Imagemaster wrote:
Anyone who says one category is more difficult to shoot than all the others has probably not shot all the other categories.
Identical wildlife moments never happen exactly the same again. Just like sports moments never happen exactly the same again.
Show me a shot where everything is exactly the same as in the photo of Lou Gehrig greeting Babe Ruth at home plate in Game 3 of the 1932 World Series.
You have not seen an identical image and never will, because it is gone, never to happen again.
I agree.
Also, I’ve shot a lot of different genres, but the most challenging was model photography. I was so used to shoot what was in front of me that the hardest part became having to start with a dark box (the studio) and then create every detail myself, the lights, the pose, the clothing, the model, etc. For others, that may come naturally, but not for me. And that’s one reason I enjoy it.
I don't buy that having done each of these personaly. They also vary a lot in technical difficulty depending on which kind of each you are engaged in. They are very broad genres like all of the rest.
The most challenging and dangerous photography is being a war photographer. You have no control most of the time of getting a newsworthy shot, but also little control of not getting shot yourself.
I doubt that anyone participating in this thread has ever been a successful war photographer.
chez wrote:
would be wedding photography as if you miss that one moment….
More than ten years heard an opinion that 2010s big decline of classic media (i.e. magazines and paper newspapers) outcomes in loss of job for many war and disaster zone photographers who consenquently changed some
'civilian' commercial genres like weddings 'cause basically can shoot anything and for them every moment is not only not-repitable but also have grave danger for them.
Basically I agree but of course never conducted any market research on it.
I agree that war must be the hardest, because of unpredictable danger, and emotional toll, but like most of us I never experienced it (and never wanted to try).
The most challenging photography I've done was while climbing or back-country skiing near my limit. You have to be a fully active participant to be there, then have the energy and motivation to carry camera gear, get it out, and capture a pivotal moment - often with partners who just want to focus on the climbing/skiing/living for the moment, not some future memory shot.
This shot was taken high up on the Grand Central Couloir of Mt. Kitchener in the Canadian Rockies back in the 70s. My partner Dave ended up with this, the crux lead up a vertical corner plastered with crapy ice and snow over rotten rock. He couldn't place any good protection, so if he fell it would have resulted in certain severe injury or death. When I followed him it was the most difficult climbing of my life and I was sure that I wouldn't have made it on the lead. He was so burned out, both mentally and physically, that he couldn't lead anymore so it was up to me to get us up the next 1,000 ft. of difficult climbing that ended up with the next most difficult/dangerous pitch I ever did (no photos). We didn't get many good pictures, but this is one of my best/worst climbing memory shots that I also got published in an article in Mountain Magazine (the world premier climbing rag BITD).
Without a doubt, pornographic photography is the most challenging. So far, no one has managed to create an iconic image that has become etched in the collective memory. So, friends, get to work – here's a unique opportunity to make photographic history!
Dan, "excellent" is poorly defined. The most challenging style of photography is that that would keep an average viewer looking at the resulting photos for more than 1 min. This is for "excellent" photos. For "outstanding", we are compelled to look at the images more than once, and possibly for longer than 1 min.
Only weddings and war does it matter if you miss a photo but the life risk is generally lower for weddings. Yes moments can’t be recaptured for wildlife and others but it doesn’t matter.
Technically, it’d be Astro and underwater. The gear and technical requirements are just higher than other genres.
Besides , war, journalism and wedding no genre is mission critical and can be reshot, to a degree. The rest are just fluff, really.
I actually think that while war photography is most dangerous and a sure source of ptsd, it’s not photographically that challenging. I’ve never done it, though. I stopped at riots.
Photographically challenging for me would be the accurate depiction of art work or something like that, because I lack both the patience and the technical interest in something like that.
I picked wedding photography, just the social aspects you have to do are miserable and i don't even like the dumb things. And you only get one chance, I'd rather go back to a spot and get it really right etc.
I've never had a bug complain about looking bad. One bride lost 53 lbs, I guess I was a pro-health and fitness photographer
A problem with polls can be a tendency to think there is one 'right' answer, which usually happens to correspond to our opinion. Sometimes there is one 'correct' answer. But in this case, what is challenging for one person may be simple for another and vice-versa. I would also say gear plays a part as it can significantly simplify what might otherwise be quite difficult, thus coloring opinions on relative difficulty.
Obviously the most challenging to ones personal well being and safety is conflict photography as there is the continuous possibility of being killed!! My cousin who is war correspondent for the Times started as a Photographer in Bosnia and has been shot twice in the legs, escaped from the boot of a car after being betrayed in Syria and at one point had his driver killed next to him.
