Ten Photos Taken at the Right Moment
March 17, 2007
Every so often, someone snaps a photo at just the right moment. For me, it never happens - I always either take lame photos of friends and family; or I take a picture of me acting like a dumbass. But some people get lucky. They often catch unexpected moments - sometimes appropriate, sometimes inappropriate, and often hysterical.
Other times photographers catch moments just before something happens, or as it happens. Here's a collection of ten such photos. Some are funny, others are amazing, and there's a couple of odd ones. Check it out:
10. Look, no hands... uh, oh!
This has to be one of those "You just had to be there" photos. ...& unless this guy is Force-sensitive, I would say the next possible shot would be him fighting a losing war with gravity.
9. Gene Simmons catches his hair on fire
KISS are known for their onstage theatrical tricks that help make up the package that is one of the greatest rock shows ever created. One such act, is Gene Simmons' classic fire-breathing act. Unfortunately, in the early days, he somehow didn't make the connection that hairspray was, in fact, flammable. There were often times his hair caught fire onstage because of this - and here is one image that was caught of the event just at the right moment.
8. One of those "Oh Crap" moments
Human beings just don't belong in water. You can drown in it for crying out loud, and it's the home ecosystem for ocean creatures that will do you harm. I first saw this image a long time ago, and couldn't help but wonder if the surfer in the picture thinks that way now. I'm sure the first thing he did when he saw "Bruce" swim by was begin to shit mineral water.
7. Lightning Strikes The Empire
I love thunderstorms, and am a big fan of lightning photos. Every now and again, you come across one that was taken at just the right time - here's one striking the Empire State Building. Pretty sweet.
6. This Can't Be Good
I don't know whether the photographer snapped this shot knowing what was going to happen, or whether it just happened as a matter of chance. Either way, it couldn't have worked out well for the cyclist. I'm sure the road now has his face embossed into it.
Update: Ezra sent in some further info about the above pic:
The photo was taken by a Chinese individual who knew about the pothole, and set up to take pictures of people falling into it instead of warning them about it. He took an entire series, and if memory serves, was actually prosecuted for it. (Quite a few people were upset that he took advantage of others' injuries to take photos, and did nothing to prevent the injuries he knew would take place.)
Thanks for the info, Ezra!
5. Incoming!
This is what happens when you're surrounded by the red circle of retardedness.
4. Impact of a Bullet
I can't help but dig these photos of impact - this is a picture of the precise moment when a fired bullet impacts upon its target. Pretty amazing. There's a lot of images like this out there on the web, but this is one of my personal favorites.
3. Incoming - Part II
No red ring of retardedness needed for this image. Pop quiz - you have a heavy wooden object heading straight for your face. What do you do? Probably crap yourself, like these people.
2. Segway Pwns Bush
President George W Bush trips over or off of a Segway scooter. Mr. Bush may like his Segway scooter, but I think he might need a little more practice. Next thing you know, he'll collapse because of a pretzel or something. Wait...
1. Goodbye Cruel World
Here's one of those "possibly the last photo taken by the photographer" images. Nothing good could have come from this.
