The blue-footed boobies are probably the best-known of the three booby species resident in the islands, mostly due to their strikingly blue feet and their elaborate courtship ritual in which they proudly show off their feet to their mates. The blue-foots mate at any time of the year and while we got to see some parts of the ritual dance, we didn’t ever see the entire show.

The blue-foot in this image was photographed from a small boat riding the swells. Although most of the Galápagos can be well photographed with ISO 50 or 100 film, photographers are advised to bring plenty of faster film. Although the equatorial sun is intense, the constant movement of the small boats, pangas or zodiacs, used to tour the lagoons or travel between the cruise ship and the shore make it advisable to have ISO 200 or faster film on hand. Bring plenty – when shooting from the panga I found myself running through film much faster than usual because there were so many subjects so close along with the uncertainty over whether the images were going to be sharp.