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 Girl Scratches Her Back And It Looks Like A Horror Movie

Image credits: sn0rk95

#2 Thought The Driver Of This Car Was Just Staring Me Down For No Reason

Image credits: EasternKanyeWest

#3 Never Skip Arm Day

Image credits: Gabesdefig

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 Cat Assembling Itself

Image credits: Flums666

#5 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 credits: jonahhill

#6 One Second Before Disaster

Image credits: APurpleTRex

“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

Image credits: young_filmmaker

#8 Perfectly Timed

Image credits: Jorarl

#9 Just Trying To Take A Nice Picture With My Cat

Image credits: meowspoopy

“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 Player In The Background With Interesting Hairline

Image credits: mlb

#11 Picture Taken Of Woman Falling Before She Realizes She Is Falling

#12 My Cat Seems To Have Misplaced His Body Somewhere

Image credits: 0MattyJ0

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 Perfect Time For A Hammer

Image credits: pitline810

#14 I Had Just Finished Saying “I Can’t Believe She Never Falls In!”

Image credits: catbrains420

#15 She Landed On My Shoulder

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#16 My Wife Just Texted Me This Picture Of Our Cat Playing Behind The TV

Image credits: FutonSpecialOps

#17 The Fall Of The Paella

Image credits: Dusty_Machine

#18 My Friend Pouring Beer All Over Her Wedding Dress

Image credits: AwesomeSound88

#19 My Baby’s First Birthday. We Had No Idea There Was A Sparkler In The Candle

Image credits: saltymcgee777

#20 Photographed The Exact Moment This Man Ruined His Shirt At A Photo Gallery

Image credits: reddit.com

#21 Booped By Floppy Fren

Image credits: chloehachiko

#22 Perfect Timing Selfie

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#23 Photo Of Me Noticing A Wasp Nest

Image credits: asdfghjklqwertyuiopzxcvbnmasdfghjklqwertyuiopzxcvbnmasdfghjklqw

#24 What Could Go Wrong If I Take A Picture With This Gopher Snake I Found In The Road?

Image credits: drewstrummer

#25 My Friend’s Dog Sneaking It’s Tongue Into His Mouth While He Was Laughing

Image credits: ravennawoods

#26 I Photographed A White Stag Mid Sneeze

Image credits: The_Oban

#27 This Diving Photo I Took Of My Friend Makes It Look She’s Doing A Handstand On Water

Image credits: tencents1010

#28 Slipped And Fell While Photographing A Wedding Party. Snapped A Pic On The Way Down

Image credits: Chase_Rich

#29 Apparently The Satanic Spirit Possessing My Cat Doesn’t Like Selfies

Image credits: Kurpool

#30 My Father’s Chair Failing At A Coast Guard Change Of Command

Image credits: jonbees

#31 Caught My Daughter Spitting Chocolate Milk From Her Nose Cheers’ing With Dad

Image credits: ALYXZYR

#32 Nice “Four Head”

Image credits: adellali1

#33 When You’re Just Trying To Get A Chill Outfit Selfie

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#34 Wrong Place At The Wrong Time

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#35 My Parents’ New Pupper Misjudged His Jump

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#36 This Picture I Took Of My Dogs As The Ball Was Being Thrown

Image credits: TigOlBitties80085

#37 Lightning Striking Simultaneously On Chicago’s Three Tallest Buildings

Image credits: dhruveishp

#38 She Kicked The Phone Out Of My Hands At Exactly The Right Moment

Image credits: Sykes92

#39 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 credits: moonshine12

#40 Crow Hopped As I Took His Photo

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#41 Someone Flicked Their Cigarette While I Was Taking A Picture Of My Friends Last Summer

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#42 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 credits: lava_lump

#43 I Snapped This Photo Of A Cardinal Jumping And It Looks Like He Is Floating

Image credits: theprideofVPI

#44 This Girl Looks Like She’s Underwater And Jumping Into Water At The Same Time

Image credits: maskari

#45 My Wife’s First Ostrich Encounter

Image credits: reddit.com

#46 Just A Perfectly Timed Photo Of A Roman Candle Going Off

Image credits: kimisamazing13

#47 This Man Saved Our Dog. You Can See Our Cat Jumping Out The Window

Image credits: distriived

#48 The Mythical Annubis

Image credits: Palifaith

#49 Nice Nose Dude

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#50 Howie Shrunk A Lil’ Bit

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#51 A Guy On A Motorcycle Photobombed Right As I Took A Picture

