Smartphones and digital cameras are here to stay, and with it the explosion of amateur photography. There's no need to save up your film and sweat over every shot when you can store thousands upon thousands of them in a single device or in the cloud. You know what that means?
It means why take one photo when you can take a hundred at once? Fill up that cloud, baby. And now that there's so many photos being taken, there's a much bigger chance of capturing something truly unusual. Something truly bizarre. Or, with perfect timing and just the right angle, something utterly hilarious.
Whether these photos are the product of a photographer taking so many photos that they caught the right moment, or it was a lucky single shot, these pictures are perfect examples of a perfectly timed photo. That last photo in this article will absolutely STUN you! How'd they capture that?!
Ever since the dawn of time (well, the dawn of the internet at least), the interaction between animals and our technology has been an endless source of amusement and wonder. Just think of cats running up and down computer keyboards and dogs watching their favorite TV shows. The way they react is funny not just because it's adorable, but because in their minds, they have no idea what this strange human thing is.
This shot almost perfectly sums it up, with this giraffe looking on and wondering what on earth this giant metal bird could be, and what on earth it's doing out there in the savanna. What makes it better is the split-second perfection of the shot, so the giraffe actually looks like it's gone over to nuzzle the plane and find out what it's all about. Either that or it really is a 50ft giraffe and we should all be very, very afraid.
As far as recent advancements have taken us, we still really don't understand the brain and how it works. Take optical illusions, for example. It doesn't matter how rational we are - our eyes and brains can still trick us into believing something that we know, deep down, can't possibly be right. When you're a kid and you can fit a far-off mountain between your thumb and forefinger, all sensible sense of scale goes right out the window.
The same goes for this astonishing photo, where the photographer has just managed to line up the far-off boat in foggy San Fran through the gap in the chain-link fence. Now, we know that that boat is not a tiny bath toy. And if we look to the bridge for comparison, we can just about convince ourselves of that fact. But here, just for a second, through the hole in the fence, it looks like a boat made for ants.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to round two of Which Religion Is The Raddest! Round one was well and truly won by the esteemed Buddha, who impressed the judges with his ability to drag an airborne plane around - by its tail, no less - just using his thumb and forefinger. At that time, we thought we had a clear winner in the competition.
But here we have a new challenger: Jesus! The Crust Almighty has accepted Buddha's throwdown and is going to come up with a miracle of his own. Sure, he isn't too original with his divine act. He's chosen to mess with a plane, just like Buddha. But damn, does he put on a show. Not only catching the plane, but throwing it from hand to hand, just like a child's toy. Alright Christianity, you win.
Living in a such a modernized world as we do, it's so easy to forget the sheer beauty and raw power of unbridled nature. Sure, we get the odd hurricane and earthquake, but they're over in a couple of days and forgotten by the world a week later. Part of it, of course, is that it's so difficult to really capture true natural phenomenon at its peak.
David Attenborough and his film crew might make it look like the easiest thing in the world, but a photo like this, showing the brutal fury of a lightning strike right as it happens, is incredibly rare. For the photographer to be in the right place and the right time to get this kind of shot is nothing short of astounding.
Okay, so this one's not exactly a "right time, right place" kind of deal. It's a little bit more posed than that. But still, it does need a certain kind of skill (and plenty of patience) to be able to set up a shot like this. Not to mention it's gotta line up with that fickle surf at the beach. Do you know hard that is to do?
The result is nothing short of stunning, of course. If you squint really hard, it looks like it's just her head emerging from the waves. It also raises an interesting question, which you may have overlooked. Are the clothes she's wearing blue and gold, or are they white and black? Just kidding. We're not starting that madness all over again.
Dogs, as they say, are man's best friend. But if you think about it, is that really true? What do they really do but poop everywhere, bring stinky dead animals into the house, sit around licking their nether regions, and look at you with those eyes, expecting nothing but praise? Let's face it - dogs are pretty useless. It's a one-way friendship, and they've been coasting on our unconditional love for far too long.
We could easily think of a few ways that dogs could start lifting their weight in the relationship. Do our dishes, for example, and not just when we leave them lying around on the floor. Change the TV channel for us. Open our beers. Give us a back rub after a hard day at the office. Light our barbecues for us. Well, at least this dog has taken some initiative on that last one.
