--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You can't expect to take a definitive…" description: "\"You can't expect to take a definitive image in half an hour. It takes days, often years.\" — Fay Godwin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32e/fay-godwin-27867_half_you-can-t-expect-to-take-a-definitive-im_2470009.png" --- # You can't expect to take a definitive image in half an… ![“You can't expect to take a definitive image in half an hour. It takes days, often years.” quote by Fay Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32e/fay-godwin-27867_half_you-can-t-expect-to-take-a-definitive-im_2470009.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32e/fay-godwin-27867_half_you-can-t-expect-to-take-a-definitive-im_2470009.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32e/fay-godwin-27867_half_you-can-t-expect-to-take-a-definitive-im_2470009.png) > “You can't expect to take a definitive image in half an hour. It takes days, often years.” [Fay Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-godwin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Creating lasting images requires time, patience, and repeated effort beyond a quick session. **In simple terms:** Great work takes time. Key Takeaway Invest time, not shortcuts. Themes patience craftsmanship dedication Mood reflective determined Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - photography projects - documentary work - long‑term creative endeavors Key Concepts visual arts process mastery Questions to Reflect On - How can you schedule time for deeper work? - What processes improve your craft over years? A Different Perspective Quick attempts rarely capture depth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) ## Related quotes > [I don’t get wrapped up in technique and the like. 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It got to the point where my back was just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-vardy/when-you-are-moulding-30-an-hour-it-takes-its-toll-on-your-body-it/) [Jamie Vardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-vardy/) > [Daylight Savings Time is an Indiangiver. It gives an hour, then it takes it back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-s/daylight-savings-time-is-an-indiangiver-it-gives-an-hour-then-it/) [Laura S](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-s/) > [Got an hour or two? That's all it takes for one of my books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/got-an-hour-or-two-that-s-all-it-takes-for-one-of-my-books/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [Life admits not of delays; when pleasure can be had, it is fit to catch it. 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It doesnt matter if it takes days, weeks, months or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-re-going-to-get-over-him-dont-doubt-it-i-assure-you-you-will-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When I fly, it takes me two, three days to recovery, to be good physically.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-wilfried-tsonga/when-i-fly-it-takes-me-two-three-days-to-recovery-to-be-good/) [Jo-Wilfried Tsonga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-wilfried-tsonga/) > [“Love takes just a moment, it is the ego that takes days, months and years.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/himanshu-chhabra/love-takes-just-a-moment-it-is-the-ego-that-takes-days-months-and/) [Himanshu Chhabra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/himanshu-chhabra/) > [It takes about four days of virtuous living to create a little weight loss. That also happens to be the time required to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-beck/it-takes-about-four-days-of-virtuous-living-to-create-a-little-weight/) [Martha Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-beck/) > [It usually takes me at least ten days and a number of snacks to go from feeling something to being able to articulate what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ford/it-usually-takes-me-at-least-ten-days-and-a-number-of-snacks-to-go/) [Paul Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ford/) ## More by Fay Godwin > [After Land I wanted to continue exploring the theme but I needed a new challenge so turned to colour. I explored Bradford and produced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-godwin/after-land-i-wanted-to-continue-exploring-the-theme-but-i-needed-a/) [Fay Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-godwin/) > [I don't get wrapped up in technique and the like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-godwin/i-don-t-get-wrapped-up-in-technique-and-the-like/) [Fay Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-godwin/) > [But I was, and still am, an avid reader and so when I first started I chose to photograph many of the great writers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-godwin/but-i-was-and-still-am-an-avid-reader-and-so-when-i-first-started-i/) [Fay Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-godwin/) > [I had been working in colour for ten years or so and looked at digital and liked the possibilities it gave me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-godwin/i-had-been-working-in-colour-for-ten-years-or-so-and-looked-at/) [Fay Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-godwin/) > [It was 1966 by the time I started taking pictures seriously and books, newspapers and magazines of the time were full of great pictures…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-godwin/it-was-1966-by-the-time-i-started-taking-pictures-seriously-and-books/) [Fay Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-godwin/) > [I had no aspirations to become a landscape photographer at all. In fact it was portraiture that was my beginning, I suppose. I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-godwin/i-had-no-aspirations-to-become-a-landscape-photographer-at-all-in/) [Fay Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-godwin/) > [Born Berlin 1931, Germany, father a British diplomat, mother an American artist. Educated at various schools all over the world. 