(Really) Stunning Pictures and Photos
Photography is a very powerful medium and a very difficult craft. Excellent photos don’t only display some facts — they tell stories, awake feelings and manage to share with the audience the emotions a photographer experienced when clicking the shot button. Taking excellent pictures is damn hard as you need to find a perfect perspective and consider the perfect timing. To achieve brilliant photography you need practice and patience. However, it is worth it: the results can be truly stunning.
Below you’ll find 50 brilliant photos and stunning pictures — some pictures tell stories, some are incredibly beautiful, some are funny and some are very sad.
All pictures are copyright of their respective owners. Please explore the further work of the photographers by browsing through their work. We’ve tried to cover different themes so that everybody will find something interesting and spectacular for himself / herself. All screenshots are linked und lead to the pages from which they’ve been taken.
You may also want to take a look at the following posts:
- (Really) Stunning Desktop Wallpapers covers desktop wallpapers related to typography, art, technology, photography and abstract themes,
- 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures presents 35 extremely beautiful and perfectly executed HDR-pictures.
(Really) Stunning Pictures and Photos
Water and a Girl
Beautiful composition, excellent scenery, amazing play of colors.
The Ball is Coming!
Analogue shot with Seagull 6×6 (Chinese clone of Rolleiflex), made in 1983. “The gulfball is suspended on a fishing line in front of the camera. It was a stormy day. So I had to shoot 5 or 6 films for getting one image with the ball in the center position AND a light reflection on the golf club.”
Sky
The sky is reflected in a drop of water. Beautiful scenery.
Returning to the same ocean
Beautiful sand textures, beautiful composition and somehow a very sad story hidden behind the image.
Tree
A colorful tree from a different perspective.
Gizmo
How adorable is that?
Glittery Ball
“The reflection in this water droplet, it looks like the glitter is stuck to the water, but NO, it is reflections from the glitter on the feather.”
Yaw? Weeeee
You probably shouldn’t try this in your local trains. Such pictures are unforgettable.
Leap of Faith
What does being one step away from falling into the abyss feel like? The photo is taken by Paul Perton.
Astronaut Self-shot Over Earth
Could this be the best self-shot ever? It’s truly out of this world.
Autumn in red
Pure beauty. No words are necessary.
FlickrMeeting – Genova – G3
Blue baloon, a small detail, gives the picture an incredible power.
![Mind-Blowing Photos - FlickrMeeting - Genova - G3 - [Ghe semmu + DieciCento + Milanoue!!W ]](http://media.smashingmagazine.com/images/pictures-photos/photos-12.jpg)
Sea in the sea
Incredible scenery. Apparently, the shot was made on the boat in the middle of the sea.
If I was an old building…
“If I was an old building I would want to be by the ocean. Till’ the end of times”. Photographed at the old fishing piers of the Texas Bolivar Peninsula.
Bee the Cat
“It’s hard to get the right exposure, with them being white, and with the fact they don’t stay still unless they’re sleeping.”
Passing the Golden Gate Bridge
Glow
Smoke from a leaf pile.
Swimming pool
Taking a look at the swimming pool. From a quite different perspective.
Reflect
A reflection from the louvre’s pyramid.
Time To Go Home…
“Tthe way the birds are lined up makes the composition extraordinary fantastic.”
Seagull on a sign
This seagull seems to have its own personal understanding of human’s rules.
Marshmellow girl
A beautiful composition.
Refashioned Dahlia
Photo taken at Duncan Garden in Spokane, WA.
Water drop
A photo taken at the exact right time. Available as a desktop wallpaper in various resolutions.
Blessed fog
A shot of Grande Madre di Dio in Torino, Italy.
Pigeon Point Lighthouse
“Once per year at the Pigeon Point Lighthouse they shut down the weak insipid modern (presumably electric) light and switch over the the 5 kerosene lamps and fresnel lens of the original, as it was 135 years ago.”
Fire Shot
Location: Changa Beach, Coquimbo.
A conversation
Fox, bird and snow. This picture is titled “Good afternoon, my name is chikiricuatro”.
Shanghai – Acrobatic
Picture taken during an acrobatic show in a Shanghainese theatre.
Northern lights as seen from space
Skier’s Paradise
“Climbing partner at 17,000′ on Denali carrying his skis down to around 16,200′ where he will be able to ski down the rest of the way to base camp at 7200′.”
Photograph Taken at the Exact Right Time
All alone.
This shot is taken on a Norway’s cliff Prekestolen (also known as Preacher’s Pulpit).
