Hi Ken,
As Cartier-Bresson said, "It's always luck. It's luck that matters. You have to be receptive, that's all." I was lucky with the expressions on the faces, and I was lucky with the body language of the waiter. I clicked the shutter at that instant (the "decisive moment," which is when the photographer has made his decision, not when something in particular happens in the scene) because the composition felt in balance. In this kind of street photography there's no way you can absorb all the details, like the girl's open mouth. You have to be receptive, that's all. I think that's what Rob was suggesting to Stamper in "Confusion on the Ground." You can't hunt for a picture like this. You simply have to be there with a camera in hand and, above all, be looking. Considering some of his fine grabs, I think Stamper knows that.
I had a very lucky day that day. I shot "3," (Yes, I can think of at least a half dozen other titles without risking a hernia) and "Confusion on the Ground," within an hour of each other. There were others I like, but not enough to post. Usually, when I spend a half day on the street, in stores, and in a restaurant, I come home with a couple dozen frames and dump 'em all. Street's not like landscape, where you can be out there freezing your butt off before dawn but be reasonably sure you're going to get what you came for.
The girl was yakking full speed. I think I caught her mouth open for a word.
By the way, referring to what I said in "On Street Photography" (
https://luminous-landscape.com/on-street-photography/), this is one that's eminently showable but not one upon which I'd hang my reputation as a street photographer.
