There is a moment in the field when everything else disappears.

I become aware of the smallest things. The sound of breathing. The weight of an animal shifting its body. The sudden crack of bone. The movement of air. The way light catches the edge of fur. Sometimes it is a pair of eyes looking directly into mine, and for a few seconds there is nothing else.

People often ask me if I am afraid, or how close I was. I understand the curiosity, but those are rarely the things I remember most.

I remember how I felt.

The intensity of eye contact with a wolf. The extraordinary tenderness in the face of a spirit bear. The overwhelming presence of an animal that could change everything in a heartbeat.

There is something deeply humbling about being in another creature's world, knowing that I am the visitor. Nothing is guaranteed. Nothing belongs to me. I can only pay attention, respect the space I have been allowed to share, and hope to carry something of that experience home.

The photograph is what remains visible.

But it is everything I felt, heard and experienced beyond the frame that stays with me.

Nikki Baxendale