Above the clouds
The shot taken during the flight from Vienna to Frankfurt, approaching Frankfurt.
Cockfight
Taken by Jan Sochor.
Polar lights
Öxarárfoss in Iceland – Aurora Borealis taken by Arnar Valdimarsson.
Here floats a bubble in the air…
Sources and Resources
You’ll find many more excellent photos, illustrations and pictures on the following sites:
- Pixdaus.com
A social community dedicated to sharing photos. Pixdaus is a place where anyone can post his pictures, photos and others rate it. If it’s cool it gets to the main page and more people can enjoy it. - Ffffound.com
Image bookmarking. An invitation-based service.
Related posts
You may also want to take a look at the following posts:
- (Really) Stunning Desktop Wallpapers covers desktop wallpapers related to typography, art, technology, photography and abstract themes,
- 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures presents 35 extremely beautiful and perfectly executed HDR-pictures.
Rames
April 28th, 2008 1:53 amOmg! stunning photos indeed!
Simon
April 28th, 2008 1:58 amFantastic Article!! “smashing”;)
I like the Train-Picture most! Great Idea.
Ajinkya Patil
April 28th, 2008 2:01 amNice…….. truly inspiring….. :-)
topf
April 28th, 2008 2:02 amdamn good moments!
arnaud
April 28th, 2008 2:04 amBeautiful.
ertug
April 28th, 2008 2:05 ambreathtaking!
Simon
April 28th, 2008 2:06 amStunning!
John
April 28th, 2008 2:07 amabsolutely stunning photos, thankyou for sharing :)
bee
April 28th, 2008 2:10 amReally great photos, thanks a lot for showing.
I can’t say which one I like the most. The golf ball is fantastic. Autumn in red also. And the bug family! Well, I like them all :)
Moritz
April 28th, 2008 2:54 amReally incredible Photos!
Laura
April 28th, 2008 3:02 amWhat’s happened to Smashing Magazine? Usually your posts are informative and well-written, the commentary provided on this post is banal. Most of it should just be alt text as it’s a just say-what-you-see. Bring back the posts with purpose!
FuNKeR
April 28th, 2008 3:08 amI really love “Yaw? Weeeee”, “Family of bugs” and “Sea gull on a sign” :D They are great.
The rest of the collection is also brilliant, but these are my favorites.
Jonny Haynes
April 28th, 2008 3:22 amSome of these have got to be the best photographs, I have ever seen. Ever!
gr8pixel
April 28th, 2008 3:42 amsimply amazing! :)
Vitaly Friedman & Sven Lennartz
April 28th, 2008 3:46 am@Laura: thank you for your comment. We are not sure that these photographs need to be described any further. However, we’ll keep your remark in mind for the future posts.
RP
April 28th, 2008 4:05 amSome very cool photos. The seagull on a sign isn’t real though.
Zarathustra
April 28th, 2008 4:20 amSmashing is well out of its area of expertise here. Amongst other poor images are pictures of cats and dogs FGS. Get back on track hey? Or get some real photo experts on the team. Leave this sort of thing for the Flickr groups who know what they are talking about.
TechMalaya
April 28th, 2008 4:39 amStunning indeed. Bird on bird sign is one in a million.
Swapnil Sarwe
April 28th, 2008 4:41 amHii, Is the article posted by the individual in Mumbai. Its clear from the comment on the picture og guy peeping out of the train. Well thats the MUMBAI ki PEHCHAAN. really nice pics. Surely deserves bookmarking since its del.icio.us. kudos to poster from Aamchi Mumbai.
Anita
April 28th, 2008 4:41 amSigh. Greaaaat collection!
Lulz Killer
April 28th, 2008 4:50 amSome excellent, some total shoops…. CHARGIN MA LAZUR!
Daniel Edmundson
April 28th, 2008 5:06 amSebastião Salgado
(google his name)
I have to agree that smashing is somehow out of expertise with this post…. but there are some nice pictures also.
Chao,
Natrium
April 28th, 2008 5:14 am[quote]This shot is taken on a Norway’s cliff Prekestolen (also known as Preacher’s Pulpit).[/quote]
that is not Prekestolen. But the concept is the same.
YUI
April 28th, 2008 5:19 amreally stunning!
Jeff
April 28th, 2008 5:19 amI completely agree.
K.K.Shankar
April 28th, 2008 5:28 amCool and Amazing Photos…..
Great collection with some repeated pictures.
Good. Kepp it up!.
