Showcase of Beautiful Photography
Sometimes, a picture can be powerful enough to be inspirational material all by itself. To provide you with some inspiration for the upcoming week, this sunday we feature some truly beautiful and impressive images from talented artists and photographers worldwide.
Whether in black and white or in colors, they are all related by a strong sense of composition and an emphasis on lightening and colors work. All images are linked to their sources, which you are encouraged to visit. Other work of the photographers we have featured here is certainly worth discovering as well. Please notice that some images are available as prints as well.
Beautiful Photography
Dreaming
Amazing sleeping beauty, where the beauty is actually also the beast, by Peter ツ. Prints are available as well.
The Endpoint
By Jeannette Oerlemans.
Song of Tide
By Wira Nurmansyah from Indonesia.
Blue
By Earl A. Jones.
Bunny Bokeh
Happy bunny bokeh wednesday, by Little Miss Patricia.
Abstract
By tanakawho.
Ink Sea
By Hermin Abramovitch.
Fan’s Eye
A macro shot by LauHi.
Ant, The Driver
By Raphael Guarino.
A purple leaf
By National Geographic.
Flower Petal
By Alistair Campbell.
Keeper
By Wysseri.
Who Feels Love
By Ciuky.
In The Mood 4 Love
By Antonio Navarro Wijkmark.
Tunnel
By Kleemass.
Eyjafjallajökull
By Skarphéðinn Þráinsson.
Susanna Majuri
A disturbing yet insteresting serie of images by Susanna Majuri.
blue canary
By Ursula I Abresch.
Bearded Dragon
A macro shot by LauHi.
Ant (by Unknown)
Please let us know who is the author of this image in the comments.
Light Paintings by Twin Cities Brightest
Last Click
The Plugs
Well, that’s not a beautiful photo per se, but we are confident that this image will spark your imagination for a more productive workflow — at least when it comes to handling cabels and plugs!
Kalgar
July 11th, 2010 5:50 amThe first one is really amazing :)
mary
August 14th, 2010 4:21 amim totally agree with you ^^
aurel
July 11th, 2010 5:54 amreally cool the blue sky photograph is really pleasing
the
hamza
July 12th, 2010 2:47 amit’s from Tunisia
Richie
July 11th, 2010 6:04 amGreat post… Photography can be a great source of inspiration during a creative burnout. Looking at these pictures surely refreshed my mind during this dry hour…
However(with all due respect) i suggest you guys maintain the regular flow of articles rather than inspirational showcases and lists. Not that it is bad or anything, but I’ve been seeing such posts umpteen times on the web and I need to read more thought provoking articles on SM than these. I also see that this is a weekend post so I’m not going to go berserk on this :)
As a regular reader, i get really enlightened by reading your articles and learn new stuff everyday. Although, I must admit that these pictures are good on a dull sunday evening.
Please don’t take this personally guys.. :) and I apologize if I irked any of your readers..
Vitaly Friedman
July 11th, 2010 6:08 amRichie, indeed, this is a weekend post. Regular work days are dedicated to thought-provoking articles.
alfredo
July 11th, 2010 7:39 amwith all due respect (as well) I disagree, I have noticed a trend of articles aimed to programers and developers rather than designers (I guess that’s what readers want), but; since I’m a designer I prefer inspirational showcases than web security tips or whatever… that’s why I check SM on weekends. nice list!!
Chris
July 16th, 2010 11:50 amAs a designer myself, I have to agree with Alfredo. It’s these types of showcases that I always enjoy and awe at, that keeps me coming back to Smashing.
Robin Thrift
July 11th, 2010 6:16 amFan’s Eye is simple, but elegant. Simplicity wins for me!
Ahmedesign
July 11th, 2010 6:18 amThanks Alot, I’m really inspired.
Chandra Tewary
July 11th, 2010 6:20 amThanks for this post. Cool ones… Blue Sky & Blue Canary :-)
Carl Rosekilly
July 11th, 2010 6:41 amThese guys know what they’re doing, post production!
cristina
July 11th, 2010 6:51 amAwesome collection. I really like to catch a break from business once in a while, even though this kind of post still works for inspirational purposes and sparks creativity. I love photography! Very inspirational to me. Thanks guys!
