Having been brought up on non-negotiable bird walks, studying zoology and conservation for five years and being a hobbyist wildlife photographer for 10 years, when I embarked on my backpacking wildlife photography trip at the start of 2023, I knew the Galápagos was where I had to finish the trip.
The Galápagos is an incredible place for wildlife photography. Wildlife here is so highly regarded and respected, and encounters with dream species come around regularly and last longer than just a few heartbeats due to the wild animals’ habituation to human populations.
This habituation allows the time and opportunity to get more creative with photography. I found, for example, that some of my favourite photos I came away with were taken on my wideangle lens, a piece of kit I brought along predominantly for landscapes and rarely used for wildlife photography.
While in the Galápagos, my target species was the Galápagos tortoise, perhaps the most iconic animal found here and one I’d dreamed of from a young age. I’d heard from locals and other travellers that there was a relatively easy to find wild population on Isabela Island, one of the three inhabited islands within the archipelago.
The El Muro de Las Lagrimas path, along which the wild population can be found, is a dusty dirt road lined with dense, low-level vegetation and tall cacti. About an hour along this path I found my first tortoise, a large male tucked away deep in the undergrowth content with foraging in the dark. Unfortunately, this would set the tone for the majority of my encounters with these animals. While sightings were fairly regular throughout the week, photography was made tricky by messy backdrops and poor light.
When I set off on the day I captured this image, it was raining and threatening to storm. It was also my last day on Isabela. Time not being on my side, I pushed on regardless, accepting the fact that I was going to get wet but hoping for the best. Around three hours into this now familiar walk, the rain began to clear, and the sun dispersed the darker clouds. It just so happened that this proud-looking male was also making his way slowly down the path.
I quickly positioned myself a good 20m along the path he was walking and waited patiently. As he started approaching me I knew I was going to capture something special, with all the elements coming together nicely to allow me to photograph this animal in a unique way. A giant, seemingly walking out of the past, against an enigmatic landscape.