Photographs are used for a variety of purposes in the sciences. Especially in research and teaching, photography has the task of making an object or situation visually accessible to an audience in a lifelike manner – regardless of time and place. But can photography really reproduce the desired motif true to nature? What influence do light and shadow and the chosen lens have? What are the prerequisites for a successful photograph? Using impressive image examples from veterinary medicine, we explore together the possibilities and limitations of photography as a visual communication medium in the sciences.