What nature photos are you most proud of? Show us your best shots

For this week's community question, we are celebrating the upcoming Nature Photography Day by appreciating your nature photography.

The photo of this beautiful Grey Crowned Crane (Baelearica regulorum) was taken years ago when I was teaching English in Shenzhen, China. I came across it at the local Safari Park Shenzhen zoo as it was about to bathe in a shower of water from a nearby fountain. As I calmly approached, the crane turned its neck in one swift movement, locking eyes with mine. We didn't move for what felt like a full minute before I finally drew my camera and took the shot. As soon as I did, the bird turned back to its business in the pond, apparently satisfied with my angle of the photo taken.

If you ever get a chance to visit China and don't mind exploring a big-city jungle rather than the more rural areas, Shenzhen has some truly magnificent parks and zoos to check out. You won't be disappointed.

What nature photos are you most proud of? Show us your best shots​

Let us know what 'nature' means to you with a photo and story about it in a reply below. Keep in mind that it doesn't have to be about a living creature, but should include life in some way (animals, trees, etc.). We’ll be selecting some responses to feature on the DPReview.com homepage next week!

I often visit the botanical garden here in Lund, Sweden to shoot flowers and birds. It's not uncommon to run into other birders or photographers, and one time a few months back one such photographer I met told me about the family of owls nesting there. He showed me the place and we did see the owls, but they were far up in the trees and looking away from us. I spent the better part of an hour waiting, but couldn't get a clear shot so I left to walk around and look for other birds. As I was leaving the gardens a while later, I decided to stop by the trees on the way out just in case I got lucky.

I did. The owls were lower in the trees and much more active, and after some moving around for a good angle (and hopping a fence; you do what you must when limited by focal length!) one of them briefly looked directly at me:

Nailed it. I walked away with the shot I was looking for.

Between the distance, light and inadequate focal length (significant cropping was involved) it's probably not winning any bird photography awards, but I'm very happy I got to see wild owls up close and photograph them for the first time.