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50 Times People Captured Such Perfectly Timed Pics, They Had To Celebrate It By Sharing Them Online
What makes a photo memorable? Is it the lighting? The mood? The angle? Sure, all of those things are important. But! What. You. Really. Need. Is… impeccable timing! In fact, timing and rhythm are what great photos and wonderful comedy have in common. Without them, no technical know-how will save your work from falling flat on its face.
Fortunately, the world’s full of quality photographers who, either through skilled reflexes or sheer luck, take a snap at the right moment and capture a hilarious moment. Upvote your favorite perfectly timed funny pics as you scroll through this list compiled by the hard-working Bored Panda team and let us know which pics you loved the most and why in the comments.
By the way, you’ll find some more amazing photos that were timed so right you’d think the Universe was directly involved in our posts right here, here, as well as here. It was actually French photography legend (and our personal idol) Henri Cartier-Bresson who coined the term ‘decisive moment’ which is the point at which the photo is most significant.
Bored Panda wanted to learn more about the importance of timing in both photography and comedy, so we reached out to professional photographer Dominic Sberna. Have a read through what he said below. Psst, he's also got some advice for amateur photographers who constantly find themselves missing out on hilarious moments.
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#1
Booped By Floppy Fren
#2
This Cat Assembling Itself
#3
Perfectly Timed
According to photographer Dominic, timing is a "valued asset and skill" to some degree in the hierarchy of all the things important to a photographer. But it might not be the main thing, depending on the style of photography. "Planning out a shot or scene (depending on your style) takes time and planning. Composition is probably the most important in my mind though. One doesn't have to necessarily follow the rules of composition, but how a photo is laid out is going to make or break a photo. Some of the best photos in the world don't necessarily follow the rules of composition because their layout is made that much better by breaking them in a way that challenges the norm," he explained.
Dominic stressed that the style of photography we prefer to shoot will determine just how important timing is to us. "In sports photography, it's the timing of the shutter being clicked to capture that perfect moment. In landscape photography, more times than not, a photographer has planned an exact time to be at a specific location. In nature photography, it's a bit of both, as well as a bit of luck thrown into that one to see that special animal you're looking for."
#4
This Diving Photo I Took Of My Friend Makes It Look She's Doing A Handstand On Water
#5
Caught This Incredible Exploding Meteor When I Went To Rattlesnake Lake In Washington, USA Last Weekend. Zoom In To See The Exact Moment It Explodes In Two
#6
Slipped And Fell While Photographing A Wedding Party. Snapped A Pic On The Way Down
WilvanderHeijden 3 years ago
How people react to a person falling, from quiet anticipation via a sneaky grin to sheer terror.
Vic 3 years ago
Maybe the grinning ones are just late in reacting, or that's what they'll say. That's why it difficult to spot the sociopath :-)
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Shain 3 years ago
From the left, ( or right) corner of the picture smiles gradually turning into worried stares.
Sarcastic Panda 3 years ago
anyone else think it looks like a silent choir? no? just me? I'll see myself out.
Beth Arriaga 3 years ago
I love how so many people have their hands extended, as if to catch or help in some way. Makes me feel a wee bit better about humanity.
Myrtle Yoma 3 years ago
I don’t think the one on the top right understood what was happening. She looks picture ready. The two on the bottom right....yikes
Dimi Bauer 3 years ago
edit: Shain noticed the same thing (gradually changing smiles to worries stares) earlier.
Loretta Davila 3 years ago
I love this!! I was laughing looking at the faces! But seriously, are you okay??
Martine Remmelzwaal 3 years ago
I thought it was a choir singing at first glance. After reading the title I realise it all looks of shock/fright
Suzanne Haigh 3 years ago
Why do people have bridesmaids taller than themselves? It just does not look right, I did not nor did my daughter, we had the little ones, much prettier.
Karen Van Scoyk 3 years ago
I bet your glad no one was laughing...if i had been there I would have been laughing!!!!
Troy Currie 3 years ago
Last three girls on the right are enjoying this way to much not to have caused it. Probably the Three Weird Sister Witches from legend...and the middle one is definitely the leader.
