06/12/09 This post is in response to a request from my friend Jim Allen who asked me to show some of the photos I took in the Galapagos islands a couple years ago. Here you go Jim!

I’m not a wildlife photographer. The closest I get to that kind of work would be, for example, the photo of a chipmunk killed by my dog Jenny I posted on facebook page the other day.  It’s a bit of a fluke how I wound up on the Equator photographing Blue Footed Boobies and Marine Iguanas.  In January of 2006, I was bound for Iraq and combat zone photography. Two days before departure however the trip was canceled because the reporter who was going to Baghdad with me could not make it. So here I was all dressed up – in my Under Amour and Kevlar – with no place to go.  I had a chunk of time on my hands.  One thing led to another and I found myself aboard the MV Santa Cruz making stops at the islands of San Christobal, Santa Fe, Santa Cruz, Genovesa, N. Seymour Island, Bartolomé, Santiago and Baltra.  The natural beauty of the islands and the fascinating variety of wildlife is simply amazing.  The animals have no natural predators so they are totally unafraid of humans. You can walk right up to within inches of just about every bird and reptile and photograph them as if they were statues.

Blue Footed Boobies always nest on the ground while Red Footed Boobies only nest in trees.

Giant Glapagos Tortoise

Frigate bird

The vegetation and topography varies wildly from one island to the next.

Red Footed Boobies

Iguana