1. Catching a Plane
Possible Camera Used: iPad
Where to Buy: Walmart, Apple Store
Avg. Cost: $450-$600*
Quirky, fun, and sometimes horrific, perfectly timed photos have been taken with historical monuments for as long as there have been portable commercial cameras to take the pictures. Tourists flock to the Taj Mahal, the Great Pyramids of Giza, and countless other temples, ruins, and statues to replicate the scenes they’ve seen on postcards or in the movies.
There probably aren’t many postcards with the image of a statue grabbing the tailed of a plane. It just doesn’t have the welcoming appeal most cities are going for. The next time you fly with United Airlines don’t forget to tick the box for the “statue coming to life” insurance. If it’s on there, it’s there for a reason.
2. Bubble Explode City
Possible Camera Used: Nikon Z 9 Mirrorless Camera
Where to Buy: bhphotovideo.com
Avg. Cost: $5,500*
Using water as an assistant for a perfectly timed photo is always a fun experience. The reflections in still water are phenomenal, especially during the sunrise and sunset. There’s something about the chaos and disorder when the water has been disturbed that should never be underestimated. But it takes a photographer with a sharp eye to see the potential in raindrops, snowflakes, and bubbles.
Yes, bubbles. These liquid orbs reflect everything they see. This exploding bubble once showed a 360° view of the city where it spent its entire life. Then, it popped. And in a moment, it disappeared as though it were part of the world that vanished with the fateful snap of the Infinity gauntlet.
3. Fishhead
Possible Camera Used: GoPro HERO 10
Where to Buy: Target
Avg. Cost: $350*
Taking photos underwater was one of the dreams everyone had in the ‘80s and ‘90s, but no one ever thought it would be possible. Not only is it possible, but the aquatic world has provided us with some of the most spectacular and entertaining photos.
There’s nothing quite like being photobombed by a fish. It’s not like the fish simply blocked the subject’s face. No. It turned, posed, and stared down the camera person as if to say, “I don’t remember being you before.”
4. Perfect Timing: Level > Alien
Possible Camera Used: Samsung Galaxy 20s
Where to Buy: Walmart
Avg. Cost: $1,000*
Whether you live on a farm, work on a farm, or visit a farm, thanks to the animals that live there, life is a series of perfectly timed photos. The moments they capture are usually hilarious — for those in attendance, at least. While most people would expect the best moments to come from universally recognized pets like cats and dogs, the farm’s larger animals hold their own.
It takes someone who has seen one too many horror movies and has far too much time on their hands to birth the next generation of Alien films.
5. #1 Greatest Dad
Possible Camera Used: Canon EOS R6
Where to Buy: usa.canon.com
Avg. Cost: $2,500*
If you’re looking at the gentleman in the center of the frame with the red shirt and extra tall beer, you’re looking in the wrong place. The real hero of the picture is the father further down to the left, whose parental reflexes were on full display when he instinctively sacrificed his arm to save his kid from taking a stray bat to the face.
Considering how many baseball games are played annually (almost 5,000 from the MLB alone), photos like this don’t come along nearly as often as you’d think. When they do, professional photographers are there to capture everything — like the kid who’s about to be hit having no idea what’s going on.
6. A Good Boy
Possible Camera Used: Sony ZV-1
Where to Buy: Amazon
Avg. Cost: $750*
House pets like cats and dogs have provided the world with some of the best perfectly timed photos on the internet. While some perfectly timed pics are spontaneously unexpected, others are planned. Some pet parents even go as far as to take their fur babies in for professional photoshoots.
Pet photographers are actually a thing, but they’re expensive and not much different than the in-house photographers you’ll find at JCPenney or Walmart’s photoshops. Remember, the photos you take of the family pet might end up on a Christmas card one day, so it should be perfectly timed and perfectly adorable.
7. A Narrow Escape
Possible Camera Used: Nikon D500
Where to Buy: Amazon
Avg. Cost: $1,900*
Capturing all the best moments in sports doesn’t just mean what happens during the game. There are constantly picture-worthy moments; it’s just a matter of how many are caught on film. One of the more entertaining moments in sports is the celebration players and coaches participate in following a big win or a milestone moment.
