Has anybody been to the Galapagos?

Harryb

Hey folks,

My bucket list is getting shorter. I'll be heading off to the Galapagos in June/2013.

I'm working up my gear list and if anybody has ever been there and has any suggestions I'm all :ear


If anybody wants to join us there are still some spots open for the trip.

holzphoto

Harry,

My fiance went a couple of years ago. She said the animals get pretty close to you. she photographed the birth of a seal w/ an 18-55 lens and i swear the images is amazing.

Wossa

Hi Harry

I went to Galapagos during June of this year and had the most amazing time, it's a fantastic place. It's very expensive to travel to the Galapagos from the UK so it was a one off trip for me, but worth every penny.

I am a very amatuer photographer and my photo's are well below standards for this forum, but here are the links to some of my pics I took from the islands.

Gallery one are all shots taken ''below the waves''

http://www.warrenssite.com/Galapagos/Galapagos/17943285_qPTFzs#

Gallery two are all shots taken ''above the water''

http://www.warrenssite.com/Galapagos/Galapagos-Above-the-water/23756696_7txLvZ#

We were permitted very little time on land (one day from the 10 day trip) because we were registered as divers, so we had to be out at sea for the majority of time. Wished we had more time to explore the land, but the Galapgos lived up to my very high expectations.

Kind regards
Warren AKA Wossa

Andy

Wossa wrote: »

Hi Harry

I went to Galapagos during June of this year and had the most amazing time, it's a fantastic place. It's very expensive to travel to the Galapagos from the UK so it was a one off trip for me, but worth every penny.

I am a very amatuer photographer and my photo's are well below standards for this forum, but here are the links to some of my pics I took from the islands.

Gallery one are all shots taken ''below the waves''

http://www.warrenssite.com/Galapagos/Galapagos/17943285_qPTFzs#

Gallery two are all shots taken ''above the water''

http://www.warrenssite.com/Galapagos/Galapagos-Above-the-water/23756696_7txLvZ#

We were permitted very little time on land (one day from the 10 day trip) because we were registered as divers, so we had to be out at sea for the majority of time. Wished we had more time to explore the land, but the Galapgos lived up to my very high expectations.

Kind regards
Warren AKA Wossa

wow, Wossa, I'm loving all the shots both galleries, but I'm bowing to your underwater stuff, you swam with hammerheads and moray eels :yikes

Wossa

Andy wrote: »

wow, Wossa, I'm loving all the shots both galleries, but I'm bowing to your underwater stuff, you swam with hammerheads and moray eels :yikes

Thanks Andy, I appreciate you kind comments. The Hammerheads were pretty shy and nervous to be honest and you had to move very slowly in the hope they would come in close.....on the other hand, the Silky sharks were not afraid at all and were quite happy to swarm around you which ended up getting a little freaky at times.

A little clip of the Silky sharks I took before I had to leave the water as it was getting too much and they were thinking it was dinner time :eat

http://www.warrenssite.com/Galapagos/Galapagos/17943285_qPTFzs#!i=1922826298&k=ZV3XDZZ&lb=1&s=A

Andy

Harryb wrote: »

If anybody wants to join us there are still some spots open for the trip.

But... they are filling up fast!

Awais Yaqub

Wossa wrote: »

Hi Harry

I went to Galapagos during June of this year and had the most amazing time, it's a fantastic place. It's very expensive to travel to the Galapagos from the UK so it was a one off trip for me, but worth every penny.

I am a very amatuer photographer and my photo's are well below standards for this forum, but here are the links to some of my pics I took from the islands.

Gallery one are all shots taken ''below the waves''

http://www.warrenssite.com/Galapagos/Galapagos/17943285_qPTFzs#

Gallery two are all shots taken ''above the water''

http://www.warrenssite.com/Galapagos/Galapagos-Above-the-water/23756696_7txLvZ#

We were permitted very little time on land (one day from the 10 day trip) because we were registered as divers, so we had to be out at sea for the majority of time. Wished we had more time to explore the land, but the Galapgos lived up to my very high expectations.

Kind regards
Warren AKA Wossa

:jawdrop great work

Andy

Just working on some details for this trip, and it got me thinking about Harry's post here. While it's still 7+ months away, the time to plan for this trip is now and our boat is filling fast. Get your spot reserved.
http://www.muenchworkshops.com/Workshops/Galapagos-June-2013/

SciurusNiger

Why wasn't I born rich instead of beautiful?

:cry

PJ.

Andy wrote: »

Just working on some details for this trip, and it got me thinking about Harry's post here. While it's still 7+ months away, the time to plan for this trip is now and our boat is filling fast. Get your spot reserved.
http://www.muenchworkshops.com/Workshops/Galapagos-June-2013/

Harryb

This will be one amazing trip with some outstanding photographers in participating.

pathfinder

Wossa, I really liked your under water gallery and now I have several questions about your trip. I loved your shots of the rays. And you ACTUALLY photographed a whale shark too?? Wow!!

I gather your under water shots were done on scuba, not as a snorkeler. What camera and housing did you use? Any suggestions?

Did you have to present a PADI or other card for dive certification? Did you use your own regulator or did your tour operator provide all of your dive gear? Masks, fins, snorkels, buoyancy compensators, etc? What was the water temps?? 75 or 80 degrees F or colder. Wet suits needed or not?

