The Brain - behind the Eye - behind the Viewfinder

We all talk about which camera is the best or which lens is the fastest or sharpest, always looking for that perfect combination that might help us take awesome photos. However, the absolute most important part of any photography shoot is the brain.

A great photographer can capture excellent images with almost any camera. That's because they not only have a very high level of knowledge of photographic technique and highly tuned technical skills, but they think . . . they think about what they want that final image to show. Then they consider what they must do to accomplish that goal. Just a few things that must be considered (and mastered) are:

• lighting,
• focus point and DOF (depth of field),
• shutter speed (stop the action - or is blur desirable),
• composition,
• and much more.

For instance, for this shot I obviously had to be set up ahead of time, using a tripod and shutter priority at 1/30th of a second. I also set the camera to continuous and started shooting as soon as it entered the frame so I would have some choices regarding the position of the train relative to the intersection.

Happy Shooting!

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