You wander around faced with an abundance of wonderful subjects, good access, and unusual wildlife so taking pretty pictures happens as long as you've got a modicum of focus and some basic skills. However, making a good image with something to say is another thing entirely. Finding the moment in the passing minutes is often like dipping your cup into a rushing river to find one particular drop of water. Sometimes it happens because you are watching intently and with great purpose, sometimes it happens by accident.

I took probably 15 images of this White-Naped Crane at the Seattle Zoo but there was one, this one, that seemed to have something to say. His neck arches gracefully against the blurred green background, light and shadow play agains the curve of his neck, his eye seems to be searching for something lost, something that he once knew. It's really all about patience, capturing this moment meant waiting beside the crane exhibit until this bird showed me who he was.

-Russell Berg