History books will all claim that it was the Wright brothers that basically invented heavier-than-air flight. The history books are all wrong. Humans really aren't that clever. Aircraft weren't created - they were discovered. In fact, we have no idea how planes work. They just hatch from giant sky eggs, laid by bigger mommy planes, and we have to tame them before we can put them into regular service.
Didn't find that joke funny? Well, how about some actual facts then. This picture isn't, in fact, an FA-18 Hornet just emerging from its egg. The cloud is actually what happens when an aircraft reaches supersonic speed (i.e. faster than the speed of sound), and the expanding supersonic boom it leaves in its wake compresses the moist air, forming a spherical cloud. There you go. The first explanation was way more fun, wasn't it?
Some photos, while well timed, you can just pass off as a funny joke. Others - like this one - transcend the boundary of mere gimmick and become something almost iconic. Anyone can make a shot, through some perspective trickery, where the person is bigger than something in the background. You've all seen people "holding up" the Eiffel Tower - yawn. This is something better.
It's the combination of the low burning sun, the pure red background, and the balance of the figure in front that does. This is football, but not as you know it, and it wouldn't look out of place in a World Cup advertisement. It's especially poignant when you consider the relatively poor backgrounds of many of football's brightest stars. They really are juggling heaven and earth to make it to the big league.
Pure fake, you say. PHOTOSHOP, you scream. And yeah, at first glance this looks like something a 13-year-old kid did on the school computer. But we're here to tell you that it's not. This outrageous shot is 100% genuine - just pure luck and a hot little shutter finger. Just think about it. How many planes pass us by overhead, every day?
The answer to that is "a lot". But then how many of those are only at night? And how many of those are twin prop? And how many of those will cross directly over the face of the moon? And many of those will do so in a way that they're only showing the underside of the fuselage? And how many people in the world are right there with a telephoto lens zoomed in, ready to capture that exact moment?
We're not a serious website. We're here for the good times, and that's it. So we're not going to discuss the relevance, or effectiveness, of the United Nations as a major geopolitical actor. But you do have to admit, no matter what you think about the organization this is a pretty funny bit of satire. A very unfortunate, very well timed, piece of satire.
There is one other thing. If you think about it long enough, you realize who's actually taken this snap. The presence of peacekeepers means that whoever's taking these pictures is in a warzone, which in turn means that they're more likely than not a wartime photojournalist. Who knew they had a funny side? Who knew that war wasn't such a serious business after all?
Like we've already established, sports are ripe for funny situations. It's something about the combination of balls, hand-eye coordination, and big strong athletes that just makes it all a recipe for mistakes. It's not just the sportspeople who can find themselves in an embarrassing situation, either. Quite often, the referees are just as likely to be the unwelcome subject of a wandering lens.
While this particular b-ball ref is going to come out on the other side of this photo with his reputation intact, there's no doubting that it's a pretty funny coincidence. It's not just the crown hovering over his head, but the thoroughly confused look on his face, too. Looking upwards as if God just granted him a kingdom. Are you sure, big guy? Not even the guys on this court give me respect!
Sometimes, when something bad happens to you out of nowhere, there's a split second where you fully comprehend what's about to go down. Like the instant before the chair you're leaning back on falls over. Like that moment between your tire blowing out and you losing complete control of your car. There's no doubt that that's what this woman is feeling in this split second, right before she topples backwards into the pool.
There is, however, two funny things that pop out of this picture. The first is that while she obviously knows in her heart the drenching she's about to receive, she's still trying to carry on the conversation as if nothing is happening. The second is the guy who's actually posing for this chance photograph. He has literally no clue what he's about to miss.
Alfred Hitchcock really tried, but even despite his 1963 thriller The Birds, no-one really finds our feathered friends all that scary. Maybe an enraged swan could do some damage, but anything smaller than that is never going to pose a threat for us big humans. What are they going to do, peck us to death? Beat us about the face with their tiny wings?
Nope, birds aren't scary. That is, unless they decide to band together and form a creature much bigger than themselves. One that strikes terror into the hearts of us puny mortals. Like a tyrannosaurus rex. Like a jaguar. Like... a dolphin? Come on guys, that's still not even close to being scary. You're going to have to do way better than that.
Now this is more like it. If you're a bird and you want to terrify, forget about arranging your flock into animal shapes. All you have to do is upgrade your flight gear. Nothing says ferocious raptor like wing decals, a new nose cone, or even titanium alloy feathers. Or you could just be like this bird and install supersonic jet turbines to your very talons.
