As it's my last day in Brazil I wanted to conclude proceedings with a few observations from my time here in Brazil, and some of my favourite pictures (click on a pic for the full gallery). In no particular order...Photographing the World Cup is extremely hard work. It is physically and mentally draining, makes you ill and loses you sleep and weight. And I've not had the hardest schedule amongst my colleagues here by some way. You may think that it's just about sitting on pitchside at glamorous stadia in a sun drenched foreign country, but what you never see, and what I've tried to illustrate in this blog, is the amount of effort that goes to getting that pitchside seat at the world's biggest sporting event. This starts many months or even years in my case before the event itself, and it takes dedication and sheer bloody mindedness to see it through. When you next hear a sports photographer moaning about something it will be due to some problem that you have no idea about which has made their life hell. Think hard before you decide you want to do this - it is a tortuous marathon of epic proportions.The British snappers out here are among the most professional and courteous people I've met. Compared to the antics of a large number of the population of the stadium media centres, especially during the final, the high standards shown by the Brit Pack have stood out head and shoulders above the rest. Granted we are all competing against each other, but everyone watched each other's backs, gear, general wellbeing, and shared taxis, hotel rooms and even beds to keep costs down.Preparation, and lots of it, helped me hugely on this trip. I had everything I needed, knew where I had to be, had maps of places to show to taxi drivers, spare batteries for stuff, triple confirmed hotel rooms and flights and so on. Being able to handle unexpected events or simply get about easily, was key to keeping the stress levels down. Having the right tablets to take when I was sick saved a lot of hassle. You can't have too much prep.The Brazilian people are just fantastic fun with the exception of crazed photographers in media centres. I think Manaus was the most friendly place I've been to, with so many welcoming people who were without exception very open, willing to chat despite the language barriers, and always happy to be photographed. Rio is a bit more stressy with lots of people packed in, but again I've had some great encounters including a good natter with a robocop-kitted-out riot policeman who was all smiles and banter.This seems to have been the world cup of stealing kit. The number of people who have had stuff taken can scarcely be believed, with thefts particularly in the media centres being rife. One guy had his 400m taken from the floor between his legs while he was shooting a training session. This is so out of character with what you'd find in a Premier League ground photographer's room where it is unthinkable that gear should be stolen (though it does happen very occasionally). The sheer effort involved in keeping an eye on everything has been draining. Hauling gear in and out of lockers (themselves flimsy affairs that often collapsed), cabling and locking everything to anything, and having to add a security strategy to everything you do pitchside has been tough. Thankfully I haven't lost anything yet, though there's still time before I'm safely back home.It would probably be much better if Canon and Nikon didn't loan out gear to people who are not a member of their professional schemes (like Canon Professional Services or CPS). People were turning up with no kit and borrowing a pair of bodies and lenses and you could see them sitting at a desk in the media centre looking totally confused, prodding buttons randomly and clearly not proficient. These people are taking the seats of professionals who have hauled their own kit thousands of miles to be here. One of our number didn't get pitchside for the final, having to shoot from the tribune instead after an anxious period on the waitlist, while someone who'd never used a 1D was in the seat he should have had, busy posting pictures to Facebook as the game was happening. You only get to be a member of CPS if you own specific amounts of professional grade gear e.g. 2 pro bodies, certain lenses etc. This would certainly improve the situation.My experience of Rio has not been one of unremitting fear and danger. Like any big city, you need to pay a lot of attention particularly if you are carrying a load of expensive cameras with you. It may be that the massive police presence has calmed everything down, and in a week's time it'll be a basket case, but I've taken the same approach as I would being in London at night - keep aware and alert, and dont flash your cash around. Sao Paulo on the other hand did feel rather threatening - perhaps it was the lack of beaches that causes it. A nice beach or five does perk a city up I find. The taxis in Rio are cheap, certainly compared to Guildford, and plentiful - hundreds of the little yellow things whizzing about everywhere. Cars don't stop at red lights at night because they can't be bothered, rather than due to the threat of carjacking - the Brazilian attitude is that the road is clear so why sit about on red when you can get on you way.My approach to shoot everything England during the group stages, rather than cover as many matches as possible, paid off for me. The travel schedule was less hectic and I got some of my best publications (so far) from some of those non-match situations. While I totally understand the guys who pack in as many games as possible, because that's where their money comes from, I just couldn't do that - the pace and stress involved is incredible and I admire them hugely for doing it. I hadn't dreamed that I would be able to get into the final. I had hoped, but not thought that it would be possible. I had set myself up to shoot as much as I could in Rio after the group stages, with the budget allowing one additional trip out to the Netherlands/Argentina semi final in Sao Paulo, and had prepared myself to shoot the Maracana final from a hill outside to get the fireworks at the end of the match. To get into the final was way beyond my expectations, and to have the winning goalscorer celebrate in front of me topped things off very nicely.Being able to find a story to shoot during non-match/non-training days has been important. There's so much going on around the World Cup and you never know what you can pick up on. Also, I flew thousands of miles to get here so to sit around idle would have been a bit of a waste. I really enjoyed my trip to the favela to shoot the kids playing football, and the impromptu wander around "Little Argentina" that had set up in the Sambadrome was excellent fun. Gatecrashing the VIP party up the Sugarloaf was a blast as well as the sunset beach football on Ipanema.There are lots of things I haven't done. I could have done them, but didn't. Dawn from the top of Pedra de Gavea, a big mountain at the end of Sao Conrado beach, defeated me - just too knackered. A sunset general view of the Maracana stadium from the top of the favela on the hillside opposite the Metro station never happened - I tried quite hard on that one three times but was defeated by closed roads, closed bridges, and more important press conferences. The shot of the full moon in Cristo Redento's hand didn't happen mainly due to the lack of a suitable helicopter and astronomical planning capabilities. But there are so many things that I have done that I don't mind missing a few. I've filed pictures pretty much every day, having 5 jobs in one day before the final was a bit crazy. Taking a few days out to go to the paradise of Ilha Grande was just perfect though and kept me sane midway through the trip.Keeping this blog going every day has become a bit of a passion. It's important to keep it up to date as, once you fall behind, it's so hard to recover. It's been just as much my own personal record of the tournament as it has been a thing to entertain and amuse you. I'll have to go back and read it all from day 1 to remind myself of what on earth has happened over the last 5 weeks. Don't underestimate how much I've appreciated your comments either. When totally spent and feeling sick with the world falling out of my bottom, having a laugh at the incessant requests from my mates to get down the beach and shoot some thonged-up girls has really helped. It's also enable my wife, kids, Mum and Dan to keep in touch with what I've been up to. With the time difference and all the travel it's been tricky to call a lot of the time, so at least they've been able to work out what I'm up to and where I am.It'll take a few weeks to come down from the craziness of this trip. It's been 5 weeks of unrelenting pressure and stress, and at the same time fantastic, beautiful, spine tingling, hairs on the back of your neck standing up wonderfulness. Right now I'm just looking forward to getting home to my wife who has grown lovlier with every day that has passed, my brilliant children, my soft lovely bed, and my new TV that I haven't watched yet.Keep reading, I've got a few more posts in me yet and possibly even a video.