Digital BW, The Print

Anthony G. Atkielski wrote:
> I think it is more productive to choose the images wisely to begin with;
> then you don't have to worry about sorting through them or discarding
> them or erasing them later on.

Certainly that sounds wonderful in theory.

But in practice, we don't always know when the best
"decisive moment" is going to be. We might be able
to narrow it down to within a few second just before
we start shooting. But we can't always predict which
very specific moment is going to be the absolute best.

If, for example, I have about a 10 second window
of opportunity to get an image or series of frames
shot off, and if I just decide to shoot only one frame
during that time, if the best "decisive moment" comes
at the 2 second mark and I miss it, then it's gone. 

Likewise, if I shoot what I think is the best "decisive 
moment" at the 3 second mark and it turns out a better
decisive moment (which effectively really is the
best "decisive moment") comes at the 9 second mark,
then once again I'm going to lose the very best shot
I might have had just because I limited myself to
taking only one shot.

Rather than this, I would rather shoot an image for
each one of those 10 seconds, and then later compare
the images one to the other, deciding only at that
point which one of those shots was the best "decisive
moment." 

Does that mean more time in editing process later
on because I took 10 shots instead of just 1? Yes,
absolutely -- that approach does indeed add to
my editing time. 

But it is, at least from where I sit, time well spent if 
doing this affords me a better choice of finished result 
than I otherwise would have had if I'd only made 
one shot and missed the best "decisive moment." 

So while I appreciate the theory of "more productive to 
choose the images wisely to begin with" in the most
practical of terms, we don't alway know which of
our specific moment is going to be the best "decisive
moment". And so while we may cut down on our
editing time by not too much suffering from a full
day of exhibiting motordrive syndrome, nevertheless
there are just some moments, some brief windows
of opportunity, where it is better to shoot first and
edit later rather than too much pinning our hopes
on just one frame which may or may not have been
the best "decisive moment."

Or at least that's been my experience.

CJ