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Gabby Salazar crouched low with her camera in hand. She focused the lens on a


patch of mushrooms sprouting from the forest floor. Her friend and fellow photographer, Rick Stanley, noticed a flash of blue. Something was flittering around them. It was a blue morpho butterfly. With a wingspan of up to 20 cm, it’s one of the largest butterflies in the world and one of the most striking. Salazar started snapping photos. T e blue


morpho followed them down the trail. T en it landed on Stanley’s cheek. Stanley gingerly placed the giant butterfly on Salazar’s nose. T e legs and antennas tickled. She could barely keep from laughing. It was a unique encounter with one of the rain forest’s most beautiful animals. She will never forget the experience. How did Gabby Salazar come to work


in this faraway place? It all started with the camera her dad gave her when she was only 11 years old.


A Budding Photographer T at’s when young Gabby took her new camera to a neighbor’s backyard. Birds darted back and forth between the trees and birdfeeders in the yard. Gabby zoomed in on a blue jay


perched on a feeder. She had seen blue jays before, but as she looked through her camera’s lens, something happened. She saw details she had never noticed before. T e bird’s colors were vivid. She saw patterns in its feathers. She wanted to capture these details with her camera. Gabby didn’t stop there,


though. She began exploring other neighborhoods and parks next. She photographed all kinds of plants and animals in their natural environment. She took trips with her dad throughout her state and into nearby states. Everywhere she went, her camera went with her.


18 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORER


A Bright Idea Before long, Gabby knew that she wanted to be a photographer. And her photography began to take her farther and farther away. She even traveled to England and to Russia. Everywhere she went, Gabby captured the


natural beauty of the place by photographing its plants and animals. T en in college, she made a life-changing decision to share this beauty with the rest of the world. She thought: What if I show people some


of the awesome plants and animals that live in their own area? T en maybe I can inspire them to take better care of the environment. She hoped people might make decisions that help living things instead of harm them. T us began Gabby Salazar’s career as a


conservation photographer. She uses her photos to encourage people to protect living things and the places they live. Her work takes her all around the world and leads to some pretty amazing adventures—like the time she was in Borneo.


A black-naped monarch settles in its nest.


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