Malcolm
July 11th, 2010 6:58 amThank you very much smashing, these are really fantastic.. I am now picking up my camera.. :)
Jerry
July 11th, 2010 7:06 am“The Artist” has a watermark showing copyright by Konrad Bak and a websute. Is he the website owner as opposed to the photographer?
Simon Lilja
July 11th, 2010 7:07 amThe bottom-right credits the photo of the painter to Konrad Bąk of Photodesign.pl at least. Is this not right, since you’re asking the the artist?
Vitaly Friedman
July 11th, 2010 7:28 amThank you, we must have overlooked it! The post was updated.
Rajeesh
July 11th, 2010 7:23 amAwesome Pics
Ferdinand
July 11th, 2010 7:40 amKitsch as kitsch can!
Usually Smashing Magazine puts its emphasis on high quality works. These photographs might be technically very well executed, but there is much, much better photography out there.
sknob
July 11th, 2010 8:35 amI was going to say the exact same thing. Technically flawless, but utterly lacking in spontaneity and “soul”.
danny
July 13th, 2010 7:57 amSame here, a master photoshopper does not a beatiful photo make.
Shovan
July 11th, 2010 10:22 amAwesomeeee listtt
Moksha Solutions
July 11th, 2010 1:17 pmthanks for such a great collection
Speider
July 11th, 2010 4:53 pmAnd they said I would have to leave my computer to se nature’s beauty. HA! It came right to me.
Thanks!
imsilentfish
July 11th, 2010 6:13 pmThe first one gives me a big shot, especially in the hot summer day,cool.
James
July 11th, 2010 7:02 pmI love the colors in some of these photos!
Aravind
July 11th, 2010 8:36 pmThanks a lot to SM for the post!!! I specially liked Far And Away, Falling Up, Song of Tide, Bunny Bokeh, Ink Sea Ant, The Driver. Really amazing photographs and very good inspirations.
Keep posting articles like this.
sidd
July 11th, 2010 9:01 pmall are nice. l love this post.
Alec Schmidt
July 11th, 2010 9:18 pmSome really amazing photos! I really love seeing some of these uber colorful macro works. Really fantastic stuff. I agree that some of the content matter is a bit cliche, but that only increases the impressiveness of these works. To make the mundane, or overused ideas seem new again takes a lot more skill in my opinion. Really great!
–
Alec Schmidt
Graphic Designer / Art Director
Overscored / Phoenix, AZ
Andris
July 11th, 2010 10:04 pmThe first shot of the dreaming husky is absolutely beautiful. The colors are amazing. That’s a truly inspirational shot.
nurul amin russel
July 11th, 2010 10:42 pmnice share
flo_core
July 11th, 2010 10:59 pmMore of these!
btw: Finished the smashing book yesterday. Good one!
Julia May
July 11th, 2010 11:08 pmMost of the pictures are excellent. Still, there are loads of amazing photography out there enough for a whole new category ;) I would also love to see some portrait photography showcase.. Thanks, a great weekend post!
Shreela
July 11th, 2010 11:13 pmI loved the ‘Blue sky’ one. Its Greece, isnt it?
hamza
July 12th, 2010 2:48 amTunisia, “Sidi Bou Said”
bordomat
July 11th, 2010 11:16 pmLast picture Wins…..
Drew Clarke
July 11th, 2010 11:41 pmLast click,
Darn good idea.
What rock have I been living under all these years!
D_oneup
July 11th, 2010 11:55 pmgo to deviantart, click on “order by popularity”
save images and URLs
go to 1x.com click on “latest popular”
save images and URLs
goto couple of other sites do the same
here is this article probably took about 15 minutes
good job !!!
Vitaly Friedman
July 12th, 2010 3:23 amThese photos have been bookmarked over 4 months. I am sorry if you feel that this post took about 15 minutes to prepare. Please notice that it is not an article, it’s merely an inspirational post.
JN
July 12th, 2010 12:15 amThanks, this article really helps me learn about web design and development – NOT. Another worthless article from Smashing.
Vitaly Friedman
July 12th, 2010 3:21 amJN, please feel free to ignore this post. It was an inspirational piece, and it was published on Sunday, so this is a weekend post. I am sure you’ll find many other interesting pieces on Smashing Magazine.
