cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Show Your Most Difficult Picture You Have Yet Taken

diverhank
Authority

I ran across a picture I took a while back.  This, by far, was the most difficult picture that I took...I was chasing after two western swallow tail butterflies involved in a courtship dance above an open grass field...I did it after almost tripping and falling down several times...

 

Why It was Difficult:

1. Butterflies are fast and totally unpredictable in changing direction

2. 400mm FL view is very narrow on the viewfinder making tracking fast erratic objects like butterflies a real challenge

3. The depth of field is very thin...you've got to nail focus fast and snap the shot fast.

 

Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 400mm f/5.6L, Canon 25mm extension tube @ 400mm; f/6.3; 1/1250; ISO 800, AI Servo, center point with 8 assists, Case 5

 

13052117814_efdf7796b2_b.jpg

================================================
Diverhank's photos on Flickr
20 REPLIES 20

...and you did great!  Nice shot.

EB
EOS 1DX and 1D Mk IV and less lenses then before!

jrobertwilliams
Apprentice

This image for a project with an incredible 12 year old gymist was a bit of a challenge.  Canon 5D mark III / 24-70L  Mulitple strobes and a couple hours of the crew sweeping.gym.jpg

wow! I love how her hair flows into the chalk. Fabulous job! How many did you have to take to get that one? there is so much going on I can't stop looking at it.

Picturethis
Contributor

drop1.jpgdrop1.jpg

bcmrbill
Apprentice

Water Drop

 

From a challenge in a photography group to "freeze the action." Took me a bit to set up a rig to drop the water, then figure out how to capture it.

 

Canon 7d w/50mm 1.8 and 13mm extension tube. Flash on camera right, HSS 1/6400 @ F4, Iso 160. Countless missed shots, with 3 "keepers."

Oldjack
Contributor
Nice...

Oldjack
Contributor
Very cool well done indeed...

dhammond1
Contributor

The difficulty was not in taking the shot, but in post rocessing to correct for the different light sources: street lights, flood lights, and neon, and minimizing the lens distortion. 

 

Subject: Sky City Tower, Auckland New Zealand. 

Camera: Canon 7D Mark II

Lens: Tamron 16 - 300mm

Settings: ISO 3200 / 16mm / f/3.5 / 1/25 second

Post processing: Lightroom / Photoshop (Alien Skin Exposure plugin).

4Y6A5068.jpg

DBR
Contributor

I was watching this sparrow fly around, and i was patiently waiting for it to land.  It did right in the middle of a Thorn Bush.

 

IMG_1645.JPG

I have 2 very different but also very challenging photos I'll add. First up is the Canadian Pacific's Holiday Train crossing a bridge about 40 minutes from home. It's an annual thing but the previous 2 years were too miserable to see it from where I wanted to try my shot. No idea how long it was but I was able to find the width of the bridge on line, and fortunately went mid afternoon to figure out what lens might work. I had guessed wrong thinking I'd need a telephoto zoom but quickly realized I needed WIDE. I also got lucky in that it was cold & by dark the swampy area I wanted to use had frozen over just enough to walk on. There was no way to practice until it came into sight & no way to work out settings in advance BUT it had to stop about 1/2 mile past the bridge or it wouldn't even be possible. As it crossed I tried a few changes to get my shutter speed up a bit & this is my best shot from the series. !D mark 4, Canon 35 F 1.4 L lens at f 1.6, ISO 6400, 1/13 second, hand held.

 

CPHT-2014.jpg

 

The second shot is from one of the first R/C events of the season & again is hand held using a 1D4, Canon 28-300 L IS, at 130 mm, f5.6, ISO 400 & 1/2000 shutter speed. Telemetry that was downloaded later shows the speed of the pass to be in the 420-440 KPH range and I couldn't back up much from the flight line so how the heck I kept in in my viewfinder is beyond me but this is 1 of a 7 shot burst with only 1 slightly soft image.

 

TCPRC 5-27-2017 1-06-45 PM.jpg

"A skill is developed through constant practice with a passion to improve, not bought."
Announcements