Vitaly Friedman & Sven Lennartz
April 28th, 2008 5:32 am@all commenters: please notice: this post wasn’t supposed to showcase the best works of professional photographers – that is a different area we’ll maybe cover in the future. The intention of this post was different – to showcase some interesting and unusual pictures taken in real life.
rahnefan
April 28th, 2008 6:03 amVery, very nice.
mayur
April 28th, 2008 6:18 amgr8 work man ……… awesome pic’s
Ardi
April 28th, 2008 6:47 amOMG….say no more….
Paul
April 28th, 2008 7:07 amI’m not really sure about this post, some of the images are great but it’s really let down by the animal portraits (I mean how many more cute dog shots does the world need?) and a few poor quality shots – the cloud formation on the Mount Fuji shot is amazing, but is it really a good photograph?
For me photography is all about the light, some shots here demonstrate that perfectly (autumn in red, a girl portrait), but some others just look flat. No offence intended, just my opinion
Rob
April 28th, 2008 7:13 amThere’re some nice photos there.. and of course, there’s nothing wrong with some nice photos.. But.. Personally I just expect more from this site – commentary, explanation – to learn or find out about something new – or have a trend or development pointed out where it wasn’t immediately obvious. I could have done without the kittens and puppies myself.. Which just goes to show that a list of photos assembled because they’re, well, nice, is pretty subjective – while a list of images showcasing some technique or trend has an undeniable value as something to learn from or be inspired by.
My two cents.
leszek pietrzak
April 28th, 2008 7:17 amI knew the 11th picture before and indeed it is very beautiful. As of course are the other pictures.
Greg Holkan
April 28th, 2008 7:31 amI’m pretty sure that picture of the seagull was photoshopped. The outline of the seagull on the sign matches the silhouette on the sign perfectly, and the texture of the paint in the silhouette doesn’t match the texture of the paint outside the silhouette.
But boy, wouldn’t it be funny if it were real?
Sophie
April 28th, 2008 7:44 amSome nice photos here, but the seagull on the sign is a Photoshop job. Check out the silhouette of the gull and then the one on the sign beneath it.
poiza
April 28th, 2008 8:24 amIncredibly tasteless and overloaded with post-edit color tweaking, making it completely lifeless. You guyz like cheap poretretists on the street or Andy Warhol? Please decide.
Stunning – waves, heights, cats and dogs? Those things appearing in your blog mark you as “first time in the internet” guy. Smashing? First time I see such a useless thread on this high-rated blog.
monchester
April 28th, 2008 8:48 amJust see number 40 photo make me dizzy, the other pictures instead feelings of beauty, peace, understanding, excellent list
Ryan
April 28th, 2008 8:56 amThe title says it all. Thanks for sharing. I’ve linked to my blog.
radziu
April 28th, 2008 9:11 amwow! i added this to my site too
4four1ones
April 28th, 2008 9:18 amunreal. people are so damn creative. i love it. thanks for sharing this. ill link it up on my blog
beto
April 28th, 2008 9:24 amI really liked the tree from the picture 5 and the leap of faith of picture 9.
Well, actually I liked them all xD
Cherish
April 28th, 2008 9:29 amgreat post. these photoes really wake me up some fantastic mind for my website disign!!
Inspirations , always come from the “different perspective” u think from.
as Swimming pool and Yaw! weeeeeee !! =)
Anne
April 28th, 2008 9:57 amquite boring, visual yes, but boring.
sorry.
Jeff
April 28th, 2008 10:12 amSeriously… this post reminds me of those crappy emails that go around. Bird on a sign is obviously fake. The other photos aren’t that great. And theres no intelligent discussion as to why you guys think these are great. This is evidently a filler post. I await the next “real” post!
Richard Kendall
April 28th, 2008 10:36 amImpressive collection of images. I have the Northern Lights seen from space as my desktop, i may have a few other options now.
It doesn’t matter if they are all real or who took them, if you appreciate interesting images, good photography and creative digital enhancement, then it’s a great compilation.
Catrine
April 28th, 2008 10:39 amThose who criticize: you obviously don’t read the comments or have REALLY no idea about photography. Most of these pictures are indeed stunning, alhough it’s of course always quite subjective. Could you provide some links to pictures which you think are stunning! I’d like to see them!
Mario
April 28th, 2008 10:50 amwow was für geile Fotos … Ich liebe diese Art fantastischer Fotographien!
need more!
