Blue footed boobies, Galapagos Islands.

Pictured in the Galapagos Islands, the blue footed booby is one of several species of seabirds that quite happily lay and hatch their eggs on the bare ground. This is partly because on some of the islands there aren’t many trees to use and also because there are few predators. These birds could be approached to within a couple of metres and had no fear of humans. They have never been subjected to hunting and as a result don’t perceive humans as a threat.

The photographic techniques involved were fairly straight forward here, a carefully handheld camera, a short telephoto and shutter speed sufficient to overcome camera shake. The only issue is the harsh lighting, unfortunately taken middle of the day in bright conditions means that the images required careful post processing to get the maximum available shadow detail.