Little zipping tūturuatu (Shore plover) are difficult to photograph in flight! They’re very speedy wee birds. After spending a lot of time, and getting a lot of blurry images of them, I was pretty pleased to get this shot of one coming in to land after a flurried flight across the wave platform on Rangatira. It’s not a perfect image, but it makes me happy.

It’s easy to get caught up in trying to make the ‘best’ images, and shoot for the most likes online. I try and keep perspective by asking myself “Does this photo make me happy?”. I love photography more for the process than the outcome, spending time out in wild places rather than inside editing and posting. I’m always trying to make better images, but better for me means images that I’m happier with, not the ones that other people like more.