Among the many fantastic creatures that roam the Galápagos Islands, perhaps none is as iconic or endearing as the giant tortoise. When I visit new places, I try not to have preconceived notions of what or how to photograph … but for this trip I confess I really wanted to come away with a nice portrait of a tortoise. This image from the Floreana highlands was my best attempt.

I snapped this image, and yesterday’s portrait of a marine iguana, with my RX1R II at ground level. I wanted the camera below the eye level of my subjects. A handy feature of this camera (and a reason why I upgraded from the RX1) is the tilt-swivel LCD screen. For these images, I tilted the LCD screen upward to help me refine the composition.