We have grown accustomed to seeing incredible HD and CGI images in movie, print, and online, but we all know that some serious edits were made. Photographers sometimes get lucky enough to catch a breathtaking moment of beauty using nothing but their camera. Keep reading to see some shots that are so remarkable, they look fake.
Seattle is an energetic city that consists of coffee roasters, grunge music, rainy days, and of course, software companies. Seattle has also earned the right to boast about their skyline, which is one of the best in the country. In this photo, you can see Mount Rainier hanging over the city in a patch of clouds. The natural beauty of the skyline offers amazing images, but sometimes a photographer is lucky enough to capture the amazing horizon as the backdrop.
Sometimes light is reflected back to the person viewing it in absolutely stunning ways. The Hotel Villa Honegg, in the Lake Lucerne area of Switzerland, has an endless pool with a hot tub. The steel-constructed pool with that gorgeous mountain view is a beautiful sight to see. It looks as if the water simply blends into the lake, and your eyes are turned to the majestic Swiss Alps. There are other mountain views that offer a different type of inspiration, like in this next photo.
A volcano erupted in Japan in 2014, destroying a town located on the mountainside and killing 63 people. A photographer captured the moment when this mountaintop shrine was covered in volcanic ash. A group of rescuers made their way to the top of the mountain to search for survivors. This picture looks as if the world as we know it know reverted back to the era of black and white photographs. Mountains provide an overwhelming amount of inspiration for photographers, even if you have to go inside to see it!
Appropriately named for the two, eye-shaped holes in its ceiling, the cave is known as the “Eyes Of God,” is located in Bulgaria. Tourists, rock climbers, and even bungee jumpers (they’ve been known to jump through the larger hole) enjoy visiting the cave! On nights when the moon is perfectly aligned with the cave, people are able to enjoy an image that’s more than heavenly. But caves aren’t the only places you can find beauty in Europe. A lot of the images are found while rolling along the landscapes.
It may look like a painting, but this image of the Italian countryside is actually a photo! The bright sun shines down on the golden fields, and the green, rolling hills. A road, lined with evergreens painted by a quick flick of the brush, extends the length of the canvas. As your eyes dance across the field, the image proves how fluid the landscape is. The next picture shows that even if a landscape is manmade, it doesn’t have to be in a cramped space.
Part of the hit HBO series “A Game Of Thrones” was filmed in the city Dubrovnik, Croatia, where this village staircase can be found. Croatia was used as King’s Landing in the TV series. You can actually see a very small sign for the show hidden among the numerous windows, cobblestones, and wall lamps. This image proves that beauty can be found in even the most intricate city structures, but it can also be found in the mundane life of rural farmers.
A woman, deep in the countryside of Turkey, can be seen carrying baskets of grapes across the brightly colored tarps of the vineyard. The red and orange tarps look like massive waves of protection for the vines. The tarps are used to protect the vineyards from being destroyed by frost. And even though they look connected, the woman’s path shows the space between them. Photographers, given time and patience, have the ability to shake up their viewers with breathtaking amounts of color. This next photo shows the exact moment a match is lit.
Sometimes the perfect picture opportunity is sitting in your very own hand. This rare image captures the moment when a match’s sulfur tip turns into a brilliant flame. The smallest amount of time can be immortalized with a high shutter speed. The image is both breathtaking and unnatural at the same time. Incredible images are certainly found when freezing time in high speed framed, but beauty is also found in dramatic pauses. This next one could pass for CGI, but you have to believe us, it’s not!
The Northern Lights, also known as the Aurora Borealis, can be found throughout the Arctic. The natural phenomenon is caused by the fact that the area has such a high latitude, that solar winds are blasting the area and interacting with the polar magnetism. When this happens, chemicals in the atmosphere become electrically charged, and this is what makes the bright colors. The bright green and yellow colors make it look as if there’s a massive bird flying through the sky. At times, beauty is hidden deep beneath the surface.
Underwater imagery tends to look a bit alien. This is a rare image of a world known to very few people. Maybe it’s the work of an impressionist and those are birds in a golden forest. You may be surprised to find out that those are actually tadpoles in a pool. The camera gives us a lesson in science by showing us that water isn’t actually blue. It just reflects the colors surrounding it. Since we’re talking about water, check out the calmness of the tropical ocean.
This image shows how perfectly clear the waters of Fiji are. The azure boat actually looks like it’s hovering over the water like a spacecraft. The shadow of the boat under the water’s surface reminds us of the reality of the situation, but we still can’t help but daydream while looking at the picture. It’s amazing when water looks extraordinarily clear, or magically reflective, but it can take on some other pretty breathtaking forms, as well.
Water truly is a magical substance. Think about it, two bodies of water, only separated by a small strip of land, can look two completely different ways. This image, taken near San Francisco, shows three reservoir ponds with entirely different colors. Because of the difference in soil chemistry and water sources, the waters have contrasting amounts of elements and nutrients, and they each reflect a different spectrum of color. The same impressive red color can be found on the opposite side of the world, too!
Lake Hillier, located in Australia, also shows us how nature can create such vibrant colors. The soil is rich in iron and when it reacts with the salt in the lake, it creates this vibrant red color! Strange as it may seem, Lake Hillier is next to the beautiful blue ocean off the south of Australia. In other photographs, the red lake pops against the blue of the ocean. A little bit away is water that looks so blue, it looks otherworldly.
Ever want to see what a day in the life of a penguin looks like? Well, here you go. These penguins are gathering on an iceberg in the South Sandwich Islands, Antarctica. They’re getting ready to dive and slide into the frozen waters looking for fish to eat. What really tops off this underwater ice castle, is the bird frozen in flight. Water can be full of color, or clear as crystal, but it can also become the world’s reflection!
In this image, you can see the reflection of a nearby building appear as a man walks across the sand. The palm tree’s fringes make an impact on the water, causing it to look as if Van Gogh had painted it himself. The building’s glass and concrete look as if they were made of muted colors and wavy lines. The image reminds us that even when we’re walking away from beauty, we can never truly escape it.