How did your interest in wildlife arise?
I think I have always liked wildlife, but my true love for it began when I was nine years old. That is when my parents decided to move the family away from a bustling city in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to a lovely small town in the same province called Claromecó. It was a coastal town of around 2,000 people. For the next two years, I spent my winters there going up a lighthouse and watching from above as the whales flapped their tails. I spent my after-school hours exploring the town’s forest with my sister and climbing up sand dunes by the coast. I saw owls, foxes, jellyfish, seals, and so much more.
At eleven years old, I moved with my family to Central Florida in the United States. Although I was now living in the suburbs, and no longer in a remote natural town, it did not take long for me to discover Florida’s incredible wildlife. I started watching the squirrels and lizards outside of our apartment and visiting nature parks on the weekends. I explored Florida’s beautiful springs, filled with freshwater turtles, alligators, and manatees, and familiarized myself with the hundreds of bird species in the state. More than a decade later, I still find myself spending my time around these creatures rather than anywhere else.
At this point in my life, I find wildlife anywhere to be breathtaking. I had the chance to visit Chobe National Park in Botswana about a year ago and came back with memories about wildlife encounters that I will never forget, and I plan on visiting many other places in the future. I am still a firm believer, though, that nature is everywhere, and that we don’t necessarily have to travel far to fall in love with it.
A few years ago, I got my first camera and began to capture moments with it so that I could show this love for and interest in wildlife to the rest of the world. Since then, I simply haven’t looked back.
How do you describe your journey as a photographer and a person?
I like to approach both my photography and my way of being, with curiosity. I started my photographic journey three years ago, and every moment that I have spent photographing animals since then has been an opportunity to learn and grow. I learned, for example, that even the smallest of animals, like dung beetles or monarch caterpillars, are interesting and worthwhile subjects. I learned also that as humans, we need to be ready to wait for animals to trust us rather than expect that right away. And I learned that nature is all around me, even in my own backyard, ready for me to explore it. This growth mindset is what describes my journey as both a photographer and a person, and something that I hope will keep these adventures throughout the natural world interesting, refreshing, and filled with purpose.
What is your view on wildlife conservation? How can we, as wildlife photographers, help protect our Mother nature?
Nature conservation is extremely important. As the years pass, we continue to see our planet struggling due to issues like global warming and biodiversity loss. We have seen arctic ice melt at rapid rates and animals that were long ago abundant go down in numbers. We have seen natural disasters escalate and all of the planet’s species, including humans, suffer as a result.
As wildlife photographers, we have a special role to play in conserving nature. We are the ones who show the beauty of animals and natural spaces to other people, the ones who educate others about species they have maybe never seen before or have barely paid attention to. This can be done in many ways, with a simple portrait of a wild creature, a photograph of an animal in its environment, or even an image that shows the interactions between animals and humans or between animals and the man-made world they have had to adapt to. Through these photographs, we can guide non-photographers toward falling in love with nature and working to protect it.
Additionally, as wildlife photographers, we can also work directly with non-profit organizations, capturing the work that they do to protect Mother Nature, or indirectly by donating a part of our profits, such as from selling prints, to these wonderful groups.
Can you give our readers the best wildlife photography tips? Do you have any recommendations on settings or gear for wildlife photography?
It’s hard to give recommendations on settings because it all depends on what you are wanting to photograph as well as the light or environmental conditions around you. If, for example, you’re trying to photograph a bird in flight or another fast-moving animal, you’re going to want to have a high shutter speed. If, on the other hand, you’re photographing a stationary owl, then you can lower that shutter speed and avoid high noise levels in your image or other inconveniences. Because of this, my tip is simply to become familiar with your camera. The more familiar you become with it, the easier it will be to change your settings on the go. I also recommend setting up your camera buttons in a way that lets you access your settings without looking. For instance, I use the buttons on the back and top of my camera to change shutter speed, exposure compensation, and aperture so that I don’t even have to take my eyes off the animal in front of me when making these adjustments.
In terms of gear, I think it’s okay to start with whatever you have available! That is going to train your eye to be much more creative as you have to adapt to your equipment’s capabilities. Later on, or if you have a bit more money to spend, you can upgrade to newer equipment, like mirrorless cameras and lenses.
Another tip that I have is to learn about the wildlife around you. It is much easier, and enjoyable, to photograph wildlife once you start to learn about its behavior and characteristics. Something that I love to do when I encounter and photograph a species that I am not too familiar with is to go home and research about it. I will watch documentaries or videos and read about the animal. I will then feel not only more connected to the animals I am capturing through my lens, but also more ready to continue to photograph them and advocate for their wellbeing.
What plans do you have in the future related to wildlife photography?
I want to keep doing what I am already doing, photographing wildlife and sharing it with people on social media, on my newsletter, and on my website to continue to spark interest in and love for the natural world.
Besides that, though, I hope to work with some conservation organizations to highlight the work that they are doing as well as travel to more wild places on this beautiful planet of ours. My hope is to use my wildlife photography for more conservation purposes in the future, be it by organizing print sales in support of non-profits, by seeking publications, or by partnering with other photographers and wildlife enthusiasts in different projects.
Tell us something about the gear you use.
When I first started photography, I used the DSLR Canon EOS Rebel T7 camera. I typically paired that up with the Canon EF 75-300mm telephoto lens or the Canon EF 100mm macro lens. At the start of 2024, I was able to upgrade to a mirrorless setup: the Canon EOS R7 with the Canon RF 100-500mm lens. This is an incredible setup and the one I use for most of my photos now. However, that doesn’t mean that I discarded my DSLR, and I still use it every now and then for macro photography and landscape shots.
I recently also purchased the GoPro Hero 13, which I have been using to practice underwater photography and videography. I plan on using this little action camera much more this year, especially once summer is back here in Florida.
