My two weeks as a wildlife photographer in Ecuador
I was recently asked by the Fundacion Fauna de la Amazonia, a conservation project located near the tropical Llanganates National Park in Ecuador, to volunteer my services as a wildlife photographer. Being an amateur, this was my first "official" photography position, and I was delighted! For two weeks, I happily traipsed around the jungle searching for anything that moved and photographing it, or more appropriately as the case may have been, trying to photograph it. I volunteered to document the animal life present at the “finca” of the Fundacion Fauna de la Amazonia, as it is a newly-purchased plot of land and it’s important to know what kind of life is present before conservation work begins. I spent my days getting up before dawn and walking for two to three hours to see what I could spot. I watched the sun rise from my favorite bird hotspots and watched it glint off the spectacular blue and green feathers of Paradise Tanagers. As hawks preened quietly in...