Image credits: RhineReviews

#52 Dwayne Wade, Chrissy Teigen, John Legend

Image credits: bojangles1234567

#53 I Was Taking Pictures To My Parents And This Happened. Stupid Pigeon

Image credits: pacateu

#54 My Friend’s Scarf Hitting Him In The Face Just When I Snapped The Picture

Image credits: hi7en

#55 My Frenchie Racing With My Husband

Image credits: hlllzbth

#56 I Laughed Way Too Hard At This One

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#57 Dammit

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#58 This Bee Photobombed My Picture And Ended Up In Perfect Focus

Image credits: RDIIIG

#59 Captured This Eager Kid Trying To Feed The Horsies

Image credits: kiisy

#60 What A Catch

Image credits: MangoROCKN

#61 My Stupid Unexpecting Face A Fraction Of A Second Before Being Bit In The Junk

Image credits: MonkyKnifeFight

#62 The Timing Of This Image Makes It Look Like My Nephew Is A Waterbender

Image credits: KellJoy

#63 My Friend Losing A Game Of Giant Jenga

Image credits: OMG_FRIED_CHICKEN

#64 My Sister Took This Photo Of Our Coffees Just As The Table Got Knocked

Image credits: skovsky_x

#65 Took A Photo At The Exact Moment My Boyfriend Was Bitten By His Squirrel Friend

Image credits: smcochr2

#66 My Friend Managed To Hit Himself In The Face While Lifting The League Trophy

Image credits: Eski_T36

#67 Took A Picture The Moment My Bubble Gum Popped. Looks Like I Have A Spirit Coming Out Of My Mouth

Image credits: batmanshome

#68 This Perfectly Timed Photo Of My Brother Attempting To Play Baseball

Image credits: ShishkaDrummer

#69 Trying To Take A Picture Of The Lobster Roll

Image credits: RulingSports

#70 My Friend Tried To Sneak A Tender Candid Photo Of My First Time Holding Her New Baby. That Was When Her Baby Ripped A Man-Sized Fart Straight On My Lap

Image credits: JesterMcPickles

#71 A Falling Leaf Lined Up Perfectly With My Girlfriend’s Nose Turning Her Into A Witch

Image credits: quintilianuswebb

#72 Camera Captured The Exact Moment When My Friend Lost His Phone

Image credits: luckylag

#73 It Has Since Moved

Image credits: mldljns

#74 The Light Opening In The Building’s Design Fits Perfectly With The Car Dimension

Image credits: Gooner885

#75 Giraffe’s Shadow Looks Like A Unicorn

Image credits: 3_pac

#76 Don’t Mind His Fashion, This Oil Spill Makes It Look Like This Guys Floating

Image credits: Favre4Evre

#77 Just A Little Snot Rocket Action

Image credits: Wolfgore777

#78 Masked Thief Steals Bag Off The Beach In Costa Rica

Image credits: DigitalUFX

#79 Cutting Some Rug

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#80 Sister Wanted To Pet Chicken, Chicken Disagreed

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#81 Perfect Timing

Image credits: catnip4sale

#82 Hockey Player Breaking Glass Whilst Celebrating

Image credits: rekinho

#83 Wife Got Photodivebombed

Image credits: moezap

#84 The Moment A Gull Stoke My Son’s Lunch

Image credits: dylan712

#85 Seconds Before Disaster

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#86 My Friend Used To Love That Parrot

Image credits: sause246

#87 Someone Punched A Glass Of Champagne Out Of My Friends Hand At My Wedding

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#88 Banana Float

Image credits: lucassommer

#89 My One Friend “Helped” My Other Friend Use An Ice Luge To Drink At A Party Last Weekend

Image credits: drumsofdoom

#90 This Picture My Wife Captured At The Perfect Moment Of Our Cats

Image credits: DizzyApps

#91 My Sister’s Photo Shoot Caught The Perfect Moment When My Nephew Threw Up On Top Of My Brother In Law

Image credits: hercoffee

#92 My Dog Flipping A Kayak

Image credits: reddit.com

#93 Score Is 69 To 69 With 69 Seconds And The White Jerseys Add Up To 69

Image credits: wonderflex

#94 Car Found After An Amber Alert Near Me

Image credits: xGrant

#95 Caught A Fish. Lost A Fish

Image credits: 73d_cruz_z0d14c

#96 Bro I Caught The Light Changing

Image credits: vapejews

#97 These Dogs All Pooping At The Same Time

Image credits: shooshoocoomer

#98 Got Into A Car Crash While I Was In The Passenger’s, The First Thing I See When I Get Out The Car Is Amelia Earhart’s Quote

