30 Stunning Shots to Celebrate World Photography Day

You can probably hardly imagine a world without photography. With its help, one can tell a story, share their feelings, take a trip to the stars, or explore the wildness of nature.

Photography also helps us see things that bare eyes cannot: for instance, the structure of the iris or continents from above.

World Photography Day is celebrated on the 19th of August and this date was not picked at random. On this exact day, in 1839, a photo camera and the first photography technology called daguerreotype was released in France.

Depositphotos, which is an international stock photography platform, compiled a collection of images representing the different genres of modern photography. Check them out to pay tribute to Louis Daguerre’s invention.

Even when their images are merely documenting reality, photographers manage to make us dream. This breathtaking scenery of rocky cliffs by the sea was photographed in Iceland.

Portrait photography is one of the oldest genres in the field. The purpose of most portraits is to show the emotional state of a person by capturing their spirit and appearance. At the same time, taking portrait pictures of children requires special skills, since they can’t fake emotions.

Even modern smartphones have a macro photography feature that allows cameras to focus at a short distance. However, these shots of insects were taken by professionals and through a special macro lens. Pay attention to how dynamic the scene with the butterflies looks and how strong the emotional message is with the image of the spider.

To capture a whale jumping out of the water, a photographer needs 3 things: a telephoto lens, a boat, and a lot of patience. Waiting for a whale can take days, after which you have only a couple of seconds to press the camera button at just the right time.

Travel photography was vital for science. In the 20th century, a photographer was always an integral part of scientific expeditions. In some cases, it was their duty to submit sensational photographs to the editorial offices as soon as possible.

Photos give us an opportunity to observe distant lands where we’ve never been. This place, where a US Navy DC plane wrecked, looks tempting for photographers, however, not everyone dares to come here, especially at night. This plane is located on the South Coast of Iceland, a few meters from the sea, and far from any settlements or roads. You can only get there on foot.

Taking high-quality pictures of objects in space has only become possible in recent decades. Digital matrix cameras today have a light sensitivity of 4560000 ISO (this is one and a half thousand times more than film at the end of the 20th century).

Add a powerful zoom available today, and you can get images of comets, stars, asteroids, and the surface of the Moon in stunning quality.

Wildlife photography beautifully compliments the landscape genre. The essence of these photos is to document forms of wildlife in their natural habitat. What’s more important — a kangaroo or beautiful Australian fields, is up to the photographer.

Photography helps us realize the greatness of nature. This Alp valley, with a small town, looks gorgeous, beautiful, and a little intimidating. Sunsets and sunrises in the Alps are also popular for their color swings. For example, the Dolomites during these periods look like they were carved out of garnet stone.

With the help of photography, we can travel not only to another continent, but also to another season or state of weather in any corner of the world.

Photography became a new method of observing nature in the late 19th century, as well as an impetus for the development of realistic animation and photography technologies.

In 1878, Eadweard Muybridge created a series called Sallie Gardner depicting a horse in motion. The series includes the first automatic electro-photographs in history.

There is no human activity that modern photography has bypassed. The first manned balloon and airplane flights were documented by photographers.

The aerial photography genre did not appear long after the invention of photography: the first photographer to take to the skies with the camera was Gaspard-Félix Tournachon from Paris. He used a balloon for this.

Today, aerial photography includes any photographs taken from a drone, kite, helicopter, and, of course, an airplane.

Humans cannot live underwater, but their photo camera can observe what is happening in the depths of the sea instantly.

Due to the human desire to take pictures in an active environment (including underwater), a kind of photographic equipment called the action camera was invented.

We can tell fascinating fiction stories without using a word, by showing each other just one image. Art photography is the field of photography where you can maximally prove yourself as a creator of beauty, and not just a chronicler of your time.

The work of a photographer is the process of a constant search for creativity and expression, fueled by the mastery of retouching tools.

What do photographers who work in different genres have in common? At Depositphotos, we believe it is their willingness to be sensitive to the beauty of the surrounding world, as well as a desire to share what they saw with wider audiences. And that is something to celebrate.

On this day, we thank not only Louis Daguerre, the pioneer of photography, but also all of his followers, whether they are professional photographers or amateurs who use their smartphone camera every day to capture the elusive beauty of our planet.

Check out the full World Photography Day collection to immerse yourself in the mightiness of the very planet we inhabit.

= This article is sponsored by Depositphotos =