Greetings,

I found this site ... 

25 Photographs Taken at the Exact Right Time As regards timing, these are amazing. 

Enjoy ... Comments ... plaese ...

--
Martin

Amazing images, but I have to agree with some of the comments, a few looked a bit faked, especially the shark & seal, there's no splash where the seal came out of the water!  Maybe we could post some of our own "perfect timing" photos here that we've caught???  I'd like to see some...

Some interesting images. I do not think that any are faked.Like many things today we have deskilled the task with modern equipment which I feel does detract from their value. 

Digital slr's, especially the pro type used by some sports and wildlife photographers shoot 8 frames, or more, a second with ease.   It is common to simply machine gun a scene for a few secs. and select the best image, not much skill in timing there.
 
For an example of skill in timing I prefer this:

http://www.magnumphotos.com/Archive/C.aspx?VP=Mod_ViewBox.ViewBoxZoom_VPage&VBID=2K1HZO6E7IK8W&IT=ImageZoom01&PN=5&STM=T&DTTM=Image&SP=Album&IID=2S5RYDI9CNRQ&SAKL=T&SGBT=T&DT=Image

...and they're all stolen from the copyright holder. goes to show you should always strategically watermark your images. Oh, that last one is fake, were is the cats shadow? Thanks for the link. I've seen some of those images before and i think i know were.

I am with Richard on this point and perhaps of more importance is ....The Decisive Moment that Henri Cartier-Bresson made the world take notice of in his work, which is more about the right moment to take the shot

hehe - once it said "magnum photos" i knew which photo you meant.  Very cool...

And yes cat is a fake... someone in the comments recognised it from the source image.  Question everything you see like this you only need to look at the photoshop geniuses over on worth1000.com to see how you can easily be fooled (the cat is actually really badly done)

Well, I'm new here and am going to jump right into the fray here. Lots to look at and read to see what's going on in Renderosity.
  I have to comment on Onslow's comment about machine gun shooting to catch action. Good shooters do not do that to catch the peak of action. an example. An ok pitcher in highschool can throw a fastball at 80 mph meaning 118 fps. The ball theoretically travels 6'6" in .51 seconds, I theoretically because at the time of release they are actually closer to the mound which means a shorter distance the ball travels, but we'll go with the .51 seconds. A Canon 1D MKII shoots a fast rate of 10.5 frames per second. If the timing is precisely at the moment of release the shooter is lucky to get 5 shots off before the ball passes the plate, that means the ball travels just over 12 feet between each shot. A good action shooter can nail the shot at least once, maybe twice in a game. The kicker to this is that the ball in only in contact with the bat for 1/1000 of a second.
  Now take the guy jumping from the ladder across the water. We can assume since he's jumping with a sudden burst of speed that he's moving at about 5mph, or 7 feet per second. Looks like he's only gone about 4-5 feet, so he's made his move in less than a second from leaving the ladder to the time he hits the water. Just like the action/sports shooter Henri anticipated the action and caught the peak.

  I will grant you that lots of folks will rapid fire and hope for the good shot. But to get those truly perfect timing shots takes experience,anticipation and action. It's really not as easy as just machine gunning all the time. Look for items from Robert Hanashiro who shoots for SI, he's done several good write ups on timing your shot. After all, going through all those machine gunned shots takes time and time is money for the working shooter.

             Tony

Welcome to renderosity then :)

Just wondering if you could provide a link to the Robert Hanashiro write ups on timing... would be interested in reading them but couldnt find any through a google search.

  Thanks for the welcome, I'm hoping I spelled his name right.

 Check out alot of his information on Sportsshooter.com where he is a major contributor. One of his more interesting reads was setting up 3 MKIII to fire in sequence so he could get 30 frames per second for a customer wanting the series for a project.

  I do know when I'm shooting spots the machine gun method does not work for me. I seldom fire more than one or two shots unless it's a series I'm going to put together in a frame of the action.

 BTW,. you've got some amazing shots on your website. What was the material that the pears were shot on?  Glass or a highly polished granite? I really like that shot.

Hey Rainierphoto, are you a member of SS? p.s. oh and welcome to the forums.

nice image but...

is the photography just a perfect timing ??

Yeah - they were shot on polished granite - it was taken in my kitchen at university with a desk lamp for my light.  Same surface as the one of the ice-cube on fire. Glad you liked the shots in there :)

Checked out SS, will have another look when i have more time (about to head to work), interesting advice on one article i read.

"is the photography just a perfect timing ??"

No Olivier, I don't believe it is, however timing is a a major part. In essence it is a captured moment that can be kept and shown again, but to make it have meaning and significance it has to say something, which is where composition and subject come into play.

To quote :
"To take a photograph means to recognize – simultaneously and within a fraction of a second– both the fact itself and the rigorous organisation of visually perceived forms that give it meaning."

:o) thanks Onslow !

i'm happy to have answer to this... may be we need to have a perfect timing between us and the subject ! because somtimes the picture means something only for us and we cannot explain to others why ... 

Radlafx,

  Thanks for the welcome, yes, I'm a Sportsshooter member.

@ Onslow - I love that pic don't you? There is still a bit of debate over whether it was staged.

But it's a classic. I'm so glad I got to see it in really print while in London. Oh how I'm missing the freedom om London, pity about the weather thou...