All jokes aside, the sheer coincidence of this photo is incredible. To have that eagle line up exactly with not one, but two aircraft contrails is almost unbelievable. This is one of those photos where you're sure they just wanted to take a photo of a bird, but this somehow happened. It's all just boiled down to pure dumb luck.
The history of Paris's Eiffel Tower is, in many sense, a history of pure theft. Although it's named after Gustav Eiffel, and he gets all the credit for it, it was really only his company that designed it, not him exactly. In fact, none of the iconic tower - which was built for the 1889 World's Fair - came from the brain of Eiffel, but actually Maurice Koechlin and ?mile Nouguier, two engineers who worked for him. He just bought the patent rights from them, in effect stealing their glory.
But before you start feeling sorry for those two, we should probably let you know that even they weren't immune to a little light theft. Their designs for the Eiffel Tower were in fact liberally borrowed from another structure, the Latting Observatory, built in New York City some 30 years prior. What we're trying to say with all this is that if someone really did just lift up the tower with a crane and steal it, it would really only be poetic justice.
Way back before the internet consisted of Trump memes, it was a far stranger and much more interesting place. People would gather on bulletin boards in dark corners of the web to discuss all manner of things, from public phone hacks to conspiracy theories, amongst like-minded people. One of the big things was finding signs and images in everyday objects.
You know, like when Jesus appeared in that guy's toast, or the mangled Cheerio that looked just like Winston Churchill. Those kinds of signs. The thing was, though, that discovering stuff like that wasn't scary, just weird. On the other hand, finding a human eye in your washing-up suds is a different matter entirely. That's the kind of thing where you scream, run out of the house, and call up your priest for an old fashioned exorcism.
Ouch. You've really gotta feel for this guy, don't you? Of course if you go to a baseball game, you've got to expect that one of those balls is going to get slugged right up there into the stands. And sometimes, if you're in the wrong place at the wrong time, it'll get hit right to where you're sitting. You've only got to hope that when your time comes, you've got the skills to not make a complete fool of yourself.
Sadly, this guy didn't quite have the right stuff when it came to his time to shine. Instead, not only did he miss the ball entirely, but it went right on through and game him a good old smack on the face. You know, just to add injury to insult. The best part? The unconcealed face of pure glee on the woman behind him. Look up the definition of schadenfreude and you would see a picture of her.
We've been trying to tell people for years: MMA really just isn't very good for your health. Now, finally, there's a photo which really captures it. If this one doesn't convince you that getting punched and kicked repeatedly does funny things to the human body, we don't know what will. Just look at that skin fold and ripple. It's going to take a lot of Neutrogena to get that wrinkle out.
While you're marveling at the photo, here are some lovely statistics for you. Did you know that almost a third of all fights result in someone getting badly injured? Did you know that the bone stress produced by submission disciplines such as jiu-jitsu and judo can damage your joints for life, leaving you unable to walk? Did you know that there have been 15 deaths in the MMA ring in the last couple of years alone? No, we bet you didn't.
A friend of ours used to live on the outskirts of a small Canadian town. Quite often she would leave for work with her door unlocked, because she more or less knew everybody and knew that it was a safe and crime-free place. She didn't have to worry. One day, though, she returned to find her place completely trashed. Her front door had been opened, everything torn apart, her fridge ripped open and everything eaten, and a big old bear poo in the middle of her living room.
The moral of the story? Bears are just like humans. They know how to turn a door handle, and they sure as hell know a ripe opportunity when they see one. Sure, out in the wild, they'll hunt that salmon with all of their keen senses and whip-sharp reflexes. But if a salmon just jumps out and lands straight in their mouth? Well, just like us they're not going to say no to a free lunch.
Every man and his smartphone is on Instagram these days, and it's easier than ever to create the perfect shot. The site is awash with highly filtered photos and people looking to strike it rich with glamorous snaps of absolutely nothing - so much so that it's hard to even know what's genuine anymore, and what's simply creative editing. Seriously, you could turn a muddy swamp into a work of art with a tap of the screen.
Using a simple optical illusion to great effect, however, this shot stands out from the masses. Why? Because taking this kind of perfectly timed photo requires mad skills, not just the right filter selection. This is the kind of photo that bends the brain just thinking about it. Either that or she really is half a foot tall. Jury's out.
