What is the HARDEST thing you shoot?

[CarolineJensen]

What challenges you the most? What do you kind of dread to shoot, but love the results? Share below! 

 

I find all night photography hard. I won't even bore you with my miserable failures, haha! I need to get better at astro photography as I have a good area for that, but coyotes scare me! 

[ST]

Not so scary (taken from across a stream) at 9:07 a.m. on a dreary, overcast day.

ILCE-1 FE 200–600 mm F5.6–6.3 G OSS 
600 mm f/6.3 1/200 sec ISO 3200

Edited December 7, 2023 by ST

[Katrina Thompson]

For me, it's eagles and owls in flight. I feel as though I have had many opportunities as of late, but by the time I get close enough and my settings are ready, they fly away before I get a chance to get that perfect shot with their clear, crisp wings in flight. 

[ST]

On 12/8/2023 at 7:00 AM, Katrina Thompson said:

For me, it's eagles and owls in flight. I feel as though I have had many opportunities as of late, but by the time I get close enough and my settings are ready, they fly away before I get a chance to get that perfect shot with their clear, crisp wings in flight. 

Hi, Katrina,

I'm still new to all of this, so take it with a grain of salt.
When I'm looking for eagles, I have the camera set for birds in flight (loosely based on the video below), and I use recall custom hold assigned to a button to override those settings for birds at rest.

That way, it's point and shoot when something interesting flies by. This doesn't guarantee good results, but at least the camera is ready even if I'm not.

ILCE-1 Sony FE 200–600mm F5.6–6.3 G OSS (SEL200600G) 600.0 mm ƒ/6.3 1/4000 sec ISO 640

Edited December 9, 2023 by ST

[LensBrew]

That would be swimming for me. Swimmer dip in-and-out of the water and causes the camera to loose focus continuously. To make matter worse, the camera's focus shifts to the water droplets that splash in front of the swimmers. I get the lowest percentage of usable images for this sport. Not to mention Chlorine water everywhere.

[Katrina Thompson]

Hey, thanks for sharing this with me; it helps tremendously. I'm going to give it a try, and I'll let you know how I make out.  Thanks again, have a great day!

[CarolineJensen]

On 12/8/2023 at 9:00 AM, Katrina Thompson said:

For me, it's eagles and owls in flight. I feel as though I have had many opportunities as of late, but by the time I get close enough and my settings are ready, they fly away before I get a chance to get that perfect shot with their clear, crisp wings in flight. 

So majestic! 

[CarolineJensen]

On 12/10/2023 at 12:29 PM, LensBrew said:

That would be swimming for me. Swimmer dip in-and-out of the water and causes the camera to loose focus continuously. To make matter worse, the camera's focus shifts to the water droplets that splash in front of the swimmers. I get the lowest percentage of usable images for this sport. Not to mention Chlorine water everywhere.

Oh goodness! Just the humidity alone and a fogged up lens! I did t know about the drops issue in front of swimmers. I wonder if the new AI focus works well with goggles? 

[CarolineJensen]

On 12/9/2023 at 12:22 AM, ST said:

Hi, Katrina,

I'm still new to all of this, so take it with a grain of salt.
When I'm looking for eagles, I have the camera set for birds in flight (loosely based on the video below), and I use recall custom hold assigned to a button to override those settings for birds at rest.

That way, it's point and shoot when something interesting flies by. This doesn't guarantee good results, but at least the camera is ready even if I'm not.

ILCE-1 Sony FE 200–600mm F5.6–6.3 G OSS (SEL200600G) 600.0 mm ƒ/6.3 1/4000 sec ISO 640

Awesome! 

[CarolineJensen]

On 12/7/2023 at 3:21 PM, ST said:

Not so scary (taken from across a stream) at 9:07 a.m. on a dreary, overcast day.

ILCE-1 FE 200–600 mm F5.6–6.3 G OSS 
600 mm f/6.3 1/200 sec ISO 3200

That is about as close as I’d get. 😂

[LensBrew]

On 12/16/2023 at 1:42 PM, CarolineJensen said:

Oh goodness! Just the humidity alone and a fogged up lens! I did t know about the drops issue in front of swimmers. I wonder if the new AI focus works well with goggles? 

Luckily, the facility our team competes in is well ventilated. Otherwise I would have to invest in humidity control tools, and that's a cost I didn't have to deal with here (knock on wood).

I'm not sure the AI tracking can do anything about it. The swimmers' heads are milliseconds above the water. Once their heads go in the water, there is nothing to track. The turbulence created infant of them makes the water unclear, and by the time the camera find the eye/head, they go under again.

I got more competitions coming in January, and I have few ideas I want to experiment with. If any sports pros or former pros can provide some advice, I would love to hear them.

[fiannabean1]

I shoot both photos and video. I feel cinematic video is hardest to shoot, maybe because I haven't been doing it as long, but there is so much technical stuff to learn in shooting and editing. Still, I really enjoy it! I'm starting to put some on my youtube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@melaniemyhre1227

[Raal43]

I shoot photo and video. Hardest thing to shoot for me are dance shows with inconsistent and fast lighting. These 3 screenshots are from about an 8-second stretch in a dance routine. That said, getting THE moment feels amazing because as a former dancer myself, I know these videos will be watched by the performers for years to come.

A7Sii, 24mm, f10, ISO (I think) 10,000