Kirsty Brown 3 years ago
Hmm. Those two - (almost 3) at the end.... Nor sure I'd want them as close friends....
Mari Bryant 3 years ago
Everyone looks concerned except for the woman back row, far right. Lol 😆 I also like the guy front row left making a fist. 😁
Sebastian Melmoth 3 years ago
Haha...nice. The surprise on their faces and the pictures dutch angle-like framing is neat. My favourite pic so far, the action in it looks beyond professional. Good job (hopefully they hurt nothing more than their pride)
Happy Happy Gay Guy 3 years ago
They look like a choir... with bouquets… and the tall guy is conducting.
Cathy 3 years ago (edited)
the woman in front, 3rd from the right and the gal next to her are gonna be doubled over in laughter in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... I, too, am one of those people that laugh when someone falls. I'm not mean, but the person falling tries so hard to stay upright, its just like a slapstick comedy routine to me.
Mary Peace 3 years ago
It's a beautiful pic, but I suspect they are falling all together, rather than the photographer.
Luisa Vasconcelos 3 years ago
I'm on the laughing team. I'm sorry but first I will bust laughing before I can even help you to get up.
Denki/Shinkami 3 years ago
I just cant with how one of the bridesmaids is trying not laugh lol
Loki’s Lil Butter Knife 3 years ago
They look like they are in their early twenties. Some couples choose to get married right out of University
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blugeagua 3 years ago
Wow some of you people are a LITTLE sensitive here. Its a perfectly natural reaction to letting out a bit of a laugh when someone falls. Does that make you an "evil person" of course not! But some of you have the audacity to call them a "sociopath"? Really?!
Lesley Robinson 3 years ago
Depends how bad the fall is. Will his camera break? His leg break?
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Piet Puk 3 years ago
Bridezilla is telling you with her eyes you'd better not damage that sd card!
blugeagua 3 years ago
Wow what a way to judge someone you don't know just from a picture.
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"Timing means something different to everyone, but it is of utmost importance at the end of the day. Some will say it's luck, some will say it's skill, but at the end of the day, I truly believe it is a bit of both combined with experience and the ability to learn from your previous work," the photographer told Bored Panda.
According to Dominic, if you ever find yourself constantly missing out on taking the perfect comic snaps, you have to keep trying until you improve, just like with any other skill. "Unless you know a hilarious moment is coming by recognizing that it's about to happen, is that it's a matter of just trying. Keep trying and it'll pay off eventually. Maybe not as fast as you would like it to, but like anything, if you work at it enough, it will come to you in time." So grab that camera or phone and keep at it, Pandas.
#7
My Girlfriend And Her Friends Tried To Take A Group Photo, Alfie Wanted To Be In It As Well
#8
Attempted To Take A Cute Picture Of Me And My Dog. This Was The Result
#9
Learning The Hard Way
Doggo Froggo 3 years ago
Go ice skating, they said. It would be fun and easy, they said. Is he a furry Eddie the Eagle, by any chance?
“We work in unison with movement as though it were a presentiment on the way in which life itself unfolds. But inside movement there is one moment at which the elements in motion are in balance. Photography must seize upon this moment and hold immobile the equilibrium of it,” Cartier-Bresson wrote in the preface of his photobook, ‘The Decisive Moment.’
For him, a meaningful photograph lies at the intersection of deliberate composition and instinctively feeling when we should take the picture.
“Sometimes it happens that you stall, delay, wait for something to happen. Sometimes you have the feeling that here are all the makings of a picture—except for just one thing that seems to be missing. But what one thing? Perhaps someone suddenly walks into your range of view. You follow his progress through the viewfinder. You wait and wait, and then finally you press the button—and you depart with the feeling (though you don’t know why) that you’ve really got something. Later, to substantiate this, you can take a print of this picture, trace it on the geometric figures which come up under analysis, and you’ll observe that, if the shutter was released at the decisive moment, you have instinctively fixed a geometric pattern without which the photograph would have been both formless and lifeless,” writes photography grandmaster Cartier-Bresson.