Do you know why the rings are the colors they are? Designed by Baron Pierre de Coubertin in 1912, the co-founder of the modern Olympic Games, each of the rings represent the five continents (with America as one continent) which participate. Not only that, but the six colors, including the white background, can be found in every participating country's flag. In essence, it represents every team in the world.
But with Elon Musk pushing the space race to the limits, it's easy to see that we're soon going to have to rethink the design of the rings. It's only a matter of time before we find extraterrestrial life, and of course the first thing we'll have to do is invite them to the Olympics. This photographer has found a creative solution to the redesign: just include the moon as one of the rings.
Boys and girls, let us tell you a story so horrible it will chill you to your very bones. Way back in the 1800s, there was an American gymnast from the town of Salem, who was so good that she won every competition. It didn't matter what the discipline was - parallel bars, floor, vault, or rings - this young woman came first, every time.
At first, the townspeople were pleased. But the years went on, and this gymnast just kept on winning. Not only that, but she never seemed to age. Even a decade after she appeared, she still looked like she was 14 years old. Eventually, the other gymnasts banded together, got out their pitchforks, and called the young gymnast a witch. It didn't take her long to be captured, put on trial, and beheaded. And she's been haunting the Olympics ever since.
Let's talk religion, shall we? Let's have a debate about which religion is better than all the other religions. Doesn't that sound like a fun time? No? Well, too bad. After this photo emerged, we couldn't ignore the discussion anymore. See, while your Jesus and your Ganesh might have done some pretty gnarly stuff, there's really no proof that it actually happened except for stories.
Buddha on the other hand, is still making miracles happen, day in and day out, and providing incontrovertible photographic proof as well. I mean, meditating so hard that you turn into stone, and then plucking a fully-loaded plane out of the air? That's the mark of a still-active messiah. A guy who doesn't just rely on stories, but lets pictures do the talking for him.
If you can find a more incredible shot than this one, we'd like to see it. We have to assume that it's part of some Hugo Boss advertising campaign, and was done by a complete professional, but still. The amount of work that must have gone into getting this photo just right must have been insane.
Anyone who's watched supermaxi yachts in action will know just how difficult they are to operate for the sailors, let alone some dude in a suit. Sailing on an angle like this one is pretty normal for them, and people go overboard all the time. So to balance a model on the keel like that is no mean feat. Add to that the perfectly grey and looming weather in the background, and the sailor looking over the side, and you've got a classic shot that'll stay in your memory for a long time.
Remember when you were young, before mortgages and a job took over your life, how everything was just so exciting? Nothing was too fast or too scary, and you could tackle a massive halfpipe without adding up the inevitable medical bills in your head. We think that this photo not only perfectly captures that joy, but perfectly sums it up, too.
Considering he set up a jump for his daughter's push car, it's hard to say whether the guy in this picture should be awarded Dad Of The Year or referred to child protection services. At least he went along for the ride to make sure his kid was (relatively) safe. And judging by the look of utter joy on her face, she really doesn't mind a bit of danger, either.
We've seen someone capture the raw fury of nature, but how about the mesmerizing beauty of it? Better yet, how about you capture both of them in one single shot? A first glance at this photo and you'd think that it was done by a rank amateur. The scenery is nothing special, the colors are washed out, and there's some power lines running right through the middle.
But really, this is an amazing photo. We don't know if you ever learnt this in science class, but rainbows almost always come after the storm, not before it. So to get both the electrical storm and not a single but a double rainbow is quite the achievement. Whoever found that pot of gold must have got the shock of their life.
Metaphor lovers everywhere, feast your eyes on this stunning photo. That's right - that's the Statue of Liberty way out there, perfectly aligning with a thunderbolt from above. What does it mean? Is it divine justice? Is Ms. Liberty sending out a distress message to the heavens? Or protecting America from complete destruction through fairness and equality? You be the judge.
Or, if you remember that photo of the Eiffel Tower being stolen just before, there might be a more sinister interpretation. If you remember your history lessons, the Statue of Liberty was also built by Gustave Eiffel, and essentially gifted to the States by France in 1886. So if someone stole the Eiffel Tower, then it makes sense for the French to strike back and steal what was originally theirs. Case solved.
It's a tip just as helpful for animals as it is for humans: when in danger, puff yourself up to make yourself look bigger. Fish do it, cats do it, and even the truly weird frill-necked lizard does it. And if you can't puff yourself up, then just get some friends so all of you look bigger. That's the message behind this photo, except these flamingos have just really taken it to the logical limit.
