Better ice up a cold one. It’s hot out there. But the heat is the least remarkable characteristic of Costa Rica, paling into an afterthought behind its truly exquisite flora and fauna. A natural wonderland of incredible wildlife, its inhabitants thrive in mangroves, lakes and under a lush rainforest canopy shrouded in cloud and mist.
A couple of months ago I spent some time there, enthralled by the vitality of its tropical paradise, which manages to squeeze in around 5% of the planet’s biodiversity on a mere 0.03% of its total land mass.
With over 850 species of birds, 1000 species of butterfly, 9000 species of plants and 34,000 species of insects there is little excuse not to be impressed. Even more so as the country has dedicated over 25% of its area to national parks and wildlife refuges.
Now I realize that for some people wildlife photography isn’t truly authentic unless you’re crawling through a remote and undisturbed jungle, feasted on by bugs and completely naked but for the 800mm lens on your back. Yeah, we laughed at those guys too. Fortunately, the flora and fauna are so abundant in Costa Rica that it’s practically impossible to avoid it and often unnecessary to look that hard. From toucans and iguanas outside my accommodation to capuchin monkeys rummaging through my camera bag there is plenty to catch one’s eye.
Beautiful bird life everywhere, from anhingas to kingfishers to hawks, capturing them from a rocky boat in the middle of a river often proved a challenge.
The crocodiles were gathered in a river and I photographed them from the bridge above. Alas, the wind was so strong it stole my sunglasses from around my neck and neatly deposited them between these two giants. Oddly enough I couldn’t find any volunteers to retrieve them for me.
The hummingbirds were everywhere too but one place had a few feeders out and thus attracted a large contingent of them. Beautiful colours and elegant grace but their incredible speed made them difficult to capture. I resorted to manually focusing on a spot and hit the shutter when they came into focus. At one point, as the light faded, I took the teleconverter off (which was limiting my maximum aperture to F/4) to get to F/2.8 and a higher shutter speed.
Almost everything else was just there for the snapping. You simply had to be patient and look around. Snakes, basilisks and dragonflies peppered the foliage and flora. Sloths were particularly elusive but after a while and using The Force you learn to recognize the brown, Ewok-shaped ball of fur amongst the branches. And howler monkeys were loud enough to let you know where they were.
I wish I could pander to the gear and techie crowd (I really don’t) by listing all the bits of equipment and paraphernalia I carried around with me but all of these were shot with one lens on one camera, the Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 with MC-14 teleconverter mounted on the old E-M5 and carried in a Lowepro 150 Messenger shoulder bag. (I lie, there’s a couple in there with the tiny Olympus 60mm f/2.8 macro). I know, I know, not even a DSLR. And a lens that doesn’t feel like you’re hauling a steel girder through quicksand. How is it even possible? Hey, I don’t know and I care even less. Oh, I had a microfiber cloth with me to wipe stuff. There, that’s something extra.
I apologise that I don’t have the time (or inclination) to list EXIF data for each of these images. They were mostly shot at F/4 at varying shutter speeds allowed by ISOs between 200 and 2500.
I wish I could have had more time and opportunity to photograph some of the stunning landscapes and sunsets but I’m happy with the shots I got. Can’t be too greedy, eh?
Typical of my articles I realize this has absolutely nothing whatsoever to offer in terms of education or philosophy but perhaps sometimes it’s worth a humble reminder of what photography is all about – the gear, of course. No wait, just kidding, I meant going out and taking pictures!
Despite the reluctant carb-loading from the daily diet of rice and beans Costa Rica is a stunningly beautiful place with wonderfully warm and friendly people who clearly revere their environment as much as I was grateful to experience it. I thank them for their kindness and I thank you for your indulgence.
Warm Regards,
Sharif.
I’m sorry but I am a bit surprised by some of the images. Over use of flash, exposure is off and some are out of focus. I know you are not using pro gear, but aren’t these some of the basic fundamentals of photography?
Hm, I have to say I have somewhat gotten the same impression: Although there is a big gray area between “carrying an entire portable macro photo studio into the rainforrest” and shooting as a travel photographer with modest gear a couple of snaps “en passent”, the sarcasm of the article kind of alludes that there are only these two extremes and that the one chosen by the author represents a particular profound form of wisdom.
