I often find that ruins do not, in themselves, make compelling images. Such was the case of the extensive remains of a 500-year-old fortress built by the Canari, the predominant power in Southern Ecuador, later to merge with the Inca empire. The vast network of stone walls, surrounded by modern plantings and lawns, were educational but not particularly photogenic. However the herd of llamas that tended the grass around the ruins more than made up for pedestrian nature of the ruins themselves. The animals brought the ruins to life for me. I photographed seven of them in this image, waiting patiently for them to arrange this composition for me. I anchor the image with two of the grazing animals. They get smaller as they recede into the background – one of them standing and two resting. Two more llamas rest on top of an old fortification even further back in the scene. The llamas carry the eye through the curving fortress, which meanders through the image, well into the background.