How they've managed to arrange themselves into a giant version of themselves, we'll never know. It's just one of those unfathomable mysteries, like the Nazca lines in Peru. Maybe it's completely unintentional - one of those freak occurrences of nature that just so happened when a photographer was flying by. Or maybe they're far more intelligent than we give them credit for.
There's a lot of different opinions about the Obama administration and the two terms of his presidency. Some thought he was ineffectual and never lived up to his promise, while others claim that the changes he made truly brought America forward. Say what you will, there's no denying the fact that when he started campaigning, the entire world was excited by just how much potential he really had.
That potential has never been better captured than in this incredibly timely photo, taken from when he was on the campaign trail for his reelection. When Obama gave a speech in those days, everyone sat up and paid attention. He literally was delivering sun from the gods to the people. And like Prometheus - who tried something remarkably similar - Obama got disemboweled for it.
One of the incredible things about modern digital photography is the sheer processing power. Professional cameras these days can take hundreds of high-quality photos per second and store them all on a card the size of your little fingernail, which means that you never have to miss a second of the action. Shoot first, as the saying goes, and ask questions later.
This results in spectacular imagery like what you're seeing here. A millisecond earlier and this would be a photo of a still patch of water. A millisecond later and the surface of the water would be broken, the magic lost. But in this instant - so easy to capture these days - we find something almost otherworldly, like the swimmer is emerging from an alien sac. Frightening and amazing at the same time.
You can just imagine what was going through the mom's mind when she thought of this photo. How can I make these three babies as adorable as possible? I know - put in them in cute little animal costumes! Then all we have to do is line them up on the carpet, take a shot, and bam! I'll be internet famous.
Sorry, mom, but this baby has other plans. As anyone who's ever had even the remotest contact with babies will know, they're only cute until you have one of your own. When that happens, they're only cute for a second before they become a pooping, farting, burping, crying, peeing, and vomiting machine. Yeah, this photo isn't a surprise at all, really.
Here's another one from the "Terror Caused By Rogue Baseball" department. This one's notable not because it's busting up a dude's face, but because of the sheer range of human expression on show. Look at all those faces. Terror, shock, disgust, and a kind of excitement - it's all there. There's even the Kris Kristofferson looking on from the top left of the photo, who just wants to get on with the game.
This is a perfect example of humankind at its most candid. As the ball flies at them, not a person in the crowd is thinking about how they look. They can't control their faces in any way, shape, or form. And what we have as a result is a kind of mass "orgasm face" - you know, the kind of face you make when you think that nobody's watching.
Quick poll: does anyone really actually like snowball fights? No, us neither. We know that every time winter rolls around with a fresh powder dump, we feel obliged to go out and throw some snow at other people. It's kind of a tradition. But in reality, snowball fights really aren't that much fun. They're cold, painful, and the other person is always more accurate than you.
This guy in the picture knows exactly what we're talking about. Or girl - there's so much snow on their face that we really can't tell what they are. They just came out because their partner convinced them that a little snowball flinging would be fun. That it wouldn't be like last time when they got ice in their eyes and mild hypothermia. Sorry, but it turned out exactly like last time.
It can be hard to find Christmas presents for everyone these days, so we're not too surprised that someone would eventually think of gifting a baby goat. Yeah, technically they're easier to clean up after than dogs, and they will mow the lawn for you. And yeah, once you're bored of it you can cook it up in a delicious curry.
There is one downside to having a goat as a pet, and this photo pretty much explains it all. They're just not quite as easy to train as dogs, and a heck of a lot friskier. When the time comes and they feel like being a goat again, you can bet your house that they're going to start leaping around and causing mayhem. Though it's gotta be said, the expression on her face is worth it.
Do you remember that single day in your life when you were burning magnesium in chemistry class and you thought that science was actually cool? And then you completely forgot about it all and went back to thinking it was for freaks and nerds? Well, that day has come around once again, and all it took was one beautifully framed photo.
The timing is absolutely wonderful, capturing the exact moment that the gossamer-thin surface integrity of the bubble is ruptured. When one tiny hole is made and the whole thing suddenly breaks apart, right before it becomes nothing again. Whoever called science uncool was dead wrong. Science is just like this bubble. It's not only a perfect metaphor for life, it also is life itself.
