How to Capture a Moment in Photography

Knowing how to capture a moment in photography is the greatest advantage you will have to actually capture it.

Do you ever wonder how photographers can have such stunning photos that leave you wondering “how did they do that”? You know the photo when you see it. That photo that feels perfect, balanced, and surreal. That photo that has that “something about it”, that captures your attention. I like to call that photo, “the moment”. To me, it’s a picture that looks less like a picture, and more like a memory. The surrealness of “the moment” makes you forget that you’re looking at something taken with a camera. But how do you capture “the moment” in your photography? What is “the moment”?

“The moment” is something that any beginner or professional photographer knows about, but the ways in how to capture the moment aren’t something every photographer knows. A photographer I admire, that seemingly captures the moment as a career is Finn Beales. One thing he’s quoted saying about photography is … “Don’t take a picture. Make a picture.” That to me is the first step in how to capture “the moment” in photography. Knowing how to capture “the moment” is the greatest advantage you will have to actually capture it. We are going to expand on what Finn Beales said and explain how to “make a picture” and how to capture “the moment”.

1. Make The Scene

Think of a wonderful memory of yours. Where was it? Was it in the woods? Was it at home curled up in bed? Was it at the donut shop? Wait, these are my memories. I guarantee the weight of an experience you can remember was greatly affected by where it took place. There are places that mean more to us than other places. “A moment” portrays meaning and feeling so the scenery should as, too.

An authentic moment requires an authentic scene.

The photo above was taken in Glacier National Park, Montana. “Our scene” includes a few elements. The rocky mountains as our backdrop, a bright sunny day, and a vintage Chevrolet truck that the current driver’s father used to drive him to school in when he was a kid There’s an easiness feeling to this photo with only 3 elements setting the stage.

Your backdrop is going to dictate what your “character” or model does in the photo, and even what the light will do. The space between the camera and the subject, and the subject and the farthest thing you can see in the photo, will give the photo some depth and relevancy to the viewer. As humans, we associate emotions and experiences to even places. Once you have your scene down, we can move on to our “character”.

2. Make The Character

Now, when we think of a “character” we of course think of a person. Naturally, people are characters whether they are in movies or in real life. The way people dress and move and talk changes the way we perceive them and what traits we assign them. With a character, we have two elements we can add to “the moment”, style and action.

Your character can complement or contrast your scene both in their style and their action. They can assume the role the scene assigns them (i.e. swimsuits at the beach, pajamas in bed), or they can go against that and contrast their surroundings. My style gears more towards natural scenes so I like my characters to compliment the scene. Blend in while standing out. (if that makes sense) The feeling you want to portray in your photo will dictate what your character looks like and what they’re wearing. And what they’re doing.

The magic of motion for both the model and the photographer is an important part of capturing “the moment” in photography. How often do we sit still in our lives? Besides me sitting at a desk writing a blog or asleep, the answer is not a lot of times. Once you have your character and your scene, let them loose! A pro tip would be to have them do something in the scene that maybe someone might do in real life, and let them focus on that, not on you with a camera pointed at them. Their movement and the distraction will make for a beautiful moment that happens on its own. Put the ingredients together for something beautiful and then let the rest play out.

3. Make The Mood

Although there are a lot of elements that make up a “mood” I want to talk more specifically about light. Light of course is the most important part of a photo. Fun fact, in greek, phōtós means “light”. Now go kill it at trivia! What dictates your mood as a person will dictate the mood of a photo. So a cloudy, “soft” day will make for soft light and a soft photo. Sunrises and sunsets convey beginnings and ends as well as the fiery yellow/orange hue which of course is the go-to for most photographers. Even high noon, harsh light will add to “the moment” if it calls for harsher shadows and contrast.

The photo above was captured as sunset which already gives the entire scene a nice warm hue. What light adds to this scene specifically are the parts of the photo is is hitting. The hull of the boat, the wall and inner window of the building are illuminated so you’re drawn to these two pieces. For me, the sunset, end of the day lighting, hitting these abandoned objects caught my attention. This scene wouldn’t have had the same feeling in the middle of the day, or even the beginning of the day.

This goes for artificial light as well. Controlling your light will control your mood. Shaping your light will shape your photo. (More about the difference between artificial and natural light here.) I enjoy shooting with natural light and in interior scenes. In that way, the limitation a window or a skylight gives to light, and how it falls on my subject, directly or bouncing off a surface, helps shape “the moment”.

Watch And Wait

The last part of making a moment is something you can’t make. What you can’t make is the photo itself. It sounds a bit strange considering I just explained how you can make the photo, but in this instance taking any photo with all of these elements combined doesn’t always make for a great photo. The skill of the photographer and the elements of the scene increase the chance of capturing the moment in photography, but there’s no telling when, how, or if the moment will be captured. Letting the scene unfold and trusting that it will reveal itself is all you can do in the end. As I said, you know it when you see it.