Well if it’s about that, I’d like to add another stereotype: I have met people in Costa Rica enjoying good coffee, the scenery and reading a good book on the beach, while once in a while taken a great casual snap with their iPhone. Maybe this represents an even more elevated state of wisdom? And indeed maybe it does.
But since this always depends on the individual point of view, it might generally be wiser not to judge what others do and enjoy as a pasture and focus instead on ones own pleasures without being pretentious about it.
And with that being said, it is true that quite a couple of the presented pictures here are in technical terms merely taken “en passant”. Moreover, quite a bit of the afforementioned technical shortcomings (harsh flash reflection, exposure simply wrong) could have been alleviated quite a bit in post. But even that appears to be “too geeky” in the rugged minimalism philosophy of the author. Nevertheless, he takes the time to catefully watermark them in post (?).
Somehow this all does not quite add up to a particular useful take-home message for me, apart from: Costa Rica is a beautiful country full of intersting photo oportunities, which everyone can explore according to his interests and abilities. But quite honestly, that’s about it.
Hi!
I am an Olympus EM-1 shooter myself. I am curious about what gear you brought to Costa rica and what, if anything, you feel that you should have brought? I will travel to New Zeeland myself this fall and I have a lot of gear but I want to pack as smart and light as possible. I am thinking about just the EM-1, the Pro-lenses 12-40 F2.8 and the 40-150 f2.8 and possibly the macro 60 mm. Not as lightweight as I might have hoped but all good glass.
Cheers!
Stefan
Hi Stefan.
What you’re thinking of taking to New Zealand is exactly what I took to Costa Rica, except that I had the E-M5. All superb glass and all got used. The MC-14 Teleconverter was attached to the 40-150mm pretty much the whole time but barely added any weight or length. And all fit neatly in the Lowepro Messenger 100 shoulder bag as stated in the text. Wasnt too heavy to hike around with and very easy to change lenses.
Good luck on your trip.
Refreshing to read and article like this after all the “OMG an a7k is SO much cheaper” and “LOL I’m so not gonna upgrade from my D4” bickering in the D5 thread :D From time to time it’s nice to be reminded that photography is an experience and not a motorsport.
One technical question though (sorry, I’ve been around PL too much to resist :D) – have you done any post on these? I like the iguana very much and I was wondering if something could be done in LR to improve DR to make it a really stunning shot.
I haven’t done much post on the images. I wanted them to look as they did in their natural environment rather than too artificial. You’re undoubtedly right that more could be done but they satisfy my taste.
I agree with you about the bickering over gear. Of course people are entitled to be interested in whatever they want but it does constantly amaze (and baffle) me how most visitors to sites like this are more interested in the technology rather than the art. Forget making a painting, let’s argue about the brush :) Their prerogative, I suppose. As I don’t have much to offer on the gear front my contributions to this site will be limited :)
Thanks for stopping by :)
Some spend too much time regretting what they don’t have….and some like you…once again my belief of “photographer is only limit” to photography has gotten a solid support
Thank you Suyash :)
Hey Sharif, great photos! I especially love the landscape shot and the leaf-cutter ants. I know I’ve been writing highly-technical articles recently, but this one is really what photography is about.
Hey thanks Spencer!
Keep the technical stuff coming – it’s fascinating! :)
Nice variety of photos taken in a great place!
Keep up the great work.
Regards
EC
Thanks Ernesto! I’ll try! :)
I went in January and also fell in love with the place!
Such an amazing country
Here are the photos I took: www.atikusphoto.co.uk/costa-rica
Some great shots, Michael. Well done indeed. :)
If you keep taking such good pictures with “amateur” equipment Canikon is gonna put a hit out on you. Keep up the great work.
Steve
Who says they haven’t already? LOL! Thanks Steve! :)
You are obviously a good photographer, getting into the right place at the right time and composing interesting shots.
But technically you are seriously let down by the equipment, my finger would be on the delete button for 90% of these. It’s fine to mock the gear guys, but at least they can potentially get great results.
‘Potentially’ being the salient word, not ