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.
#1 Booped By Floppy Fren
Image source: chloehachiko
#2 This Cat Assembling Itself
Image source: Flums666
#3 Perfectly Timed
Image source: Jorarl
#4 This Diving Photo I Took Of My Friend Makes It Look She’s Doing A Handstand On Water
Image source: tencents1010
#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
Image source: chaibhu
#6 Slipped And Fell While Photographing A Wedding Party. Snapped A Pic On The Way Down
Image source: Chase_Rich
#7 My Girlfriend And Her Friends Tried To Take A Group Photo, Alfie Wanted To Be In It As Well
Image source: young_filmmaker
#8 Attempted To Take A Cute Picture Of Me And My Dog. This Was The Result
Image source: ShamPow20
#9 Learning The Hard Way
Image source: Mustard_SG
#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
Image source: lava_lump
#11 Lightning Striking Simultaneously On Chicago’s Three Tallest Buildings
Image source: dhruveishp
#12 She Landed On My Shoulder
Image source: alsatianson
#13 This Man Saved Our Dog. You Can See Our Cat Jumping Out The Window
Image source: distriived
#14 My Wife Just Texted Me This Picture Of Our Cat Playing Behind The TV
Image source: FutonSpecialOps
#15 My Father’s Chair Failing At A Coast Guard Change Of Command
Image source: jonbees
#16 Love At First Sight
Image source: imgur.com
#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
Image source: KellJoy
#19 This Is The Best Photo My Mom Ever Took Of Me
Image source: mpgibson19
#20 Never Skip Arm Day
Image source: Gabesdefig
#21 One Second Before Disaster
Image source: APurpleTRex
#22 Giraffe’s Shadow Looks Like A Unicorn
Image source: 3_pac
#23 My Cat Seems To Have Misplaced His Body Somewhere
Image source: 0MattyJ0
#24 I Snapped This Photo Of A Cardinal Jumping And It Looks Like He Is Floating
Image source: theprideofVPI
#25 Maybe She’s Barn With It
Image source: CupOfDog
#26 This Picture I Took Of My Dogs As The Ball Was Being Thrown
Image source: TigOlBitties80085
#27 The Mythical Annubis
Image source: Palifaith
#28 Caught My Crow Buddy Mid-Blink, Making Her Look Very Sinister
Image source: SN74HC04
#29 Wrong Place At The Wrong Time
Image source: pp0787
#30 Tried To Take A Chicken Selfie And Got This
Image source: andrewjfletcher
#31 She Kicked The Phone Out Of My Hands At Exactly The Right Moment
Image source: Sykes92
#32 Nice “Four Head”
Image source: adellali1
#33 My Friend’s Dog Sneaking It’s Tongue Into His Mouth While He Was Laughing
Image source: ravennawoods
#34 Just Trying To Take A Nice Picture With My Cat
Image source: meowspoopy
#35 This Picture My Wife Captured At The Perfect Moment Of Our Cats
Image source: DizzyApps
#36 I Photographed A White Stag Mid Sneeze
Image source: The_Oban
#37 Girl Scratches Her Back And It Looks Like A Horror Movie
Image source: sn0rk95
#38 Just A Typical Family Photo With Our Furbabies
Image source: xmoana
#39 It Has Since Moved
Image source: mldljns
#40 Dammit
Image source: HiFiSi
#41 I Had Just Finished Saying “I Can’t Believe She Never Falls In!”
Image source: catbrains420
#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.”
Image source: jonahhill
#43 Thought The Driver Of This Car Was Just Staring Me Down For No Reason
Image source: EasternKanyeWest
#44 This Girl Looks Like She’s Underwater And Jumping Into Water At The Same Time
Image source: maskari
#45 My Baby’s First Birthday. We Had No Idea There Was A Sparkler In The Candle
Image source: saltymcgee777
#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
Image source: moonshine12
#47 Photo Of Me Noticing A Wasp Nest
Image source: asdfghjklqwertyuiopzxcvbnmasdfghjklqwertyuiopzxcvbnmasdfghjklqw
#48 What Could Go Wrong If I Take A Picture With This Gopher Snake I Found In The Road?
Image source: drewstrummer
#49 The Fall Of The Paella
Image source: Dusty_Machine
#50 My Parents’ New Pupper Misjudged His Jump
Image source: scourgeobohem
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