Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 800, ƒ/5.6, 8.6 sec.

I posted this photo on Facebook last night, and a friend said, “I love this photo. It looks like a postcard. What are the settings you used?”

The Facebook comment makes me want to say Patience Young, Grasshopper. If you are not old enough, in the 1970s was a TV show called Kung Fu. Here is the scene that I loved:

It would help if you had the patience to make the photo I created. So often, when people travel, they see a beautiful scene and take a picture, and few will return to the spot to take it at a better moment.

Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm ISO 200, ƒ/22, 1/10

While I love this photo just as much as the nighttime photo, I like it for different reasons. It has a different mood in the picture.

I also took this photo later in the week while in Kona, Hawaii.

Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/5.6, 1/5

I realized that if I could wait and capture a car driving down the hill in the frame, I could have their headlights light up the road, and the red tail lights add just a little color.

I tried the photo with cars coming up the hill but felt the headlights were too bright. Maybe you like this better. Here is one of those photos.

Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 800, ƒ/5.6, 7 sec.

To take the photo, I put the camera on a tripod and then timed how long it was taking cars to go down the hill. I wanted between a 6 to 10-second exposure to have the lights move enough through the scene. So I played with the ISO, ƒ-stop until I found something that worked to give me about 7 to 8-second exposures.

The other thing is that this must be done at dusk and not too late, or the sky will be black.

The lesson here can apply to all photography. You must find a good composition and wait for the action to develop. You are anticipating what will happen.

Nikon D100, Sigma 15-35mm, ISO 400, ƒ/6.7, 1/180

I arrived early for a basketball game to put a camera behind the backboard and four strobes in the ceiling to light the basketball court. I then had to wait for what I had anticipated would happen in the game.

Ansel Adams called this pre-visualization. I have seen many scenes before, and now I would plan to capture them.

What will you photograph today that will require you to arrive early and wait?