Pokémon Snap Special Photos, Course by Course

In Pokémon Snap, some photos are worth far more than others. These are the special poses: rare situations that the game only triggers if you take action. Professor Oak rewards them with a “special” bonus, added to size, pose and technique. To aim for 100% of your Report, you need to know each of these scenes. This page goes through them course by course, with the bonus values when the sources give them, and what you need to do to provoke them.

Beach

Scene	Bonus	How to trigger it
Surfing Pikachu	1,000 points (Bulbapedia)	Lure the first Pikachu with Apples to the surfboard, at the start.
Pikachu on the stumps	1,300 points (Bulbapedia)	Dislodge Scyther from the grass with a Pester Ball. Two Pikachu land on stumps. The Poké Flute makes them fire a double Thunderbolt.
Pidgey and Gust	500 points (Bulbapedia)	Shortly after Kangaskhan, two Pidgey attack a Meowth in its nest.
Dancing Meowth	Not specified	Hit the two Pidgey with Pester Balls before they attack.
Dancing Snorlax	Not specified	Wake it with the Poké Flute; each tune gives a different dance.

Tunnel

Scene	Bonus	How to trigger it
Pikachu on an Electrode	600 points (Bulbapedia)	Photograph the first Pikachu three times: it jumps onto a rolling Electrode, right up to the explosion.
Zapdos hatches	Not specified	Apple to lure Pikachu, Poké Flute for the egg’s electrocution.
Three Dugtrio	Other Pokémon	One shot at each Diglett, up to the three Dugtrio.
Exploding Electrode	Not specified	Throw an item at a motionless Electrode and photograph the explosion.

Volcano

Scene	Bonus	How to trigger it
Magmar fight	800 points (Bulbapedia)	After the egg, throw an Apple between the two Magmar on the right-hand ledge.
Six Charmander	Other Pokémon	Apple to two Charmander, then Poké Flute so they march in place.
Charizard and Flamethrower	Not specified	Make Charmeleon fall into the lava, then throw an item at Charizard.
Moltres hatches	Not specified	Push the egg into the lava and photograph Moltres with its wings spread.

River

Scene	Bonus	How to trigger it
Speedy Pikachu	Point bonus (Bulbapedia)	Hit the Pikachu on the logs, near the end: it dashes off with Quick Attack.
Fishing Slowpoke and Slowbro	Not specified	Lead a Slowpoke to a sign of Shellder with Apples.
Dancing Vileplume	Not specified	Poké Flute on the sleeping Vileplume.
Diving Poliwag	Not specified	Hit them with Pester Balls: they dive in one after another.

Cave

Scene	Bonus	How to trigger it
Pikachu with balloons	Lots of points (Bulbapedia)	Hit the Zubat carrying Pikachu with a Pester Ball.
Pikachu on Articuno	Very well-paid shot (Serebii)	Rescue Pikachu, then hatch Articuno with the Poké Flute.
Jigglypuff concert	More points if all three are saved	Hit the three Koffing with Pester Balls.
Furious Victreebel	Good pose score (Serebii)	Push Weepinbell into the pond.
Dancing Jynx	Not specified	Poké Flute near the frozen egg.

Valley

Scene	Bonus	How to trigger it
Graveler dance	Extra points (Bulbapedia)	Poké Flute near the three sleeping Graveler.
Sparkling splashes	Extra points (Bulbapedia)	Throw items into the water: if a Pokémon jumps out in a shower of sparks, photograph it.
Airborne Mankey	Extra points (Bulbapedia)	Hit it with a Pester Ball.
Sandslash ready to dive back in	Liked by the professor (Bulbapedia)	Get it out by making the Geodude fall.

Rainbow Cloud

Mew is a special pose all by itself: any shot of it counts as a high-bonus special. A big enough shot can reach 10,000 points. See the course walkthrough for the method.

How to progress toward 100%

Completing the Report means going back through each course with each item, because some poses are only available with a specific item and are worth far more than the species’ ordinary shot. A few principles:

• Play each course several times. The manual advises it: it is impossible to take a course’s best pictures on the first visits.
• Note the scenes you missed. Some trigger in a chain (Diglett, Grimer) and require you to photograph the previous element first.
• Save film for the key scenes. Sixty shots per run is plenty, but time runs out quickly on busy courses.

To understand how these bonuses weigh in the score, see the page on Professor Oak’s scoring. For what to do once Mew has been photographed, see After Mew.