour, as I am walking to the restaurant where I was going to have lunch, I noticed that the street was completely flooded; I detected my shot was there as I walk to the corner; I pulled out my camera as I got near and step on a cobblestone, flipped out the viewfinder and set the Canon Powershot A620 as close to the water as possible to get a portrait shot so I can get the street lamp on the left (top left corner of the photo) and the UNA VIA (one-way) sign to the right of the yellow arch.

As I negotiated my acrobatic skills over the stone, looked back so I don’t get ran over or splashed by one of the uncivilized drivers, looked at the camera so I don’t ruin it with the running dirty water, composed the shot to include both elements, I took a couple of shots to get the best composition. As I was ready to put away the camera and moved away from the center of the street because two vehicles were using their horns to alert me that they were close and they had no mercy; this lady entered the frame; I did see her with my own eyes as I was looking down to the twist-out viewfinder paralleled to the floor; I had but fleeing second to take the shot and in this fraction of a second my mind went through all countless photographs warehoused in my memory so fast that I must have seen over thousand images until my brain did a full stop at one my favorite images ever: The Decisive Moment by Henri Cartier-Bresson. With that image in my head, I pressed the shutter release. Next, I pulled away from the centre of the street just in time as the vehicle behind me went by, making a big splash (I did not get wet), pulled up my eye sight to see that the lady did not fall and was already walking away in the opposite direction.

I did not order dessert for lunch since I had already my sweet moment.

One can argue that the street sign is too small or that the street lamp is almost out of the frame. Well so be it. If you still want to see a Street Sign or a Street Lamp you’re welcome to press the links, or you can browse the Signs category and the Lamp category.

108 Daily Photo City sites are participating in the September 1st Theme Day: Street lights and signs, please use the links below to visit them.

Due to time zone differences and other factors, the theme photo may not be displayed until later if you are viewing early in the day.

Seattle (WA), USA - Ocean Township (NJ), USA - Cottage Grove (MN), USA - Cleveland (OH), USA - Menton, France - Monte Carlo, Monaco - Singapore, Singapore - Boston (MA), USA - Mexico (DF), Mexico - Kajang (Selangor), Malaysia - Mainz, Germany - Evry, France - Port Angeles (WA), USA - Sequim (WA), USA - Maple Ridge (BC), Canada - Nottingham, UK - Toulouse, France - Wassenaar (ZH), Netherlands - Manila, Philippines - Mumbai, India - Montpellier, France - Bellefonte (PA), USA - Stayton (OR), USA - Moscow, Russia - Paris, France - Saint Paul (MN), USA - Austin (TX), USA - Lyon, France - Stockholm, Sweden - Hyde, UK - Hong Kong, China - Joplin (MO), USA - Seoul, South Korea - Chandler (AZ), USA - St. Louis (MO), USA - Arlington (VA), USA - Anderson (SC), USA - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Villigen, Switzerland - Sydney, Australia - Ampang (Selangor), Malaysia - Montego Bay, Jamaica - Norwich (Norfolk), UK - San Diego (CA), USA - Bandung (West Java), Indonesia - Albuquerque (NM), USA - Melbourne, Australia - Nelson, New Zealand - Quincy (MA), USA - Kyoto, Japan - Tokyo, Japan - Bend (OR), USA - Wellington, New Zealand - New Orleans (LA), USA - Cypress (TX), USA - Nashville (TN), USA - Bucaramanga (Santander), Colombia - Detroit (MI), USA - Saigon, Vietnam - Selma (AL), USA - Phoenix (AZ), USA - Miami (FL), USA - Arradon, France - Sheki, Azerbaijan - New York City (NY), USA - Inverness (IL), usa - North Bay (ON), Canada - Melbourne, Australia - Port Vila, Vanuatu - Tenerife, Spain - Auckland, New Zealand - Forks (WA), USA - Rotterdam, Netherlands - Chateaubriant, France - Madison (WI), USA - Wailea (HI), USA - Orlando (FL), USA - Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation - Ajaccio, France - Baltimore (MD), USA - Crepy-en-Valois, France - Rabaul, Papua New Guinea - Budapest, Hungary - Lyon, France - Saarbrücken, Germany - Adelaide (SA), Australia - Le Guilvinec, France - River Falls (WI), USA - Stavanger, Norway - Naples (FL), USA - London, UK - La Antigua, Guatemala - Philadelphia (PA), USA - Montréal (QC), Canada - Paris, France - San Diego (CA), USA - Trujillo, Peru - Haninge, Sweden - Prague, Czech Republic - Oslo, Norway - Grenoble, France - Shanghai, China - Toronto (ON), Canada - Durban, South Africa - Zurich, Switzerland - Cape Town, South Africa - Singapore, Singapore - Torino, Italy