Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Photo Safari



For my birthday, I got a quite unusual present. A personal photo expedition with a professional wild-life photographer.

This is what happened:

On a day like any other, at 7 a.m., I was picked up in a 4x4 jeep. "I am going to take you to places around Uppsala you never dreamed existed". I´m exaggerating what he said to make the story a little more dramatic.
The sun was still falling in from a sharp angle and my guide squinted beneath his wide-brimmed hat as we navigated through the early morning traffic.
The first stop on this wild-life odyssey was the municipal water purification plant. More specifically, the fields where the "mud" is laid out to dry. I´ve never seen such fertile soil. Among the vegetation that sprawled with unrestrained lust for life, I noticed an abundance of tomatoe-plants. "They pass right through the human body unharmed", the guide explained. He meant the seeds. The reason for this stop was the long-legged birds that usually descend upon these fields, attracted by the water mirror. Unfortunately, the fields were dried out this time. "So, no birds, I´m afraid", he said. "Well, no smell either", I could´ve added as a positive side-note. But I didn't.
Nonetheless, the location offered some interesting motifs. There was a light fog that rose as the morning sun touched the ground, some bluethroats (blåhakar) that presented themselves and a large number of cows grazing on the field beyond.
At times, my guide went silent and immobile. He would stay like that for several minutes, his only vital sign being the uttering of incomprehensible words in a low, hushing voice. If he hadn´t had a camera stuck in front of his face, I would´ve been seriously concerned for him.

As we headed out of the city toward the final location, the guide turned to me, squinting beneath his wide-brimmed hat, and began to explain the mysteries of the red-winged grasshopper. "It is to be found only in two places in the whole of Uppland - a rare species, it is. At this place where we are going there are many-many, but you will most likely not capture a single one in flight with your camera. Trust me, I've tried. Most elusive, you see." While saying this, he did of course look at the road as well, being a safety-conscious driver as he was.

As the jeep stopped, the doors were opened gently not to discompose any natural scene that may have formed in the absence of people and that may be sensitive to inelegant sounds. Soon, we concluded that such scenes were not at hand, and continued toward the grasshopper location less discretely. The site in question is an island of untamed nature in an agricultural sea, not far from a major highway.
Just as the guide had briefed me, the red-winged ones were numerous. Quite easy to spot and follow with the eye, but most uncooperative with the camera. You see, from the ground where they usually are, they jump away and then open their wings. So, even if you had focused on one, it was hard to tell where it would be while flying.
After some chasing around we retired to the car, returned to the city and I was left where I had started. "So long, and remember...", the guide concluded with a squinting look before he pressed on into the day, like any other.

3 comments:

Jessica said...

Vackert formulerat om en vacker stund. Fantastiska bilder!

Unknown said...

Very nicely written and delicious photos. For those from out-of-town it may be interesting to know that this truly was an expedition to historical grounds. Kungsängen was one of the sites where Linneaus used to take his students to study the local flora.

Isabel said...

Kul att du gillade presenten!