Capturing, no wait, Creating the Moment

I have been doing some speaking engagements with local camera clubs, mostly because they asked me to come in and talk about my work. And there was a discussion in one about the difference between capturing the moment and creating it.

I guess you could make an argument that any image that did not have a set up or physical production is a capture. And, any time there is production involved it is a created moment.

Maybe it is vanity on my part, but I believe that I create the moments in my images, whether there is external production or if it is only internalized.

For example, the image above was created during a walk through at a conference center in Ohio. We were moving between sets and stopped for lunch. I saw the wall sconces and grabbed the camera and tripod. Fifteen minutes later, I was sitting down with the art director to a splendid turkey sandwich.

It was an unplanned stop but everything else about the image was thought out. I was even considering how the image would look as a banner or printed piece. I captured several frames from different angles to see how the camera was "seeing" the light. But, I created the moment through my on the spot planning and thinking through the composition and lighting.

Maybe it is all just semantics. And, I mean no offense to the wedding shooters who "capture the moment" all the time. If they are doing it right (and those I know who do it, do do it well), I still think they are "creating the moment".