Ant Lockyer
July 12th, 2010 12:15 amIt’s amazing how different people’s tastes can be. I dislike all but the Bearded Dragon picture. That however is extremely well shot and beautiful to my eye.
jfk
July 12th, 2010 12:29 amthese images are medicore at best
sneedy
July 12th, 2010 1:02 ama few of these are interesting (eg falltuer) but most of them are slick and dull (or, to paraphrase some of the other comments, soulless kitsch), some positively cringe-making. a beautiful photo isn’t necessarily a good one. it’s obviously a matter of taste (and i’ve been crushingly outvoted on this one) but why waste space on this website with stuff i can get from (similarly popular) flickr pages?
Nadine
July 12th, 2010 2:26 amGreat, thank you!!!
wira
July 12th, 2010 2:49 amOwh, my photo was there! Thank you very much :D
Matt
July 12th, 2010 3:12 amNice collection!
Btw, shouldn’t it be dive/diver not drive/driver? :)
Niubi
July 12th, 2010 3:22 amGreat collection! I’m surprised that some people think these photos are mediocre – I’d like to see them try to create such works of art. To those who made the list, you should really consider taking it to a commercial, professional level – I’d love to have some of these hanging on my wall – perhaps a company like eBay, DeviantART or DubLi could help you to market and sell?
searchlackey
July 12th, 2010 3:44 amOutstanding picture with a tremendous amount of quality.
NELSONLANKA
July 12th, 2010 3:55 amFascinating photographs, thank you.
Jurica
July 12th, 2010 4:04 amWell I really like to see, from time to time, post dedicated to photography on SM.
In fact I think that issue of photography deserve a bit more space in SM.
But as usually, among mostly nice photos everytime slip some kitschy crap…
Also I think that photo manipulation does not belong in “Showcase of Beautiful Photography”.
DIGITALLUSH
July 12th, 2010 5:02 amI think it’s interesting that there continues to be that ‘kind of person’ who ignores and dismisses these posts as fluff? SM provides a service to the community, let us not forget.
The people that complain about the posts like this whine about SM not talking about developing… well I’m just curious, why would Smashing Magazine exist if there weren’t people making photography like this? What job would a developer have.. if there wasn’t content? Would you be developing web pages about new ways to develop web pages.. web pages about… oh wait… that’s right.. interesting stuff! Being able to recognize and see the value in content is essential to any developer, and if you’re part of the crowd that doesn’t or can’t recognize it… well, that’s just a shame.
Thanks SM for your posts – I think people forget how hard you guys work at providing content for everyone. These posts are just as important as the next.
Waterdhavian
July 12th, 2010 5:17 amI fully agree with DIGITALLUSH.
I mean you see what is post is about – Inspiration.
If you don’t need it, then don’t read it and therefor don’t comment on it.
So many people complain about SM these days, yet their quality of service has been very high over the course of years, all free of charge.
It is so easy these days to get behind a pc and just complain and moan about stuff.
If your not happy or content with SM then don’t visit their site anymore. If you want to criticize then do so with respect and in a well founded matter.
That said, I love the pictures and sometimes it is hard to believe that PS was not used to create it. There is beauty all around us and thanks for those creative souls to capture it for us!
Firas Saeed
July 12th, 2010 5:19 amVitaly, greetings to you.
I understand that you find your self responsible for answering some “thumbs-down” comments, but I don’t know why you give it this much attention buddy. I’m a photographer and I love seeing other photographers’ photos. Professional people create a circle of inspiration, and SM brings us inside this circle. Don’t stop this work no matter what kind of art it is.
James
July 12th, 2010 12:51 pmGotta agree with this. Not everyone will be a fan of your posts. With such a wide audience most likely you’ll always get a few negative comments, no matter what the subject. Ignore them as they are just a small, small fraction of otherwise completely satisfied users. Personally, being a creative, I love these types of posts. Keep them coming!
Ant Lockyer
July 13th, 2010 1:20 amIgnoring negative comments is a sure fire way to medicority.
bizen
July 28th, 2010 7:07 amAnd paying attention to them exclusively is a sure-fire way to invite even more trollish negative remarks.
