Looking back over some old work I became aware that I had previsualized lots of photographs. By that I mean looking at the subject and seeing the image I wanted a few seconds before it happened. Some worked well and others not. The image below is a good example. It is very under exposed and only just viable. I saw the guy go behind the corn dryer and then starting to get out, it was tight squeeze. I saw the image I wanted and got it quickly. The camera was a Mamiya 645, fully manual, and I did not set the exposure correctly. Luckily the image was in focus. I remember printing it on the hardest paper possible just to get a decent image.

The second image was taken a few year back while on holiday in Cornwall. I saw the feet sticking out and heard somebody walking up behind, the image was obvious and I just waited to get the shot. All that happened in a few seconds. It could have been framed better but there was no time.

The point is that if you are concentrating or are ‘in the zone’ then you will see images before they happen. I call them grab shots but maybe previsualized is better.