I go back to 2004 for today's flashback. We had spent a week touring Japan with Scott and Sandy, our in-laws, and Brian, our son, who had spent the better part of a year there.

Towards the end of our trip, we ended up in Tokyo on a rainy night. As a photographer, it was a difficult night to work, in part because I wasn't dressed or equipped for rain and in part because  there were 4 other people waiting for me to finish.

I took two photos standing in this spot. But the first one (posted below with minimal post-processing) shows the street but is clearly lacking something. When this man walked into my frame, I knew that this could be the photo I wanted.

I like this photo because it examples the idea of what the great photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson called "the decisive moment." I also think it is an example of what Ansel Adams said was "fortune favoring the prepared mind." And I feel good whenever Cartier-Breson and Adams lurk in the shadows of my photos.

Canon 1DII 1/80s f/5.6 ISO800 40mm