Another snowed-in Monday got you feeling a little blah? These grumpy-looking birds know how you feel. Or, at least, they look like they do. At any rate, here’s hoping they’ll take a bit of the edge off your winter blues.

These photos were all submitted to our annual Picture This: Your Great Outdoors photo contest. See the 2018 photo contest winners on our website and sign up for alerts when the contest opens again for 2019.

There is a tremendous amount of skill that goes into capturing a great photo: lighting, exposure, composition, depth of field, and so much more. But any wildlife photographer will tell you it also takes a good deal of luck.

Here are five examples of great timing in photography—just the right balance of skill, luck, and being in the right place at the right time with the right equipment to capture an unusual shot. These photos were all submitted to our annual nature photography contest, Picture This: Your Great Outdoors. You can see the winners of past photo contests and signup to be notified when this year’s contest opens on our website.