Finnish photographer Ossi Saarinen became known online for portraits of foxes, red squirrels, owls and other animals of Finland's forests that look as if they came out of a storybook. His pictures are bright, close and full of character, yet most of them show ordinary wild animals found across the country.
Saarinen was 21 when My Modern Met interviewed him in 2019. He said he took his first photo with a DSLR camera in early 2015, of a bird in his back garden, and that he tried many types of photography before settling on wildlife. Foxes are his favourite subject, especially cubs.
Below are 40 of his photographs, grouped by animal and season, with short notes on the species and on how such shots are made. His work is on Instagram (@soosseli).
How Ossi Saarinen photographs wild animals
Saarinen describes wildlife photography as slow, patient work. He spends hundreds of hours in the forest, approaching shy animals gradually over several days, avoiding sudden movements and noise so they get used to his presence. He once waited almost six hours at a fox den without seeing a single fox, while being bitten by mosquitoes and getting cold.
His advice for beginners is practical: go out often, shoot in the early morning and late evening when the light is soft, learn how your subjects behave, and do not worry about expensive gear. He has said a phone is enough to start with.
Finland is one of the most forested countries in Europe, with roughly 70% of its land covered by forest, mostly boreal (taiga) woods of pine, spruce and birch. That makes it a good place for this kind of work, although many of the most charming shots here were taken close to towns and paths rather than in remote wilderness.
Red squirrels
Red squirrels are the most frequent stars of his gallery. They are active by day all year round, which makes them ideal subjects.
A red squirrel peers straight down the trunk at the lens, ear tufts upright. The low camera angle makes the tree feel like a road leading to the animal, a trick Saarinen uses often with squirrels.
A red squirrel carries a mushroom almost as big as its head. Red squirrels dry fungi on branches and store them for winter, so this is a real piece of autumn behaviour, not just a cute pose.
A red squirrel sits with its paws folded and eyes closed beneath an old log, as if meditating. Moments like this last a second or two, which is why patience is the main tool of the wildlife photographer.
A red squirrel with snow on its head is photographed against a white winter background. Overexposing a snowy scene slightly creates this clean, almost studio-like look.
A red squirrel sniffs a dandelion on a stump in summer light. Red squirrels in Finland change from a reddish summer coat to a greyer, thicker winter coat.
A red squirrel looks up from a carpet of yellow maple leaves, its tail curled over its back. The warm colours of the Finnish autumn, known as ruska, are a favourite season for nature photographers.
A red squirrel pushes a miniature shopping trolley full of nuts. This image is clearly staged with a prop and food, a playful style that is popular online but different from his natural documentary shots.
A red squirrel peers over a stump very close to the lens with its mouth open. Close-ups like this often use a wide-angle lens and a camera placed in advance near a spot squirrels already visit.
A red squirrel eats among white wood anemones, one of the first flowers of the Finnish spring. The flowers place the picture firmly in May.
Foxes and raccoon dogs
Foxes are his favourite animal. The raccoon dog, a newcomer to Finnish forests, appears almost as often.
A young red fox sits behind a blur of pink wild roses. Shooting through foreground flowers with a wide aperture turns them into soft colour, framing the fox without hiding it.
A red fox sleeps curled up at the foot of a tree, tail wrapped around its body. Foxes are Saarinen's favourite subject, and he has described following fox cubs as they grow.
A fox cub sticks out its tongue over a log. Young foxes are curious and playful, and a photographer who visits the same den area quietly over many days can capture this kind of relaxed behaviour.
A young fox lies on a sunny slope with its head resting on the ground. Warm backlight from low sun gives the fur a glowing edge.
A red fox stands on a mossy rise with its mouth wide open in a yawn that looks like a laugh. Freezing a yawn mid-way is one way wildlife photographs end up looking human.
A red fox rests curled on green moss in a spruce forest. Foxes are found throughout Finland, from southern farmland to Lapland.
A fox cub licks its nose beneath autumn branches, looking straight at the lens. The shallow depth of field keeps the eyes sharp and the leaves soft.
A raccoon dog looks out from under rowan leaves. Despite its name it is a member of the dog family, introduced to Europe from East Asia for fur farming, and it is now common in Finland.
A raccoon dog seems to grin among ferns. The species is the only member of the dog family known to hibernate, mainly during the harshest part of winter.