I was a serious diver for a number of years, but too many ago to still be certified.. I might consider re-certifying if this is something we will be offered on our trip.

Andy?? I do know Marc is a serious diver and U/W shooter as well.

kdog

I'd be interested in finding out about diving as well. If there's any way to get a quickie certification and do some diving, I'd be all over that. Actually, there's enough time for me to get certified here before the trip if need be.

Relano

I would love to do a photographic safari here, unfortunately the islands just seem so far away.

Mike J

Harry - my wife and I went 18 months ago and it was fantastic. Our daughter was a high school exchange student in Ecuador so we went down to visit her and made a side trip to the Galapagos. We will go back at some point to see more... Photos are here: http://smu.gs/PSRPUl

You will hear all kinds of recommendations about gear so you really need to think about how you shoot...and how you will carry it. You do a lot of walking but it isn't really strenous hiking for the most part. It will probably be hot. The usual routine is to explore something for a couple hours in the morning, back to the boat for lunch while you motor somewhere else and head to shore again.

I used a backpack to carry my stuff but if I were to do it again, I would probably use something like a ThinkTank belt system for the high use stuff. Would probably also take a backpack for lesser used gear and hiking things...

Lenses - I found having a long lens invaluable. You are restricted to where you can walk so you will want the reach at times. You will also want a WA lens as well. If you want to carry a single lens, something like a 28-300 might be sufficient. Knowing that you are going there to take photographs, you will probably want to take more. Next trip, I would likely put a 70-200 on a crop body and have a 1.4TC to use with that. I would take a 2nd body (FX) with something like a 16-35 lens on it. You probably have your favorite combination. It really is a matter of how much you want to carry.

Tripod - I did not take a tripod. Not sure that I missed it. Our group was not a photo specific group so taking the time to setup a tripod for a shot was not in the cards. The group was moving too fast to linger like that (and you need to stay with your guide). Going with a photo specific group, I would take one.

Wide-brimmed hat for the sun, good sun glasses, good sturdy shoes (you will be hiking over lava). Closed-tevas worked for hiking as well.

This will be a great trip and one you will really enjoy.

Mike J

One other thing - the seasickness patches work really well. They do make your mouth really dry but it was worth it not to be getting sick like other folks. You need a prescription from a doctor for them but that was easy to get. We were concerned that they would come off when snorkeling but found that once in place, they tended to stay there.

Harryb

Thanks for the valuable info Mike.

Wossa

pathfinder wrote: »

Wossa, I really liked your under water gallery and now I have several questions about your trip. I loved your shots of the rays. And you ACTUALLY photographed a whale shark too?? Wow!!

I gather your under water shots were done on scuba, not as a snorkeler. What camera and housing did you use? Any suggestions?

Did you have to present a PADI or other card for dive certification? Did you use your own regulator or did your tour operator provide all of your dive gear? Masks, fins, snorkels, buoyancy compensators, etc? What was the water temps?? 75 or 80 degrees F or colder. Wet suits needed or not?

I was a serious diver for a number of years, but too many ago to still be certified.. I might consider re-certifying if this is something we will be offered on our trip.

Andy?? I do know Marc is a serious diver and U/W shooter as well.

Sorry for the delay in responding.

My main camera for underwater was a Canon G1 X with the Canon housing. I know this has been getting some poor reviews but I found it to be OK, some issues on focusing and macro but it was fun to use and got reasonable results without having to spend the mega bucks that some people do. Second camera which I used above the water was a Canon 60D.

I was on a liveaboard, a boat specially designed for diving and thats all you do, dive, eat, dive, eat, dive, sleep and repeat for 10 days. Not everyones cup of tea, but if you like diving, then it's heaven. We mainly stayed up at Darwin and Wolf at the very North, you had to be a minimum of an advanced diver and to have a minimum of 100 dives logged due to the strong currents and conditions of the ocean up at that end of the Islands. Everyone took their own full diving kit, plus lots spares and back up as there are no stores if anything goes faulty.

The water is cold, 18 - 22 degrees, so I used a 7mm wetsuit with another 7mm oversuit and this was warm enough. Darwin and Wolf is high octane diving, you have to work hard but all the dives are just out of this world, the best place to dive in the world by far. Whalesharks on most dives, 2 or 3, but these were the big 15 metre pregnant females, enormous. I have dived over 2000 times all over the world, I saw more on the 10 days of diving Darwin and Wolfe than I have seen on all the other 2000 dives combined.....it is that amazing, I can't put it into words how special it is.

I would love to go back, our trip from the UK cost approx $8,800.00 so it's not a trip I could afford to do every year. I would love to do a week after the diving to do more land excursions as Galapgos is just so unique, I wish I had stayed on afterwards but work comittments wouldn't allow me to.

You will all have a fantastic time, very jealous for those who are going but will look forward to the photos being posted.

puzzledpaul

No idea whether you can access this on iplayer (direct) or via a d/load ...

pp


http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01l2s60/Natures_Microworlds_Galapagos/

Andy

In case anyone's interested in tagging along with Harry, between now and December 31, 2012, the trip price for the remaining cabins has been reduced by $500 as a Holiday Special.