I had been taking several pictures of the Mandarin Duck, but I wasn´t happy with my photos. The bank I was taking pictures from was too high, and I needed to get my camera lower. I crawled next to a tree rising close to the pond. I placed my foot against the tree trunk. If my foot slipped, I´d fall into the water. Then, I placed my camera as low as possible.



The angle was better now, but it took effort to see what the camera was aimed at. I forced myself into a better position, careful not to move my foot. My back and neck were hurting. When I was finally able to see what I was aiming at, I had trouble breathing. I had to open my mouth to get a breath but instead, received a mouthful of grass. At the same time, I realized my hand was resting on some Stinging Nettles and it felt like my hand was burning.



But I had to ignore all of this, because I finally got the bird in sight from a decent angle and started taking photos. I knew I couldn´t stay in this uncomfortable position for long, and I took pictures as fast as possible. These photos were not masterpieces but much better than my earlier ones. Only a moment before I was about to give up, luck was on my side: the bird started shaking its wings, and I was still ready to take photos.



A little later I stood up breathing heavily, feeling the effort everywhere in my body, and the sting in my hand. I was spitting grass out of my mouth, but I felt like a million bucks: I got an acceptable photo.



This is one of the moments from my photography sessions in the Finnish nature during year 2011. This book contains my favorite photos of the year, and I tell about the situations and share the ideas I had while taking the photos.