The Decisive Moment
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PrizeSilver in Nature/Wildlife
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PhotographerTurgay Uzer, United States
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Website
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Instagram
A mirrorless camera made this capture possible. In the spirit of my hero Henri Cartier-Bresson, I’ve titled it “The Decisive Moment.”
Why decisive? Because that big, spiny fish had only one chance to make it down the cormorant’s throat—head first and lengthwise. This bird spent over an hour tossing the fish in the air, trying to nail the perfect angle… and finally succeeded.
The shot was captured handheld from a swaying boat in one of the side branches of Brazil’s Rio Cuiabá, in the Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas—a part of the Pantanal wetlands.
Quite soon after my birth in 1952 I started in film photography and have now progressed to digital mirrorless. After graduating from Harvard I taught physics at Atlanta's Georgia Tech from which I retired to devote myself to travel and photography. My favorite travel destinations are Zambia's South Luangwa, Botswana's Okavango Delta, Brazil's Pantanal, and South Georgia Island . My favorite animals subjects are big cats and wild dogs. I favor animal-in-habitat images as well as close-up portraits with eye contact - not an easy task since eye contact with wild animals tends to be fleeting.
Awards Life Framer Photography Awards 2025, First Place in Animal Kingdom
North American Nature Photographers' Association (NANPA) 2024
contest: Runner-Up in Birds the category
The Artist Gallery Wildlife Photo Contest 2024, First Place.
North American Nature Photographers' Association (NANPA) 2023
contest: Top 100 (two images)
Audubon Photography Awards 2024: Top 100
9th 35Awards 2023: TOP 35 photographer in nomination "Wildlife"
35Awards Thematic Competition: "Best of Bears"
Picture Award 2024 Nature Category: Top 15
Wild Art Nature Photographer of the Year: Top 100 in the
Naturescapes Category
All About Photography Magazine Nature Contest 2023: Honorable
Mention