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Mark shares some images from his recent trip to the Galapagos and reveals just what makes this incredible archipelago so special.
If you’ve followed any of my work over the years you’ll know just how much I have enjoyed working and photographing in the Falklands. One or the main reasons has always been the almost totally unbothered nature of the wildlife there who take no notice of your presence. The same can be said for the Galapagos and although there are greater restrictions in terms of where and when you can spend time with it, on a well scheduled trip with visits ashore for first and last light respectively then it is very much possible to enjoy exactly the same encounters and photographic opportunities.
One of the species I was most looking forward to spending time with here was the unmistakeable blue-footed booby. I knew their antics and behaviour were very gannet-like and I wasn’t proved wrong. Instead of the blue eye ring of gannets though it was the sheer vividness of their feet that I was hugely drawn to and wanted to make sure were as evident as they could be as a feature in my images as well as their wonderfully streamlined shape which an evening silhouette was also able to emphasise.
There were still a few isolated youngsters to be found and I particularly enjoyed the challenges of working with a shorter lens to try and show more than one bird in the lava strewn coastal habitat they call home here concentrating on what was happening with the waves behind them to incorporate them at their best in the image as well.
They weren’t the only boobies in the islands though and the nazca booby was equally as striking a species as well, one colony on Espanola island offering some lovely backlighting opportunities as well as the more conventional portrait.
The iconic species here weren’t just birds and I had seen many of the brightly coloured sally lightfoot crabs beforehand and so was really keen to spend some time with them as well. They were pretty easy to find whenever the coastline involved rocks as opposed to sand, but surprisingly challenging to photograph. They were either very mobile and because of the terrain they were in, particularly hard to get in the ideal position for a clean composition of too. The good thing though was that with the rocks almost always being lava in their composition they often provided a dark background for maximum contrast of the crabs vivid colours.
When the shoreline was sandy in its nature though, looking for crabs here was a little more conventional at least. It was obvious where they were (especially at low tide) as their underground homes were clear to see….
It was then a question of waiting patiently at a little bit of a distance until the crab in question, a Galapagos ghost crab, plucked up enough courage to emerge before scuttling off across the sand to find some vegetation or food materials to run back with. I enjoyed a lovely afternoon simply lying on the sand and watching them in this behaviour and whether they were front on or rear on was always being scrutinised by their beady eyes too.
Although I wouldn’t call the islands a must go destination for any aspiring landscape photographers, their volcanic makeup did provide for some interesting vistas and there are some very dramatic locations that our boat was able to sail around as well including the tall cliffs of Kicker Rock.
I made a very obvious comparison to the Falklands when opening this piece, and one of the highlights I was most looking forward to when visiting the Galapagos was to spend time in the breeding colony of a different albatross species. I had planned the trip to ensure that the sole island they breed on was on the schedule and that we would be there when the birds were ashore and pairing up and I wasn’t to be disappointed. In comparison to the vast numbers of Steeple Jason for instance then I know I have been spoilt with albatross but the very different conformation of the birds heads and beaks in particular were just as subtly beautiful and it was, as it always is with these ocean going birds, just wonderful to sit with them in one of their brief moments ashore.
Elsewhere in South America as well as in Africa, one of the other families of striking birds that I have developed a real passion for is the flamingo. Here we managed to spend a really lovely early morning with the sole species I’ve not done so before, in the form of the caribbean flamingo, possibly the most striking of them all in terms of colour. It’s so important to get as low as possible when working with this particular species to allow their true stature to show and fortunately this lagoon was perfect for that, and the early morning light created some interesting pockets of colour for more environmental images as well.
Almost every trip ashore involved sea lions, often in the way of your landing vessel as they lounged on the beach and coming to check you out when you were snorkelling too. The Galapagos sea lion has been exceptionally well documented in a lot of wildlife programmes and justifiably so – they are a key species in the ecosystem here and a great indicator as to what makes the islands so special too. I’ve always found all the pinniped species both challenging and yet absorbing to photograph so whether it was planned time with them or just filling time waiting for a rib to pick me up, I took every opportunity to record their antics in as wide an array of styles as I could.
There were plenty of other species it was great to see along the way including displaying great frigate birds attempting to attract a mate and the diminutive Galapagos penguin: it seemed crazy seeing the most northerly of all it’s family here on the equator but was a reminder of the cold water currents that feed the islands and provide the food source that allows it to breed here.
There were though two final species that have made the islands famous in television terms though and the first of those is the giant tortoise. I have photographed wild tortoises before in both Europe and Africa and whilst the leopard tortoise to be found in the latter can reach a decent size it is simply dwarfed by its counterpart here. The most famous of them, Lonesome George, lived to over a hundred years old and his remains (suitably treated by a taxidermist) can still be seen in the islands breeding centre; his relatives whilst young by comparison, were suitably wrinkly and aged looking too though which made for some interesting portrait images.
The final family that really captured my photographic imagination though were the iguanas. These giant lizards, particularly the bright yellow endemic Santa Fe lizard, only found on that island, really did remind me of the dinosaurs my granddaughter is so fascinated with a casual look from behind a boulder being really prehistoric in its nature.
As ever it became a challenge for me to try to find as many different environments and settings to portray them and their nature even working a monochrome one into the mix as well.
Their marine based relatives though are among the true iconic stars of the islands though whether it is being chased by snakes as youngsters or diving beneath the waves to munch seaweed off the rocks below. Like the colourful crabs, they are often in spots that don’t lend themselves to easy access compositionally but they were to be found on a number of our shore excursions and as ever perseverance pays off. I tried a number of approaches but the final image of this selection is a fitting finale to sum up the islands for me – wildlife, sea and amazing tolerance. I can’t wait to return again next year.
Mark
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