Thread by @JamesLucasIT

Thread of photographers who patiently waited to capture the shot of a lifetime 🧵

1. Leonardo Sens (3 years)

After three years of observing celestial patterns and tracking the satellite’s position, Brazilian photographer Leonardo Sens was finally able to take this breathtaking photo of Christ the Redeemer "holding" the Moon.

2. Six months ago, Italian photographer Valerio Minato captured an astonishing shot of the Basilica of Superga and Monviso Mountain perfectly aligned with the Moon. After six years of failed attempts, he finally achieved the shot he had been envisioning since 2017.

3. It took six years, 4,200 hours, and 720,000 photos for wildlife photographer Alan McFadyen to capture this perfect shot of a kingfisher diving into the water, a tribute to his late grandfather.

4. Wildlife photographer Dick van Duijn spent two hours snapping over 200 shots to capture the precise moment a squirrel stopped to smell a yellow daisy.

5. It took 10 years for the Italian astrophotographer Marcella Julia Pace to capture these 48 colors of the Moon.

6. Entitled "Bruce the Bald Eagle", this photograph is the result of Canadian photographer Steve Biro's ten-year quest for the perfectly symmetrical shot.

7. It took numerous close encounters with squirrels throughout his entire career for Vadim Trunov to capture these adorable images of squirrels and birds photographing each other.

8. Cape Buffalo and Red-billed Oxpecker take a drink together by Clint Ralph.

"The bottom line is to show up with the right equipment, lots of patience and a bit of luck and hopefully end the day with a few nice shots."

9. Photographer Louis-Marie Preau went underwater for four years—night after night in snorkeling gear and weights—to take a photograph of a beaver delivering a branch to its family in the Loire River.

10. Jon Carmichael spent years trying to figure out the best way to get a shot of the solar eclipse.

In 2017 he took a flight from Portland to St. Louis and captured this image at 39,000 feet. He spent hundreds of hours over the course of a year editing more than 1,200 photos.

11. Photographer Mario Cea Sanchez took this perfect picture after 6 months of failed attempts and over 2000 shots.

The kingfisher visited this pond every day, and Mario used a high shutter speed with artificial light to photograph it. This image does not use photoshop.

12. It took French photographer Laurent Ballesta 5 years to capture this striking photo showing the otherworldly beauty of spawning groupers. This phenomenon occurs only once a year, around the full moon in July.

13. Clint Ralph visited the same waterhole for 4 years waiting for this shot.

14. It took 11 months for photographer Sergey Gorshkov to capture his award-winning image of a Siberian tiger hugging an ancient Manchurian fir in eastern Russia.

15. Tampa photographer Jean Claude spent three years attempting to capture the perfect sunset photo at Clearwater Pier, Florida. When he finally managed to take the shot, a bird flew into the frame, adding an extra touch of beauty.

16. In 1999, Photographer Thomas D. Mangelsen waited 42 days to capture a photo of a cougar, spending 12 to 14 hours on location daily, with breaks to sleep at home.

He finally got the shot of the female cougar at dusk emerging from her den. The shot was among the first photographs to document the life of a wild cougar and it helped launch a movement to protect the cats against humans invading their habitat.

17. Italian astrophotographer Giorgia Hofer created this composite photo of the positions and phases of the Moon by taking a picture from the same location each day for 28 days.

18. The Tadami Line in winter by Kameyama Takeshi.

"When I decided to focus on capturing the snowy landscape with the Tadami Line train in Fukushima, I would wake up at 2 a.m., drive for three hours on snowy roads, climb a pitch-black mountain path, and wait in sub-zero temperatures for about an hour until the train arrived. This process was repeated time and again."

19. It took Jack Zhi four years to capture the rare sight of a female falcon attacking a large brown pelican.

20. Italian photographer Ciro Russo captured the sunset over the tower at the Castelfiorentino archaeological site every month for a year, creating a stunning "visual diary".

21. Photographer Mithun Hunugund waited 6 days to capture this photo of a leopard and its "black panther shadow" in the wild.

"Saaya and Cleopatra have been courting since 4 years now and whenever they are together it’s a sight to behold."

22. Stefano Zanarello positioned himself approximately 1,300 meters from the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, waiting for the Moon to travel across the cloudless night sky and align perfectly with the neoclassical monument.

23. Photographer Loes Heerink transformed the ordinary into a stunning collection by waking up at 4 am and positioning herself on various bridges around Hanoi, patiently waiting for the passage of street vendors.

"I once spent five hours in a location with no shots," Heerink explained. "This project started my fascination for the women carrying their goods. They have no clue how beautiful their bicycles are, no idea they create little pieces of art every day."

24. Varun Aditya captured this stunning clip of a pride of lions without using a flash. The photographer spent three nights in a hiding place, waiting for the perfect moment.

25. Photographer Terry Donnelly spent a year coaxing red squirrels into his garden to capture stunning photos of them mid-jump and playing with various minuscule musical instruments.

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