Rob
April 28th, 2008 10:58 amSure, I could – and then you’d see my own personal taste in photos.. Which may or may not do nothing for you. That’s really the point. There’s not a lot here but some photos someone likes – there’s nothing wrong with them – some are great… But what’s the point? These might inspire some people, but certainly not everyone. On the other hand, a post about techniques used to make certain types of photos would be useful independent of what you think of the end product – since you can learn from that, experiment with it, get something other than an idea of someone else’s taste.
Even a post about something more specific than photos in general would be useful – photos taken at night, or portraits, or something – something to make a list like this a little more meaningful.
alex s
April 28th, 2008 11:04 amthese guys rock.keep it up buddies.
Paulo
April 28th, 2008 11:08 amGreat selection, great photographs ;)
Very well
BillyWarhol
April 28th, 2008 11:42 amSome amazing photos for sure but a lot of them look downright Phony – i’d be curious to know how many came outta the Camera like that without being Pshopped to the nth Degree*
;)) Peace*
Mostafa
April 28th, 2008 11:56 amthank god and thanks to photographers for their wonderful and beautiful ARTS!
Franoukwel
April 28th, 2008 1:55 pmThe cat’s eyes in #27 have also been photoshopped … :-/
Vitaly Friedman & Sven Lennartz
April 28th, 2008 2:07 pm@Fraoukwel: no, the eyes haven’t been Photoshopped. Please take a look at the source.
rob
April 28th, 2008 2:14 pmLove the photos, most of them amazingly creative.
I love the idea of the pool photo as if she was sitting against a very calm waterfall, I wanted to do a very quick manipulation on it, so she looked less stressed holding herself up.
http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/6144/waterfallze5.jpg
Paolo Freschi
April 28th, 2008 2:27 pmE’ bellissimo. Grazie.
Paolo
lutty
April 28th, 2008 2:35 pmthere are really amazing pictures here…
for photoshop and post production haters: every picture is (post) produced… every single picture is worked on from the setting, to the composition, to the exposure, to the film development, to the printing, to retouching; even before photoshop, it was always like that.
photoshop is just a digital tool that does basically the same thing people used to do (and still do, actually) with film and paper prints, just faster and less complicated (or is it?).
so just stop saying “that color is fake”, or “this is not professional stuff”, or “there’s nothing to learn with that”.. you’re wrong and you’re being mean, rude and hypocrite. there’s always something to learn, even if the picture was post produced (which only means it was still worked on after the exposure, and they ALL are), even if it doesn’t look great, even if the technique wasn’t the best…
just stop complaining and start contemplating people’s work. please!
well
April 28th, 2008 4:46 pmThis garbage is exactly why I stopped going to digg.
Skull0Inc
April 28th, 2008 4:51 pmGobsmackingly……briliant!
jenna x
April 28th, 2008 6:59 pmthe seagull one is fake, you can tell. like, really it is
rumblerumble
April 28th, 2008 7:50 pmSorry, but some of those are done by professional photographers. Sea in the Sea and Swimming Pool are pieces I’ve seen on the artists’ websites. You really should credit them.
rumblerumble
April 28th, 2008 8:11 pmI can’t recall the name of the artist responsible for #18, but photo you call “Sea in a Sea” (#13) is from Julianne Swartz’ Placement series.
http://www.julianneswartz.com/
http://www.mixedgreens.com/artweb/html/artistresults.asp?artist=8
So much for “real life” snapshots.
Brent
April 28th, 2008 9:08 pmI agree that some of the shots are truly amazing and beautiful, but the ones that are obviously put together in photoshop to me aren’t as impressive (and they are pretty easy to pick out)
You could easily hone this down to 20 photos that are truly stunning
brent
Pelardo
April 28th, 2008 11:13 pmthese shot’s are wicked!!!!
Abhisek
April 28th, 2008 11:26 pmVery nice. Some of the best i have ever seen. Thanks for sharing with us
arjun
April 28th, 2008 11:37 pmunremarkable pics………….!!!!!!!!!!!
