Today I've driven through an alpine pass for the first time. At Colle della Maddalena (Col de Larche) there's still plenty of snow, but groundhogs are waking up from their winter hibernation. I was hoping to get some of them for a shoot, but I didn't certainly expect to get one near its lair — a task that in my mind recalled the idea of wandering through the snow for kilometres, really disappointing since I hate cold.

But this guy was standing up a few meters off the road, just after the french border. Sometimes it's easier than expected.