#10
At A Bonfire. Wife Instructs Me To Hold My One Year Old Son High To Get A "Cool Shot". I Think It Looks Like I'm About To Sacrifice Him
#11
Lightning Striking Simultaneously On Chicago's Three Tallest Buildings
#12
She Landed On My Shoulder
Taking grandmaster photographer Cartier-Bresson's words to heart, we can see that what makes a hilarious photo, well, hilarious, is a mix between skill and luck. The photographer might not be controlling the outcome or all of the circumstances, but they’re consistently out in the field, using their reflexes and listening to their instincts that conspire to make them take the photo at the right moment. Right when things are most decisive and powerful.
Just like in photography, timing means a lot in comedy as well. Just imagine blurting out the punchline to a joke before your audience even had time to absorb the wind-up. Or the opposite: revealing the punchline once all the tension and anticipation has already evaporated.
The same applies to comic photos. A second too early or too late and the humor is gone or the entire tone of the image shifts.
#13
This Man Saved Our Dog. You Can See Our Cat Jumping Out The Window
#14
My Wife Just Texted Me This Picture Of Our Cat Playing Behind The TV
#15
My Father’s Chair Failing At A Coast Guard Change Of Command
#16
Love At First Sight
#17
Picture Taken Of Woman Falling Before She Realizes She Is Falling
#18
The Timing Of This Image Makes It Look Like My Nephew Is A Waterbender
#19
This Is The Best Photo My Mom Ever Took Of Me
#20
Never Skip Arm Day
#21
One Second Before Disaster
#22
Giraffe's Shadow Looks Like A Unicorn
#23
My Cat Seems To Have Misplaced His Body Somewhere
#24
I Snapped This Photo Of A Cardinal Jumping And It Looks Like He Is Floating
#25
Maybe She's Barn With It
#26
This Picture I Took Of My Dogs As The Ball Was Being Thrown
#27
The Mythical Annubis
#28
Caught My Crow Buddy Mid-Blink, Making Her Look Very Sinister
#29
Wrong Place At The Wrong Time
#30
Tried To Take A Chicken Selfie And Got This
#31
She Kicked The Phone Out Of My Hands At Exactly The Right Moment
#32
Nice “Four Head”
#33
My Friend's Dog Sneaking It's Tongue Into His Mouth While He Was Laughing
#34
Just Trying To Take A Nice Picture With My Cat
#35
This Picture My Wife Captured At The Perfect Moment Of Our Cats
#36
I Photographed A White Stag Mid Sneeze
#37
Girl Scratches Her Back And It Looks Like A Horror Movie
#38
Just A Typical Family Photo With Our Furbabies
#39
It Has Since Moved
#40
Dammit
#41
I Had Just Finished Saying “I Can’t Believe She Never Falls In!”
#42
The Lid Coming Off Jonah Hills's Drink
"The internet has been very interested in this photo of me dropping my coffee. But we’re all forgetting the real tragedy here. We’re forgetting to mourn this coffee. I didn’t know it long but damn was our time together special. As fleeting as it was. I’ll never forget you."
#43
Thought The Driver Of This Car Was Just Staring Me Down For No Reason
#44
This Girl Looks Like She's Underwater And Jumping Into Water At The Same Time
#45
My Baby's First Birthday. We Had No Idea There Was A Sparkler In The Candle
#46
Years Ago My Brother Lost His Cellphone On A Roller Coaster. We Figured There Was No Way To Know When. Then She Saw The Ride Photo
#47
Photo Of Me Noticing A Wasp Nest
#48
What Could Go Wrong If I Take A Picture With This Gopher Snake I Found In The Road?
#49
The Fall Of The Paella
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What do you think ?
Some Cool Guy 3 years ago
I have learnt 3 lessons from this. 1. Don't hold your food out near the ocean. 2. Don't photo your fish until you are out of the water. and 3. Always check for bees.
