I'm sure there's a talent to it, but practice helps a ton. I'm certainly not comparing myself to Cartier-Bresson, but in the very specific type of photography I regularly shoot (youth sports) you learn the rhythm and patterns and what to look out for. I'd imagine street or wildlife photography is much the same. Patience, practice, and accepting that 99% of the picture you make will be crap.
I’m not anything but an enthusiastic hack, but the 99% rings true. I’ve made a goal for myself to get just one photo I’m happy with of as many cat species in the wild as I can. It’s taken me about ten thousand shots to cross off lion, cheetah, and leopard. Going to shoot bobcats in California for four days in a couple months, and I suspect I’ll get lots of interesting photos, but I’ll be very lucky to get “the shot”.
Ooo bobcats! I live in the bay area near Tilden Park, and I spent a while on iNaturalist trying to figure out where the bobcats hang out, as my 6 year old is very interested in wild cats. I realized sadly that bobcats are usually out at morning/evening, when we are not in the parks. Still used the bobcat stalking as an excuse to take a walk in Tilden today though.
What's your approach to finding the bobcat locations for your shot?
I'm going up to Point Reyes with a guide and a tracker, so that I'll at least have a pretty good chance of seeing the cats. Getting good shots is on me though!
Have you ever shared "the shot"s you got of those 3 cats? Would love to see them if you have :) Best of luck with the bobcat!
Here's the leopard one:
https://imgur.com/9YkWlRf