62 Nebraskaland • December 2021
THE LAST STOP
By Jeff Kurrus
HOLDING MY BREATH
There are take-your-breath-away moments in nature.
When that deer you've been waiting to get a shot at
suddenly appears 20 yards away. When the sun first
dips below the horizon and the sky fills with pinks and
purples. Or even when you finally see the fish at the end
of your line, the one that's bending your rod back on itself.
But there are also hold-your-breath moments in nature
… especially when you have a camera in hand. One such
moment is when the light has faded so much and your
shutter speed is so slow that any sort of movement, even
just breathing, will make it impossible to capture tack-
sharp images. And then there are the times when it's so
cold that your breath fogs up the viewfinder, making it
impossible to see what you're trying to photograph.
On this particular day, I experienced both. With light
fading and a long lens in hand, I hid beneath a makeshift
cloth blind and repeatedly pressed the button, trying to
rest the camera on my knees and holding my breath.
It wasn't working. The camera continued to shake and
I could barely see the raccoon — the animal providing
the only source of color in the woods — through my
viewfinder.
Finally, I shed the blind and shot madly, drawing an
occasional, unconcerned look from the animal. After
shooting more than 200 images, I kept eight.
The best of the images you see here. And I accomplished
what I wanted to: To show all the little stories that can
be found in even the tiniest patches of forest. And as a
bonus, I also got what I always hope for when I'm in the
outdoors: to have something take my breath away.