Anyone who's braved the rough and muggy streets of Rio de Janeiro knows the incredible power of the Christ The Redeemer statue. No matter where you are in the pumping and sprawling city, J-dog watches over you like a benevolent guide. This is one classic figure that has been captured on film so many times it's impossible to count.
But it's highly doubtful it was ever photographed quite like this. A few of you might be thinking that having a plane in the foreground of the shot is no big deal. But it's the way the plane is set up, its wings outstretched like J Chrizzle himself. Embracing the sky as the big man embraces everything below him. It's powerful stuff.
Speaking of powerful stuff, here's a photo you're unlikely to ever forget. How anyone managed to be in the right place at the right time to capture this, we'll never know. Be we think you'll agree that the result is as funny as hell. The way his legs are positioned actually makes it look like he's launching himself into the air with a fart so explosive it would shock a 5-year-old.
Sadly, this extra fiery burst didn't help his team out, since you can see at the top of the newspaper that the Saints lost in the end. On the other hand, maybe you don't want to have two-pound cheese and bean Burrito Bombs put on the banned substance list. It's best to keep its performance enhancing capabilities under wraps until you really need to bring out the big flamethrowers.
As much as we don't like to admit it, We've probably all had a moment like this before. We don't like to admit it because it's just another example of nature outsmarting us, of animals getting so wily they can read us like a book and con us out of our own property. That look on his face is not one of anger, but disbelief. He's just realized that he might not be on top of the food chain.
Seagulls are probably the best animals out of all of them in giving us this feeling of mental inferiority. We've seen seagulls walk into a convenience store, brazenly pick up a packet of chips, and fly out. We've had seagulls fly in over our shoulder and take entire cheeseburgers out of our hands. Basically, we know exactly how you're feeling, buddy.
Does anyone remember that game Fruit Ninja from when smartphones first came out? Various fruits would fly across the screen, and you would have to "slash" them with your finger to get points. Stupid, addictive, but a hell of a lot of fun. Games might have gotten a bit more complicated since those days, but you just can't beat a simple concept.
Little did we know that all that time we were getting high scores on Fruit Ninja and giving ourselves Repetitive Strain Injury, we could have been actually practicing in real life and becoming a mad fruit ninja like this woman. We could have been like this rad lady and done something with our lives. Look at that skill. Look at those trails of juice. Oh well. Maybe next time.
If Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin and The Other Guy had known how easy it actually was to set foot on the moon, they might have faked the landing after all. Getting there doesn't really require millions of dollars of spending, decades of research and failures, and years of training. All it really needs is a sharp eye and the ability to hit the shutter button at the right time.
To be honest, this photo looks way cooler than the one those astronauts did, and a lot less fake too. It's not all black and white and low res like the Apollo 11 ones, and the snowboard jacket and pants in this photo look far more practical than those clucky old spacesuits. The only thing we do wonder about is what he's going to do when he steps off this building, but we guess he is on the moon, so gravity won't be as much of a problem.
The surprising thing about this photo, really, is not that they found a guy who was yawning, but more that they ever manage to take a shot without someone messing it up. Consider every time you try and take a family photo, with about ix people in it, and how there's someone always messing it up. Then multiply that by 100 for a full parade.
Of course they practice this kind of thing in the army, but you can't beat human nature every time, can you? If you look at it more closely, in fact, it looks like he's deliberately looking down the barrel of the camera and yawning on purpose. Whether intentional or not, he certainly managed to stand out that day. It was even better a second later, when everyone else caught his yawn.
As the TV show Survivor has proven time and time again, stick most people on a desert island and they'll have pretty much no idea how to fend for themselves. Even on Survivor they've got all the behind the scenes luxuries and their fellow "castaways" - imagine if they were on their own! The sad truth is that most of us have gotten pretty comfortable with our city slicker ways.
When you do take a look at how people used to survive - and in fact still survive to this day - the result is almost magical. This guy might look like he's diving artfully for Instagram, but he's not. He's just fishing for his dinner, just like every other day. This beautiful, graceful plunge is normal to him. It's a stunning photo of a world we don't often come across.
We'd be pretty surprised if most of you hadn't already seen this photo. It did the rounds a fair bit back in the day - anything this dang cute never stays off the internet for long. But it is worth reviving an old meme, just because it is such a wonderful shot. You couldn't Photoshop a better picture. And what perfect timing!
