Timing

The three R's of photography are, of course, timing, location and lighting. Alright, I know these don't have any "R"s in them. Nonetheless, all three elements are critical to a good photograph. Photoshop may be able to fix the lighting, but it can't deal with location and timing issues.

In the above picture, all three elements come together nicely, without any help from Photoshop. Notice that I was in the right place at the right time, and that I snapped the shutter at just the precise moment (which takes a film camera or a high end digital camera to accomplish) when she was framed by the two large rectangles in the picture and yet was not covering up the location sign. Also note I was a little lucky in that one leg is fully extended and the other is bent at a nice angle that hikes her skirt high – a timing bonus, you might say. This is one of my favorite photographs, taken quite clearly in France, some 35 years ago.

Although luck is good, it does take concentration to get the timing in a photograph just right.