Kaelig
April 28th, 2008 11:44 pmIf I may, here is an uncle of mine’s work : eos-numerique.com/eoscope/photos/98161030.jpg
I thought this post might be a right place to post it :)
Zarathustra
April 29th, 2008 12:14 amSorry to post again, but I have to elaborate. The editors should note that this post is the first time I have been sorely disappointed in Smashing for over a year. Sometimes articles don’r appeal “to me”, but they are still quality articles. This is just way off-topic, poorly researched, commented and presented. Only if you packaged these into an email, put my aunties address on it and mailed it to me could I be more let down. Very, very poor. In fact a waste of my time, which is worse.
kuldeep
April 29th, 2008 12:31 amBrowse through my Flickr favs …you’ll get better photos than this…
my id: “cooldeep…”
OohShiny
April 29th, 2008 12:38 amI liked most of the photos, but the comment “Mt Fuji [...] The photo is taken in Japan” was painfully inane.
coltrane
April 29th, 2008 1:24 amThese shots are ones that a programmer would have been impressed with a couple of years ago! I love smashing mag but I have to say two turkeys in a row! Get the design glasses back on…
Senfli
April 29th, 2008 1:47 amI think the photos are pretty. But I miss a lot artistic ideas in the expression, originality and statement.
Arun
April 29th, 2008 2:58 amTruly stunning pictures with great clarity and given importance to every single detail of the picture.
Nischal Shetty
April 29th, 2008 3:08 amAmazzzzing pics…. Just one word to describe them… WOW!!!
Zarathustra
April 29th, 2008 3:51 amSeriously…who have you gone and attracted?! if this lot keep commenting I’m off. Wow! that.
ozi
April 29th, 2008 3:56 amthe best pictures, gratulation
Desmond Haynes, Jr.
April 29th, 2008 4:05 amLoved all of them (except maybe, #43).
A WOW collection!!!
jbcarey
April 29th, 2008 4:12 amI’ve seen a couple of nice shot’s in my time, but these are amazing… no scrap that, they are SMASHING!
Arun Senthil R
April 29th, 2008 4:12 amWow..!!! just I can only say this..!!!
I was just started to think about the technical specifications like apperture, camera and etc..!!! If it is provided then we could also learnt something wile enjoying..!!!
Arun Senthil R
April 29th, 2008 4:15 amit was amazing..!!! also they could have provided the technical informations like fstop, camera, etc..!!!
Hanna
April 29th, 2008 5:31 amThat was absolute amazing !
Cant belive people took those pictures !
Arnar V
April 29th, 2008 5:35 amCould you please link my photo to my flickr account ? (46. Polar lights)
On flickr its under /photos/arnar
Thank you
Arnar Valdimarsson
Yvonne
April 29th, 2008 5:40 ambeautiful, I was mesmerized.
mark david smith
April 29th, 2008 5:54 ambeautiful and amazing
kati
April 29th, 2008 6:02 amWow. this just made my day a little better :) thanks!
tuannmdo
April 29th, 2008 6:23 amso love photos #14
Sutjeska 1927 Niksic
April 29th, 2008 6:56 amThe last picture a girl portrait is the best.
helen
April 29th, 2008 7:32 amincredibly beautiful… i love Autumn in the Red best.
Rafa
April 29th, 2008 8:17 amGeniales. Maravillosas. Preciosas.
Nitecuento
April 29th, 2008 8:23 am¡Son la hostia de buenas! ¡Felicidades!
Raghu
April 29th, 2008 8:59 amOne of the best Photo’s i’ve ever seen. Wonderful & really amazing. Need to appreciate the one who has taken the snaps. Two Ways at looking at a fish is my Favourite & looks absolutely funny.
Cata
April 29th, 2008 11:44 amPhotoshoped big time.
I hate these persons
Untitled
April 29th, 2008 11:47 amI totally agree with some of the previous user comments. The only image worthwhile viewing is the fourth image. This post was just a filler, especially with those animal images.
I still love smashing magazine though so please bring back good quality content.
jeff
April 29th, 2008 12:02 pmawesome pictures,really enjoyed m.
Sylvia
April 29th, 2008 12:56 pmI really think the photo of the cockfight should not have been posted. There is nothing stunning about it. It’s a shame people still hold cockfights, and the only reason to post such a photo would be to draw people’s attention to this, to make them realize this really is bad. But instead, you post this photo between some really great (and some less interesting, but that’s my opinion…) photos without a word about the cruelty behind it.
my 2 cents, I still really like smashing magazine :-)
Andy
April 29th, 2008 3:45 pmhow are these sad?
tomb
April 29th, 2008 3:53 pmNot too bad, but I also could have gone without seeing the cockfight photo. just the mere posting if it in any context to me is glorifying a despicable act.
Anne
April 29th, 2008 5:18 pmAmazing! Stuning! Great!…
Angela
April 29th, 2008 5:52 pmWow
these are breath taking
i have to wonder though, are they all real? like seriously?
because i didn’t think the world could be that beautiful…
Haris
April 29th, 2008 6:37 pmAbsolutely Amazing!
#3, #29 and #30 are fantastic work.