In photography, as in life, timing is everything.

Shooting boaters from an Austin bridge is easier than shooting ducks in a gallery on a Texas State Fair midway, thanks to your camera’s sense of split-second timing.

The kayakers and crew teams are lined up at golden time, and planting yourself on the Ann Richards Bridge when the light’s getting right is just one element of finding the right timing (though certainly not a tricky one). Hanging over the bridge and letting your camera do the work are the next aspects of good timing (you’ll need to be sure you’re not hanging too far over, unless you want to take an unanticipated dive), and you’ll need to make two critical camera choices: your f-stop and your shutter speed.

And you need to pre-focus, to be certain your camera and you are on the same metering and focal point pages. But once you’ve timed all that right, your camera is ready to take over the technical part so you can become the storyteller. It’s got the split-second thing down way better than you ever could, as long as the boaters keep coming and you keep pressing the shutter. ♣

Do you prefer shooting galleries or camera shoots?

You can see how I’ve timed more things here at JannAlexander.com