1958 Settled down to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-godwin/born-berlin-1931-germany-father-a-british-diplomat-mother-an-american/) [Fay Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-godwin/) > [The viewer must bring their own view to a photograph.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-godwin/the-viewer-must-bring-their-own-view-to-a-photograph/) [Fay Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-godwin/) > [And in fact I don't believe there is such a thing as a definitive picture of something. The land is a living, breathing thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-godwin/and-in-fact-i-don-t-believe-there-is-such-a-thing-as-a-definitive/) [Fay Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-godwin/) > [I've been working with the land for most of my life; walking it and photographing it. And I love it to bits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-godwin/i-ve-been-working-with-the-land-for-most-of-my-life-walking-it-and/) [Fay Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-godwin/) > [I hardly teach. It's more like a gathering of minds looking at one subject and learning from each other. I enjoy the process.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-godwin/i-hardly-teach-it-s-more-like-a-gathering-of-minds-looking-at-one/) [Fay Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-godwin/) > [I don’t get wrapped up in technique and the like. I have a simple rule and that is to spend as much time in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-godwin/i-don-t-get-wrapped-up-in-technique-and-the-like-i-have-a-simple-rule/) [Fay Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-godwin/) > [I have always been a very keen walker, though, and I often took a camera with me on my walks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-godwin/i-have-always-been-a-very-keen-walker-though-and-i-often-took-a/) [Fay Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-godwin/) > [I'm not faithful to one particular medium, and it's what I try to teach to people who work with me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-godwin/i-m-not-faithful-to-one-particular-medium-and-it-s-what-i-try-to/) [Fay Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-godwin/) > [I like photographs which leave something to the imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-godwin/i-like-photographs-which-leave-something-to-the-imagination/) [Fay Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-godwin/) [Explore all 20 Fay Godwin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-godwin/) ## More Half quotes > [When you listen to someone improvise, the notes that are played are only half the story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hubert-laws/when-you-listen-to-someone-improvise-the-notes-that-are-played-are/) Hubert Laws > [A lesser complaint: hair extensions. 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Worse yet, while the heroine bobs...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/in-the-movie-the-stars-above-the-ship-bear-no-correspondence-to-any/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [For the glory born of Goodness Never dies, And its flag is not half-masted In the skies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/for-the-glory-born-of-goodness-never-dies-and-its-flag-is-not-half/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-the-effect-of-her-being-on-those-around-her-was-incalculably/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [I with borrow'd silver shine, What you see is none of mine. First I show you but a quarter, Like the bow that guards…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/i-with-borrow-d-silver-shine-what-you-see-is-none-of-mine-first-i/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [If you want to change something by Tuesday, theater is no good. Journalism is what does that. But, if you want to just alter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/if-you-want-to-change-something-by-tuesday-theater-is-no-good/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [I spend a lot of time loathing the sentences that I put down on the page. Once I'm past that phase, it doesn't really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-link/i-spend-a-lot-of-time-loathing-the-sentences-that-i-put-down-on-the/) [Kelly Link](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-link/) > [I usually write from the rhythm section...If a drummer got a funky beat on some things - like a half-shuffle or a shuffle or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miles-davis/i-usually-write-from-the-rhythm-section-if-a-drummer-got-a-funky-beat/) [Miles Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miles-davis/) > [The wisdom of our actions in the first three years of peace will determine the course of world history for half a century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-a-wallace/the-wisdom-of-our-actions-in-the-first-three-years-of-peace-will/) [Henry A. Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-a-wallace/) > [The thing about living alone is that it gives you a lot of time to think. You don't necessarily reach any conclusions, because wisdom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-tropper/the-thing-about-living-alone-is-that-it-gives-you-a-lot-of-time-to/) [Jonathan Tropper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-tropper/) > [In a couple of decades you have half of the wells that are drilled right now, and you're talking about numbers in the millions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-fox/in-a-couple-of-decades-you-have-half-of-the-wells-that-are-drilled/) [Josh Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-fox/) Browse all 8,570 Half quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "You can't expect to take a definitive image in half an hour. 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