The player or coach being interviewed by reporters after a game is usually on the, let’s say, hydrated end of the celebration. Knowing that something is coming makes it easier to avoid. Just ask this Brewers player whose dodgeball skills were fully displayed when this perfectly timed photo was taken.
8. Ghost Flex
Possible Camera Used: Sony a7 III
Where to Buy: Best Buy
Avg. Cost: $2000*
All beauty is in the eye of the beholder. In other words, pictures are memorable not for what they are meant to be, but for what people see in them. It’s like looking at the sky on a particularly nimbus cloud-filled evening and watching as the ever-evolving clouds take the form of what you think you see.
Once you see something in a photo, much like when you see something in the clouds, it’s impossible to unsee it. It will always be there. Just like this broken bulb will never not look like a ghost flexing its ectoplasmic arms.
9. Ride On
Possible Camera Used: iPhone
Where to Buy: Amazon
Avg. Cost: $800-1,300*
Going on a day cruise along the shores of a paradise-like island is a great way to spend an afternoon on vacation. As is the case with most tours and cruises, there will probably be a few strangers on the boat who tend to get friendlier than is comfortable.
The man in the back row of this day cruise is doing everything he can to play it cool while enjoying his afternoon in the sun. The family in front of him doesn’t know it yet, but because of a perfectly synchronized outfit, that man will be part of their stories for years to come.
10. Capturing Treasured Family Moments
Possible Camera Used: Canon EOS Rebel T7
Where to Buy: usa.canon.com, Amazon
Avg. Cost: $600*
Family photos are how future generations can put the names from old stories to faces. Many families opt for classic photos of the group smiling and not doing anything particularly special. However, others go all out attempting to re-create movie moments into lasting memories of their own.
One, two, threeeeee! Who can ever forget the adorably unforgettable scene in SONY classic hit Jerry Maguire when Tom Cruise and Renée Zellweger walk with 6-year-old Jonathan Lipnicki as he holds their hands and swings himself in midair. After this perfectly timed photo failure was captured, these parents might steer clear of film recreations for future pics.
11. Sunbathing
Possible Camera Used: Samsung Galaxy S21
Where to Buy: Target, Amazon
Avg. Cost: $750-$800*
If there is one thing cats are reliable for — other than causing a nuisance at any given opportunity — it’s unintentionally posing for hall of fame worthy pictures. Whether they’re getting stuck in small places or hiding under the couch with their tail poking out the side, giving away their position, felines are always good for a laugh.
If you can’t get out to the beach, the only thing left to do is “fake it till you make it.” This cat got the memo, but as this purrfectly timed photo shows, it’s missing a beach hat and sunglasses and seems to have forgotten to shave from the chest up and the knees down.
12. Nosey
Possible Camera Used: Samsung Galaxy S21
Where to Buy: Samsung Mall Kiosks
Avg. Cost: $750-$800*
It is a well-known fact that cats are curious creatures by nature. They have habits of getting themselves into all sorts of mischief and will do almost anything to get what they want. If this cat’s goal was to end up as the subject of a perfectly timed photo depicting a feline’s endless need to get its nose into everyone’s business, it succeeded.
Novelty cups are designed to make you smile, but they’re also meant for human use. If you have a pet that can’t keep its nose out of places it doesn’t belong, order it a matching water bowl from Etsy. More importantly, be sure to always have your camera handy.
13. Don’t Feed the Animals
Possible Camera Used: iPhone 14
Where to Buy: Apple Store
Avg. Cost: $800-$1,000*
Even after all these years, there are still so many unknown variables regarding wild animals that it’s impossible to predict what they’ll do next. The safety of zoo enclosures and “unbreakable” aquarium glass is a fantastic first step towards securing patrons’ safety but don’t think for a second the animals aren’t hatching plans of their own.
Was this beluga whale playing around? Or was it planning something sinister? There’s a good chance that it was neither, but the photographer’s quick snap sure has given us something to think about.
14. Who, Me?
Possible Camera Used: Samsung Galaxy S21
Where to Buy: Samsung Mall Kiosks
Avg. Cost: $750-$800*
Pet parents who plan on taking their canine companions outside all year round, please remember to dress them appropriately. This means vaseline and their paws if it’s too hot or too cold, and a coat or sweater to match the day’s forecast.
