Photographers talk about recording a “moment,” which is that flash of emotion, the height of action or just the right light in all the right places. Sometimes that means waiting for it – such as during a basketball game when the point guard flies in for a lay-up, and she is at the apex of her jump, moving neither up nor down. That’s “the moment.” Or when the seemingly stoic defendant in a murder trial is asked by the prosecutor to tell the truth about who killed her baby, and she breaks down and sobs on the witness stand. (I watched that one unfold.) Other times, capturing “the moment” means hitting the brakes and seizing it, such as when a bright, red barn appears on the horizon as cotton-ball clouds dance across a bright, blue sky.
Have a Bright Spot to share? Send it to Managing Editor Julia Lerner (lernerj@denison.edu). Tell us about the moment that made you smile in under 200 words, and try to include a photograph. We’ll add it to our growing list of Bright Spots on TheReportingProject.org!