Image credits: svbmariner

#99 Attempted To Take A Cute Picture Of Me And My Dog. This Was The Result

Image credits: ShamPow20

#100 I Wanted To Take A Picture Showing Off The Huge Calamari I Was About To Eat. I Didn’t Get To Eat It…. Fisherman’s Wharf. Sanfran

Image credits: Fairies_by_infection

#101 My Sister Sent Me A Perfectly Timed Pic Of Her Friend Spilling Multiple Coffees

Image credits: crownedplatypus

#102 Just A Typical Family Photo With Our Furbabies

Image credits: xmoana

#103 This Guy At The Park Looks Like No

Image credits: Fergi

#104 There’s A Red Car Every Three Other Cars

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#105 Caught My Crow Buddy Mid-Blink, Making Her Look Very Sinister

Image credits: SN74HC04

#106 My Daughter Stepping On A LEGO

Image credits: ChronicallyPunctual

#107 Was Taking A Snapchat And Managed To Snap A Picture Of A Bird Milliseconds From Hitting My Side Mirror

Image credits: Free_Prison_Mike

#108 Tried To Take A Chicken Selfie And Got This

Image credits: andrewjfletcher

#109 This Is The Best Photo My Mom Ever Took Of Me

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#110 These Guys Are Not Holding Hands

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#111 0,5 Seconds Before Realizing That She Missed The Glass

Image credits: Sakalalaa

#112 Maybe She’s Barn With It

Image credits: CupOfDog

#113 Bee Photobombs My Dog

Image credits: RandyOrton040

#114 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 credits: chaibhu

#115 Here Is A Photo Of My Labrador When He Saw A Tennis Ball

Image credits: reddit.com

#116 I Was Out Skydiving And… My Keys!

Image credits: SkydiveShady

#117 Lazer Hits Drink At The Right Time

Image credits: Digiarts

#118 Learning The Hard Way

Image credits: Mustard_SG

#119 So I Took This Perfectly Timed Picture Of My Cat

Image credits: EnslavedFish

#120 Accurate Shot

Image credits: NearlyLegit

#121 Grandfather And 3 Brothers, Circa 1940. Windsor, Ontario, Canada

Image credits: bfrickey

#122 I Was Taking Pictures Of The Car And After Taking This Photo I Noticed That A Bird Was On It

Image credits: vpyatigor

#123 I Took The Photo Before 1|3 Symbol Appeared On His Phone Screen

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#124 Managed To Get This Perfectly Timed Photo Of My Pom Today

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#125 This Little Girl Before She Landed Her Double Backflip

Image credits: mthofi

#126 The One That Got Away

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#127 Went To Take A Picture Of The Rainbow And Lightning Struck At The Exact Same Time

Image credits: jerm1323

#128 Love At First Sight

Image credits: imgur.com

#129 I Took This Picture Right Before The Dog “Eat” The Soap Bubble

Image credits: Hanianips

#130 A Yellow Warbler Flew Into Frame, Whilst Taking A Snap Of An Iguana

Image credits: ian1865

#131 A Pigeon Flew Into The House As My Sisters Friend Was Doing Yoga

Image credits: dracarysbitch

#132 My Girlfriend Opening A Snack Next To Seagulls

Image credits: Rough_Beat

#133 From The Family Photo Album

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#134 My Shirt Lines Up Perfectly With This Dog

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#135 The Ethernet Cord We Had Behind Our TV Perfectly Lined Up With The Astronauts Tether In This Geico Commercial That Happened To Come On

Image credits: AdamTheDad

#136 A Leaf Fell In Front Of My Phone The Second It Took A Timed Photo

Image credits: BringBowlCutBack

#137 Perfectly Timed Photo Is Perfectly Timed

Image credits: Sighhhh

#138 Wife Snapped This Perfect Action Shot On Accident

Image credits: jgeezy235

#139 When Taking A Foot To Your Head Is The Better Option

Image credits: smashley1128

#140 That’s Gonna Hurt

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#141 This Photo

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#142 Wasp Captured Right In Front Of My Eye – Golden Eye

Image credits: _epicTrash_

#143 That One Friend Who Needs To Be In Every Picture

Image credits: podarroz_weimaraner

#144 I Dropped My Fish Mid Picture

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#145 My Poor Cousin Slipping Off The Chair

Image credits: ButFat

#146 I Work For The Forest Service And Was Trying To Get A Cool Photo Of My Coworker And Smokey Bear

A gust of wind blew my ranger hat off my head right as I snapped the photo and we had to watch it sink into the river. RIP ranger hat.