This is the point where animals become almost like little humans. You can see exactly what he's thinking, right there in the little guy's face. These two hikers just set up the camera on a timer, and when they sat down further away, he just though he'd go over and check what all the fuss was about. What's this blinking light? He asks himself. What's that thing that looks just like me, in that little circle of glass? How's my hair look?
We've feature a fair few statues in this list, ant that's because they just require that extra bit of skill. You think it would be easier to photograph a statue at the right time, because they never move or blink (hopefully) and ruin your shot. Nut on the other hand, you can't move them around to match the shot like you can a human subject. With a statue, you can't adapt.
Someone must have thought of putting a cloud in the background of this statue before, but it's never been done as well as this. This photo is just perfect - the angle of the trumpet, the flare of the clouds, and the way it lines up. See, if that was a human with a trumpet you could just move them around to match the clouds. With this statue, you have to be millimeter perfect.
Lots of us have been glued to the Winter Olympics every four years, so we know just how difficult it is to perform out there on the ice. Figure-skating ranks right up there as one of the hardest sports around, and even without wardrobe malfunctions like Yura Min's, there's the potential for so many slips, spills, and red-faced embarrassments.
That's not even mentioning when they get it right, and perform moves that are so sexy, and so incredibly awkward, that you'd be laughed right out of the bedroom if you tried them at home. Combine that with a deeply unfortunate angle, like in this photo, and you've got a recipe for hilarious moments. Let's not ignore the look of sheer surprise on her face, either.
If you have an allergy, there could be a small chance that a bee sting will kill you. For the bee, though, there's no such thing as a small chance. If it stings you, it's dead. Simple as that. The stinger has small barbs on it which get stuck in any mammal with relatively thick skin, meaning that the barb is impossible to remove. As the bee is trying to fly away, then, the whole stinger tears from its abdomen and causes a lethal rupture.
It's a phenomenon equal parts sad and fascinating. Because the speed at which bees sting you, though, and the close to random nature of attacks, few people have ever caught this moment when the bee essentially kills itself by flying away. This photo shows one of those moments. Within a minute or two, this bee will be dead. Tragic, isn't it?
Nothing says tropical holiday like a couple of hundred holiday snapshots. After all, how are your coworkers and friends going to get jealous if they don't see you out there in the sun, sucking down Aperol Spritzes and having the time of your life? That's really what a tropical holiday is all about - making other people jealous.
It's hard to say exactly who's going to be jealous of this particular photo, though. Sure, it's just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but the result is like something from a horror movie. Like the result of genetic experiments gone awfully wrong. This is the Little Mermaid, but with the wrong parts in the wrong places. And that's the last time you book your tropical island through Doctor Moreau's travel agency.
A serious case of sportspeople doing weird things has struck again, and this time it's two soccer players that have come out of it looking like they should have kept it to the bedroom. To be totally honest, we're not even sure that this is a case of unfortunate positioning and a perfectly timed photo. What they seem to be doing is just downright illegal.
Okay, maybe not downright illegal. Like we said, maybe it's just something they should have kept off the pitch. From the looks on their faces, it might not even be what we think it is. Maybe one guy is giving birth to a cactus, or his hemorrhoids have flared up and need urgent medical attention. Actually, we don't want to know what it is.
With the population in China blitzing past one billion people, it was probably only a matter of time before we got a shot like this. Of course, it was a pretty happy coincidence that both girls were sitting side by side, and in the correct order, and that someone had the foresight to bring their camera along. And a band like the WuTang Clan to exist in the first place.
It is quite funny, if you think about it. All this time, these two friends had no idea of the stir they would cause on the internet. We can't say for sure, but they've probably never even heard of WuTang clan. They certainly don't look like rap fans, but you never know. Maybe they planned this whole thing from the start. Maybe the joke's on us.
Stop. Don't read this paragraph just yet. Look back up to the picture, your mind blank, and tell us the first thing that you see. Yeah, that's right. Did that just massively freak you out for a second, or what? It's funny how the brain works - as we keep on saying - and it's funny that although the picture is perfectly logical when you examine it closely, the first look is pure weirdness.
How did this picture come to be? Who took it? Who are these people? How did it even make its way to the eyes of millions of people across the world? We can't answer any of these questions. We can only present the picture, and show you how truly strange life can be sometimes. It really is funny how things happen.
