the right moment to photograph

It isn't enough to choose the best angle from which to take a photograph, it's also essential to know how to capture a precise moment. In that, Cartier-Bresson had a point.

And, even though, at times, the photographer is extremely lucky and all he has to do is press a button to capture an unrepeatable occurence, most often, the patience and the preparation to obtain a photo of a given predictable moment are due to the photographer's own personal achievement. And so, nearly surreal images are created...

There are even those who dedicate themselves, with a bit of sadism, to capturing people in awkward or ridiculous situations, and not even animals escape these photographers' sharp sense of humour. Alas, let us believe most of these images are sheer coincidence and the result of a random shot. ;)

These excelent photographs are from Matt Stuart.