Two raccoon dogs emerge from a dark forest floor. The EU lists the species as an invasive alien species, and Finnish hunters take well over 100,000 of them in some years.
Owls and birds
A small owl sleeps in a tree hollow during a snowfall, rendered almost in black and white. Snowflakes in the foreground give the frame depth and a fairy-tale mood.
A young Eurasian eagle-owl with fluffy chick feathers glares with bright orange eyes. The eagle-owl is one of the largest owls in the world and nests in Finnish forests and rocky areas.
An adult eagle-owl hides among spruce branches, its feather pattern almost matching the bark. Only the orange eyes give it away, which is exactly how these owls avoid being seen during the day.
A northern hawk owl stares at the camera with yellow eyes. Unlike most owls it hunts by day, which makes it one of the easier owls to see in the northern forests.
Bullfinches perch on snow at the edge of a half-frozen river under snowy branches. The male bullfinch's rose-red breast is one of the few bright colours in a Nordic winter.
Whooper swans gather on a flooded field at sunset, some stretching their wings. The whooper swan has been Finland's national bird since 1981 and appears on the Finnish one-euro coin.
Bears, moose, deer and otters
Larger animals need more distance and planning, often from a hide or by waiting at known feeding spots.
A brown bear stands square to the camera on a grassy forest clearing. Brown bears live mainly in eastern and northern Finland, and photos like this are usually taken from hides set up by local wildlife guides rather than by approaching on foot.
A bull moose (called elk in British English) stands in autumn birch forest, its antlers still in velvet. Moose are Finland's largest land mammal, and adult bulls can weigh several hundred kilograms.
A large bull moose with broad antlers stands in tall golden grass at the edge of birch woods. Autumn is the moose rut, when bulls carry their biggest antlers before shedding them in winter.
A spotted fawn stands in a meadow full of white clover. The white spots help camouflage young deer in dappled light and fade as the animal grows.
Two roe deer leap across a frosty field in falling snow. Roe deer are small, quick and easily startled, so a sharp shot of them in motion takes good timing.
A young roe buck with short antlers stands among tall green plants. Roe deer have spread across much of southern and central Finland over recent decades.
Two otters sit on the edge of ice beside open water with snow on their fur. Otters stay active through the Finnish winter, using unfrozen rapids and holes in the ice to fish.
Mice and small mammals
A wood mouse peeks out from a hollow beneath fallen orange leaves. Saarinen often works at ground level for small mammals, which makes the viewer feel like part of the animal's world.
A mouse holds a nut among yellow autumn leaves. Small rodents spend autumn eating and storing food before the long winter.
A mouse pokes its head out of the snow under spruce branches. Many small mammals spend winter in tunnels beneath the snow, where it is warmer and safer from predators.
A hand offers a nut to a wood mouse among yellow leaves. Feeding wild animals can make them lose their fear of people, so it is best left to settings where it causes no harm.
Finnish forest landscapes
Saarinen also photographs the landscapes these animals live in, through every season.
Sunlight bursts through a large old tree in autumn colour. A small aperture creates the sunstar effect, giving landscape shots a magical look.
A calm river runs between snow-loaded spruces, reflecting the trees like a mirror. Finland has tens of thousands of lakes and countless rivers, so water appears in many of its landscapes.
A dense stand of birches catches the low winter sun behind it. Birch, along with pine and spruce, is one of the defining trees of the Finnish taiga.
A wooden boardwalk crosses a bog dotted with cotton grass toward a sunset. Duckboard trails like this let hikers cross Finland's many peatlands without damaging them.
Tips for seeing Finnish wildlife yourself
Finland's "everyman's right" lets people walk in forests freely, so you do not need special permits to enjoy nature. Respect is still important: keep your distance from dens and nests, never chase animals for a photo, and avoid feeding wildlife. Guided bear and wolverine hides in eastern Finland are the safest way to see the large predators.
For squirrels, foxes and birds, local parks and forest edges near towns are often the best places to start, especially at dawn and dusk.
Sources: Ossi Saarinen on Instagram; My Modern Met interview with Ossi Saarinen (2019); Wikipedia: Geography of Finland; Wikipedia: Common raccoon dog; Wikipedia: Whooper swan.
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