Henri Cartier Bresson, and his decisive moment photography are usually associated with the idea, that this particular type of work is heavily dependent on timing. In reality, unless you work with still life objects, timing is always extremely important. HCB used to say, that you have to be sensitive to seize the opportunity. He shot a lot – there are stories narrating that he made around twenty films a day, when actively working. However, he underscored the need to shoot mindfully, and not simply machine gun a scene, as he said, that if you overdo it, the right moment is likely to happen when you were winding the camera. An acute observer might note, that it must have been before the advent of motor winders – in fact, when I want to shoot the street with a Leica, I have the motorised baseplate attached.
Timing is critical whenever the scene evolves. This applies to reportage, sports, portraiture, fashion and even to landscape. In the early days of photography, the time necessary to set up a camera and expose a plate has been so long, that it was almost always a race against the changing light, not to mention moving subjects. In my opinion, the real champions of speed have been the likes of Ansel Adams.
Another giant of reportage – Gianni Berengo Gardin, used to say, that the difference between a good photograph and a nothing, was often infinitesimal. This is totally true, and you can have a peek into it by looking through occasional books which show contact sheets of great photographers – most of the shots on them look as if they were taken by one of us…