What a difference a second makes. The success of a photo is often a matter of split second timing.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve miss a shot. Nor about the disappointment that comes from being a second too late to capture what I see. Maybe that’s what makes the exhilaration of perfect timing all the more sweet. This is one of those times. The girl sloshing through the water is in the perfect place in the frame to create both a lovely composition and a sense of movement. One second more and she would have been out of place and this photo would have ended up in the trash heap of disappointments.
Reflections and Patterns and Layers
Let’s take a closer look. There’s a lot more to this photo than we see at first glance. Let’s look at layers. The top layer is the reflections on the water. Obviously, we see the reflection of the colorful boots and the checkered pants. Now, look at the reflections behind the girl. Because of the angle of light, those reflections didn’t come from the girl’s attire. Here’s another example of things coming together at the perfect moment. Somehow these colors cooperate with the boots making it look as if the were a wash of pastels around the girl. Then there’s the layer created by the waves of water. It forms a texture above the pattern of bricks beneath the water giving the photo depth. See what I mean? All these things came together and were captured at the perfect instant.