Charlotte A. 3 years ago
4. Make sure you know where your cellphone is and that it's safe...
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AroAcePanda 3 years ago
i know that these posts were made on reddit, but i found this dude that had all the pictures from this posts, with the same description, in the same order on YouTube with almost 30K views. idk if this is bad r anything, but just thought it was weird... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRrq0EAqhOo
AroAcePanda 3 years ago
there are more, this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qC0Ep0OCY8k with this post: https://www.boredpanda.com/unique-pets-extra-toes-ears-polydactyl/ and this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXzTGB3fN3Y with this post: https://www.boredpanda.com/adopted-rescue-shelter-pets/
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Heidi Matsumoto 3 years ago
Best reminder: Ask snakes first if they'd allow you a photo with them.
Colin Mochrie At Its Finest 3 years ago
I'm not quite getting how this works? Last night I uploaded some pictures as it was taking submissions (my first time catching it, exciting!) The number in the title did not say 120, it actually reflected the real number--I saw 1-2 more posts after I submitted. They showed up. My phone shows my notifications that there has been a response. But the notifications don't bring me to the response, just the page---so I can't see who responds. My computer works that way - I click notifications, it brings me to the specific response. Yet, my computer does not reflect real time and shows notifications from my last log in, three months ago. I scroll down and it now only has 120 pictures, none of mine are showing. I get that there are probably SO many and algorithms only show you so much, and there were probably a LOOOOOT more submissions. But, why show that they went through, and show that someone did comment? I am confused!
Colin Mochrie At Its Finest 3 years ago (edited)
Also: I am on the phone using Chrome, not the app. app doesnt work. I logged out of my laptop and logged in, and it gave me one notification from yesterday, and the rest from 127 weeks ago....BP Technical errors. They didnt respond to my email about this issue. I cannot edit my above post as it was made from the computer not phone. Anyway, I am side trailing a bit but that explains why I can't click a notification to go directly to a comment to me. UGH!
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Some Cool Guy 3 years ago
I have learnt 3 lessons from this. 1. Don't hold your food out near the ocean. 2. Don't photo your fish until you are out of the water. and 3. Always check for bees.
Charlotte A. 3 years ago
4. Make sure you know where your cellphone is and that it's safe...
Load More Replies... AroAcePanda 3 years ago
i know that these posts were made on reddit, but i found this dude that had all the pictures from this posts, with the same description, in the same order on YouTube with almost 30K views. idk if this is bad r anything, but just thought it was weird... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRrq0EAqhOo
AroAcePanda 3 years ago
there are more, this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qC0Ep0OCY8k with this post: https://www.boredpanda.com/unique-pets-extra-toes-ears-polydactyl/ and this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXzTGB3fN3Y with this post: https://www.boredpanda.com/adopted-rescue-shelter-pets/
Load More Replies... Heidi Matsumoto 3 years ago
Best reminder: Ask snakes first if they'd allow you a photo with them.
Colin Mochrie At Its Finest 3 years ago
I'm not quite getting how this works? Last night I uploaded some pictures as it was taking submissions (my first time catching it, exciting!) The number in the title did not say 120, it actually reflected the real number--I saw 1-2 more posts after I submitted. They showed up. My phone shows my notifications that there has been a response. But the notifications don't bring me to the response, just the page---so I can't see who responds. My computer works that way - I click notifications, it brings me to the specific response. Yet, my computer does not reflect real time and shows notifications from my last log in, three months ago. I scroll down and it now only has 120 pictures, none of mine are showing. I get that there are probably SO many and algorithms only show you so much, and there were probably a LOOOOOT more submissions. But, why show that they went through, and show that someone did comment? I am confused!
Colin Mochrie At Its Finest 3 years ago (edited)
Also: I am on the phone using Chrome, not the app. app doesnt work. I logged out of my laptop and logged in, and it gave me one notification from yesterday, and the rest from 127 weeks ago....BP Technical errors. They didnt respond to my email about this issue. I cannot edit my above post as it was made from the computer not phone. Anyway, I am side trailing a bit but that explains why I can't click a notification to go directly to a comment to me. UGH!
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