Modern Photography/Capture

The moment of capture is the moment in which the life of an image begins.

What are we thinking of at that moment? What is it fundamentally about?

It is opportunity; an option given to use, to take or discard at will;
It is commitment; that by which we may be criticized and judged, that by which we criticize and judge ourselves, that of which we may be afraid.
It is sharing, an act of communication; that which is no longer within us, viewed by us alone in time and space, through a viewfinder or otherwise, but will be possible to share with others.
It is record; something which has been taken, preserved and ascribed value, it is evidence: evidence that something existed at a time and place, and therefore something potentially powerful that prohibits denial of experience, denial of an aspect of reality. In this sense too, it may be political.
It is judgement; the ascribing of value or worth to a time and place, an object, an aesthetic, a worldview, a perspective, an act, an idea.
It is unique; in most cases never to be repeated, and certainly never to be repeated in exactly the same way.
It is performance; perhaps pre-empted by motion: jostling or moving for position, kneeling, reaching, squinting, or concentrating... perhaps emphasized by shutter-sound, bright flashes of light, a murmur, or a subsequent rustling toward a new position for a subsequent image.

It is all of these things, and yet it can happen in a fraction of a second.

Modes of capture

Classic shutter button.
Remote triggering, wireless or wired
- Human-driven
- Sensor-driven
  - Light-sensors for lightning
  - Motion sensors for wildlife