The Reason

I would like to point out a few years prior to me turning 30, I spoke to my friend about wanting to be away on my 30th, so he knew what to expect.  Much of the planning thus far was only possible thanks to the wonderful world of emails, skype, msn messenger and Google talk. Though we’d set our sights on the Trans-Sib, we hadn’t actually physically sat down to talk it all through face to face.  Going to see him also gave me the chance to escape London life and get away from the hustle and bustle of city zombies.

After dinner, we all sat down in the living room to chillax, and discuss the trip. That evening would be the turning point and would change everything.

As we were sitting, talking about the Trans-Siberian, the topic changed to the photographic aspect being the primary reason for the trip.  The trip was in part to celebrate my 30th but also to push my photography on a personal level with the added advantage of filming in HD for the very first time. As we sat there talking about the trip and the excitement of travelling by train, my friend joked that I was a real ‘train nerd’ due to my fascination with the Japanese Bullet Train which we rode on 5 years prior.  He was right, Wweergghhhhh.  We then talked about the photography aspect of the journey and the types of shots I would get, the cold, snow capped mountainscapes, the remote villages, shots of a desolate landscape. The HD footage that I would film, it was an immense feeling. He in passing mentioned that I’d already got some fantastic landscape shots from our travels to Peru when we did the Inca Trail and also from a trip to Iceland.  I really couldn’t argue with him, and slowly doubt crept in. If I really wanted to push my photography then I would need to go somewhere truly unique or do something truly amazing, and whilst we were discussing the subject a voice said ‘What about the Galapagos Islands?’. Looking back, this was when the seed was sown.

The Galapagos was not in our list of possible destinations and had never even occurred to us as a possible destination. The thought of wildlife photography and the appeal of taking photos there was now growing. I’d never done any wildlife photography before, and I was literally throwing myself into the deep end. Over the years I had read many photography articles with the overall consensus being that a photographer should choose a specialism and work solely in that field.  I always believed that school of thought was restrictive, as it does not allow one to be truly creative in their photography and approach. So with the rule book thrown out (truth be told, I’d never actually owned a copy!) …  it was settled.