Rissla
July 12th, 2010 5:34 amThese photos are truly amazing and inspiring. I only wish my touching up skills were as good as theirs or my camera was powerful enough. Sigh.
Silva
July 12th, 2010 5:53 amI really loved this pictures :]
Vailancio
July 12th, 2010 6:02 amI have just one word to say “Awesome”
Chris S
July 12th, 2010 9:10 amThe first 8 photos in this collection just blow my mind!! Absolutely Fantastic!!
Michiel Rutjes
July 12th, 2010 9:12 amThe Plugs is actually a photo from the Dutch department of Lifehacking. http://lifehacking.nl/kantoor-tips/nooit-meer-je-usb-kabel-achter-het-bureau-verliezen-voor-e1/
Great photographs!
Rebecca
July 12th, 2010 9:55 amWhile the coloring and lighting is excellent, I especially like how many of these use real concepts so that the picture really does tell a story.
Bradley
July 12th, 2010 11:48 amI love the first one of the pup in the flowers. Reminds me of my dog when he is sleeping.
Linh Pham
July 12th, 2010 12:14 pmthe first shot is awesome
Gabe
July 12th, 2010 12:14 pmSantorini and Blue Sky are beautiful, great finds.
vasanth
July 12th, 2010 11:34 pmBeautiful images………
i like it very much……….
Kumi
July 13th, 2010 1:07 amAmaging..! very inspiring..!
Hanee
July 13th, 2010 1:42 amI really like how the red flowers pop out around the wolf. The picture looks so crisp.
Hanee
July 13th, 2010 1:44 amI really like how the red flowers pop out around the wolf. The picture looks so crisp. Don’t know if someone else said this, but I’m not duplicating smashingmag.
Kalinga
July 13th, 2010 3:34 amAn aweeeesomeeee collections. Gracia..
Bim
July 13th, 2010 6:08 amThanks for this. Appreciate it :) Nice to see something different every now and then.
Gerald
July 13th, 2010 6:26 amGreat.
Razer Maharjan
July 13th, 2010 6:39 amYou can see more interesting Photography @ http://www.megashot.net
Yari
July 13th, 2010 10:05 amHow, these are truy amazing!
linda
July 13th, 2010 11:42 pmi like
Rob
July 14th, 2010 1:47 amThese kind of posts just make me more anxious to go travelling the world for a year.
Jimba
July 14th, 2010 2:20 amremake up photos or direct just from camera?
Antje
July 14th, 2010 11:40 amAs mentioned before. Don’t pass photoshoped thingies as photos. Many if not most will not even make it into a publication with relaxed rules on authenticity of photos. Beyond cropping, correctional dodging/burning or some filtering at the time of the original photgraph photos must be photos.
Pete Morley
July 15th, 2010 7:36 amPost production is (and always was) an important part of professional photography, from the early days of film, right through to digital. These images aren’t supposed to be factual, they aren’t shot for the National Geographic or The Guardian.
Once you hit the shutter button, all cameras carry out their own series of algorithms and compression techniques. Nothing is “direct just from camera” as Jimba so eloquently puts it. You may as well just say that using a digital camera is cheating because the camera uses it’s own processing algorithms before it saves the image from sensor to memory card.
Antje, you seem to think cropping, dodging and burning is acceptable but nothing beyond that. Why? You’ve started to manipulate the photograph at this point, so where do you draw the line? Once you start to crop an image you change it’s composition; you can drastically alter an image with simple cropping, but you seem to think this is OK? Could I add a slight vignette to bring my subject out, or would that be cheating in your eyes? What about that aeroplane I didn’t notice in the sky when I shot my image, could I clone it out? Why not? Photographers have been doing these techniques in darkrooms long before Photoshop.
The commenters complaining about these photos being manipulated and therefore somehow less worthy, less artistic, or less impressive really need to take a closer look. Most of these images have been sharpened, had curves and tones adjusted but very little beyond that, there’s nothing that’s been done here that couldn’t be done in a darkroom.
Antje
July 20th, 2010 12:24 amMost ‘photos’ are montages of other people’s stock photos. Not straight shots souped up a bit.
