[5] The high quality of Sella's photography was in part due to his use of 30×40 cm photographic plates, in spite of the difficulty of carrying bulky and fragile equipment into remote places.

He had to invent equipment, including modified pack saddles and rucksacks, to allow these particularly large glass plates to be transported safely.

[8] His photographs were widely published and exhibited, and highly praised; Ansel Adams, who saw thirty-one that Sella had presented to the US Sierra Club, said they inspired "a definitely religious awe".

Some pictures of Sella are exhibited in the Museo Nazionale della Montagna "Duca degli Abruzzi" in Turin.

Some of his photographs of the Rwenzori mountains are owned by Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda.