How One Determined 14-Year-Old Became an Award-Winning Bird Photographer

In Colombia, spotting a Blue-gray Tanager is hardly an event. They can be seen perched on electric lines, flying over fields, and hanging around city roads, trees, and gardens. But for 14-year-old Camilo Sanabria Grajales, this humble species is the one that changed his life.

He was six when he saw the striking bird perch on a tree near him in Ecoparque Las Garzas, a relict of dry forest and wetlands in Cali, a city in southern Colombia where he then lived with his parents and three dogs. Through a pair of old, borrowed binoculars, he saw shades of blue so bright that his eyes were transformed. 

“I thought there were only gray pigeons. That was literally the image [of a bird] I had in my mind. But when I saw a bird with such blue colors, I thought, ‘Wow, okay,’” Sanabria Grajales remembers. When he looked at a field guide for the first time, the seemingly infinite hues of birds captured his gaze—and he hasn’t been able to look away since.

Just like Ash Ketchum, the kid trying to catch all Pokémon in the cartoon with the same name, Sanabria Grajales wants to capture all the birds he can with his camera lens. By now, he has documented at least 400 bird species across Colombia.  He hopes the results of his efforts will reach people all over the world—not to bring himself attention, but to educate others about the importance of protecting the wildlife he loves. 

“There are those who teach, record, and share not for fame, but out of conscience,” he said recently in a video shared with his almost 2,500 followers on Instagram and TikTok. “Nature is not a decoration; it is what sustains life."

His plan seems to be working. This year his photo of a Blackburnian Warbler took the youth prize of the first-ever Audubon Photography Awards to include submissions from Chile and Colombia. Not only did his photo win, but Sanabria’s stunning portrait of a Pied-billed Grebe also took the honorable mention in the same category. 

His journey to that moment took plenty of effort. After first seeing his “spark” bird in 2017, the young Sanabria Grajales’ began to record every bird he encountered in a notebook. “I didn’t even have a pair of binoculars,” he says from his home’s studio, which is decorated with his avian photos and paintings. Camilo’s father, Germán Sanabria, says his son’s love of birds soon began to reshape the family’s routines—weekends are usually spent in nature. “We realized he got really into it, so we kept taking him to birdwatching activities.” 

One of his favorite spots was, and still is, Kilómetro 18, a section of the highway connecting Cali with the Port of Buenaventura. There, the tropical heat of the city is replaced by the cold of the cloud forest and astonishing biodiversity, including the Multicolored Tanager, a Colombian endemic and globally threatened species—and Sanabria Grajales’ favorite bird. While visiting, he would often see photographers with their “huge cameras,” and he would ask to see their photos. “Obviously they were great shots,” he says. He tried to recreate them using his mom’s cellphone. “Of course, I failed.”

By age seven, he was fixated on getting a camera. He asked his parents, friends, and family to skip birthday and Christmas presents and instead help him save funds. He saved for a year. But a few days after he finally got his new gear in 2020, COVID-19 lockdown started. For almost a year, he only took photos from his balcony of  Southern House Wrens, Barn Swallows, and yes, pigeons. 

When he finally could return to Kilómetro 18, he was seeking out hummingbirds when he tripped and fell. His new lens shattered. But he remained determined. He again scraped together enough money to buy a cheap replacement. In 2021, he became part of Guardián de las Aves, or Bird Guardian, a group for kids created in 2019 by the Colombian nature photographers Nicky and Mauro. He joined the 22-person education committee, which met online and had a group chat to plan social media content and meet for in-person guided expeditions.

With the help of the group, his knowledge of bird photography grew exponentially. And so did his frustration with the finicky lens. When he returned from a trip to Colombia’s Eastern Plains without a single photo he felt proud of, he sold the cheap lens. He became “obsessed” with the Sigma 150-600mm lens, inspired by a young wildlife photographer also from Cali, Kevin Ocampo. “I watched the same YouTube video about it probably a thousand times,” he said. But there was a problem: The lens was more expensive than any equipment he’d previously bought.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Camilo (@camielazulejo)

So, once again, he saved money. In addition to the no-presents savings strategy, the then 12-year-old did a raffle and sold a trampoline, a Wii console, and a PlayStation that he barely used. A few days after getting the new lens, he begged his dad to take him to Lake Calima, a reservoir near the family’s new home (they moved after the pandemic). As the sun was setting, he took one of his award-winning photographs.  “The new lens changed everything,” he recalls.

With his mother’s help, Sanabria Grajales scripts, films, and edits social media videos that share bird lore, offer sustainable living tips, and provide advice for other young photographers from his handle @camielazulejo (a combination of his name and the Spanish name of the tanager, Azulejo Común, that changed his life). Besides using social media to share his conservation message, he has also joined workshops and panels, including Colombia’s Bird Fair and at last year’s United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP16), which took place in Cali. “It’s not just about photographing birds,” he said. “[It’s about] raising awareness of the biodiversity we have in our country and the world.”

When he grows up, Sanabria Grajales wants to become a professional bird photographer and “bird influencer,” so he can connect people with nature and help stave off ecological collapse. He also dreams of establishing an eco-tourism business or maybe becoming a birdwatching guide. A few months ago, Sanabria Grajales visited La Guajira in Colombia—a rugged desert area that forms the northernmost tip of South America—and photographed a dream bird: flamingos. He looks at his future and sees a horizon of possibilities: “I feel there’s nothing that can stop me.”