Animals are at the heart of many of the stories we cover, and, for many readers, they’re synonymous with the name National Geographic. The visual narratives we create are crafted to showcase wildlife, presenting both the larger context of conservation and, in a rapidly changing world, the issues facing their survival.

The photographers behind these images share a singular passion and have dedicated their careers to showing us amazing behaviors in a way that makes us take notice and maybe even fall in love.

In celebration of the creatures both exotic and familiar who inhabit our planet, we reached out to eight of our photographers to ask: Of all the animals you’ve photographed, which one do you feel the most