Image credits: reddit.com

#147 Twins

Image credits: imgur.com

#148 I Think I Actually Caught A Shooting Star While Flying My Drone Early Morning

Image credits: stefangeorgaxel

#149 Caught A Couple Canada Geese Passing By While I Was Imaging The Moon

Image credits: KuriousHumanPics

#150 Friend Left A Knot On The Lead Rope By Accident And Left Us This Amazing Piece

Image credits: DadofMando

#151 “Look At Me” – Bee

Image credits: Wholly_Bloke

#152 My Wife In All Her Majestic Glory!

Image credits: SuperSlayer92

#153 Tried Standing Up On My First Time Paddle Boarding

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#154 My Mum Managed To Capture Me Mid Fall Trying To Avoid Getting My Shoes Wet

Image credits: Vented55

#155 Longboarder Accidentally Hitting A Kid That Tried Crossing The Tracks At A Race

Image credits: Battlever

#156 A Swallow Photobombed My Scenery Photo

Image credits: minenala

#157 I Call This One The Dog Crash (No Dogs Were Hurt In This Photo… Just Andy’s Ego Lol)

Image credits: krisredd22

#158 I Caught The Moment Just Before The Surface Tension On The Water Broke And Also It Made My Brother Look Like Smeagol

Image credits: MountainMongrel

#159 My Dad Just After Being On A Skim Board For 1 Second After Proclaiming “I’d Bet Twenty Dollars I Can Stay On The Board For, Like, A Minute!”

Image credits: SoftMacaron2

#160 I Took A Picture Of Lightning With A Camera Phone And Ended Up Seeing The Rolling Shutter Effect

Image credits: henora0x

#161 Yesterday I’ve Found This Picture Of My Grandpa And Me Playing Popup Pirate 25 Years Ago

Image credits: toysovore

#162 A Photo Of Myself Taken Many Years Ago, The Girl Next To Me Had Pushed Me Off

Image credits: pyoung1996

#163 The Way My Brother’s Phone Camera Caught The Flash Of This Lightning

Image credits: AmericanSpaghetti

#164 Pooping Hummingbird

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#165 Thought The Cap Was On And Had To Deal With Stuck Together Pages For The Next 1300 Hours Of My Cosmetology School

Image credits: lowborn98

#166 Mate’s Birthday Last Year. (He’s The One On The Right) Pic Taken Just As He Projectile Vomits All Over The Guy Holding Him

Image credits: makemelaughforkarma

#167 A Bird Photobombing Us At Sagrada Familia

Image credits: Environmental-Loan-1

#168 A Photo To Remember

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#169 Just As The Kayak Flipped. Spot The Helpless Foot

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#170 I Think I Might Have Scared This Cormorant

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#171 My Friend Captured This Gem While We Were Skating

Image credits: cheesesticcboi

#172 A Perfectly Timed Derp

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#173 Sliding Into 2021 Like

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#174 Caught My Son’s Hat Flying Off Last Year At The Fair

Image credits: TheGreatJatsby

#175 Neighbour’s Kid Merely Avoiding Death. I Have A Lovely Set Of Pictures Of Him In Perfectly-Timed Photos. This Is One Of My Favourites. Last October, I Think

Image credits: teeteeandsasa

#176 I Captured My Neighbors’ House Getting Hit By Lightning In A Time Lapse Video Of A Thunderstorm Coming Through

Image credits: vehiculargenocyde

#177 Who Needs Dog Toys?

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#178 Road Trippin With Dog Husband

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#179 I Dropped My Fish Mid Picture As Well

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#180 Point Of Contact

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#181 My Failing At Paddle Boarding With All The Grace And Eloquence

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#182 Went To Take A Picture Of The Rainbow And Lightning Struck At The Same Time

Image credits: jerm1323

#183 None Of The Basketball Players Touch The Ground. Neither Does The Referee

Image credits: Flierus

#184 I Took A Photograph At The Exact Same Time This Photographer Took Hers – And Caught Her Flash Lightning The Scene

Image credits: symmetrygear

#185 A Bee Flew In Front Of My Camera At The Perfect Time

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#186 Sunset And A Dolphin

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#187 The Benefit Of A Full-Face Helmet

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#188 He Just Wanted To Bee In The Picture, Too

Image credits: Still-Blazed

#189 During New Year’s Eve, I Was Taking A Picture Of My Dad. But Since Fireworks Are Legal Where I Live, The Neighbour’s Firework Tiped Over And Shot At Us. This Is What I Ended Up Capturing

Image credits: RTM_CHUYSAITO

#190 Three Deloreans Driving In A Row

Image credits: reddit.com

Source: boredpanda.com