Anticipating the Moment...

When Nikki was scheduled for cancer surgery we decided we'd better take a lot of pictures of her with us. We knew she would be in good hands at the hospital, but still...

So the day before surgery we each took turns posing with Nikki indoors and outdoors. When Nikki and Rachel were inside I took four photos. Nikki was Rachel's heart dog, and made that pretty obvious:

I have learned that when trying to capture that special moment you can't wait until you actually see it in your viewfinder before releasing the shutter. If you do, it's already too late. While it is hard to know when, or even if, the moment will happen, I try to take the photograph an instant before I think it will. If I guess right, I get the shot. It's all about anticipating the moment.

(Shot with the Nikon D200, 18-200mm zoom set at 70mm, bounce-flashed Nikon SB-400, 1/60sec at f/5, ISO 280, program mode, matrix-metered, auto white balance, closest-subject focus mode.)