Lasse Kurkela's Image

Lasse is a keen naturalist and photographer, and the recipient of an environmental achievement award from his home town in Finland, and so the prospect of accompanying his father wolf-watching was hugely exciting.

The location was a hide in the middle of a remote swamp area in Kuhmo, Finland, close to the Russian border. The trek there involved hiking through the swamp wearing thigh-length waders and carrying both equipment and provisions for several days. On their second evening, just a few minutes after his father had commented how the low September sunlight was perfect for photography, a male wolf walked into view. He paused just once to look around, which was the moment Lasse took his picture. 'Three nights was a long time to be in that hide,' says Lasse, 'but having got this picture made it all worthwhile.'