A photo taken by David Colman shows local women picking water chestnuts on Jiaxing's Nanhu Lake. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

I got to the location on time and walked around to find the ladies had already started, what I wasn't prepared for was the wooden boats or barrels in which they do their work. It must be an old and traditional way to do the picking that goes back many years. What a wonderful surprise and what an experience to see these ladies at work and to take timeless photographs of the vegetables being picked.

As sometimes happens while taking photos I was approached by someone who wanted to ask what I was doing and where I was from; turned out she had spent a few years in England studying not far from my home.

This image is not only one of my favorites, it has received many comments from my social media posts as like me nobody really knew where they come from, but best of all it was a perfect entry for the Jiaxing foreigner photo competition. It allowed me to show others how I see Jiaxing, including its traditions and history. From a photographer's point of view it is a very good image – the color, composition and timing are all there as well as the subject matter.

Like almost all of my images there is a backstory which I am always happy to share. When I press the shutter button I am not making history, I am taking history, taking it and sharing it with others.

Oh, and by the way, I won joint second in the photo competition.

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