Cropping is just like framing at the time of taking the photograph. It is part of the original work. Dodging and burning are just like contrast control required techniques to make the end result as much as possible as the situation previsioned at the time of the photo.
Manupuled photographs may be an art form in itself like painting or drawing but have always been considered unaccepetable for documentary, press and reportage.
Pete Morley
July 23rd, 2010 6:55 amI’d like you to point out a single image on this list that’s comped from stock photography.
Kostas
July 14th, 2010 2:06 pmLol its “Santorini” (Σαντορίνη) and not San Torini :D
Nice pics anyways.
Graphics Cove
July 15th, 2010 1:06 amGreat selection of inspiring images.
Photography like this sure lets you see how amazing the world is underneath the everyday rubbish.
Also posts like these aren’t all that bad, I’m sure us designers and artists could use some inspiration now and again to refresh our view of things.
Steven
Asif Siddiqui
July 15th, 2010 4:50 amGreat collection!
Riki
July 15th, 2010 8:21 pmThat first image is ridiculously awesome.
Nand Kishor Singh
July 15th, 2010 8:57 pmNice collection of gr8 photographs!
Patrick Wieczorek
July 16th, 2010 12:32 amLiked the last pic (cabel holder). In a practical sense, it’s very mind opening ;)
fuzzimo
July 17th, 2010 5:32 amamazing pictures!
Faustina
July 17th, 2010 7:06 pmDefinitivamente que son excelentes fotografías. La proyección, la simetría, la perspectiva, el color, el momento, el estilo, todo, todo,… Realmente son especiales. Transportan.
Evan Varsamis
July 18th, 2010 7:06 amfeatured @ beautifulmac.com
Vanessa
July 19th, 2010 7:53 amSimply wonderful!
Dave Cox
July 20th, 2010 10:49 amThis should be in the list! anything from rianflynn.com is incredible!
He did a twilight style shot for the Old Spice Guy!
flickr.com/photos/rianflynn/4809031259/
Neil
July 21st, 2010 5:32 amI like the photographs but there is a LOT of post-processing. I don’t get it. In my opinion, a photograph loses its credit the moment you over post-process it. I absolutely despise HDR photography. To me photography is art and not everyone’s cup of tea. It takes a lot of effort to “make” a photograph. “Taking” photographs is very easy…
If you want to see some inspiring photography, try Steve McCurry or Raghu Rai. Their photographs tell a story…
hajar
July 22nd, 2010 11:06 amlove it , i want to be a amazing photographer like those talented people :)
panoupanagiwta
July 27th, 2010 4:39 amLook at these
κατασκευή eshop
Victor
July 29th, 2010 9:56 amAwesome photography! very inspiring! I am going to use some techniques on my next shoots. Take a look at my studio work and let me know if you like my works.
Thanks. Bluepoly Studios Photography
Vafadar
July 31st, 2010 12:14 pmGreat, thank you.
Spyros
August 26th, 2010 7:14 amI think the fact that ‘Bunny Bokeh’ is before ‘The Cat’ adds to the whole idea of the cat hiding, almost waiting for it’s prey to walk past. Both beautiful images.
Doug
September 16th, 2010 1:21 amWauuuuu, that is Sickage!!! I’m speechless…………………….. :-)
Raghav
September 16th, 2010 5:34 amLast pic is very informative.
Yulia
November 9th, 2010 6:05 amamazing and beautiful photos, they are incredible. This collection is so great as the collecton of photo”Around the world in 24 hours” blog.websitetemplates.bz/website_templates_news/around-the-world-in-24-hours.html#more-2550
Anas
November 24th, 2010 10:51 pmThe second one is in my country Morocco <3
fantastic pictures!!!
Anees
January 12th, 2011 2:56 amAwesome pictures, mind blowing…….love it
Raunak
April 3rd, 2011 9:35 pmI am the author of the picture ANT.
vahid-rezapour
June 9th, 2011 11:36 amis a very nice . thanks for GOD alot.
flora
October 17th, 2011 11:15 pmstunning photographs your collections are just stunning am the author of incrediblesnaps.com
MUSTAFA GHORI
October 22nd, 2011 8:28 pmBeauty full, amazing photography is a very nice
vibhu chauhan
May 8th, 2012 8:21 amnice work…….keep working on this stuff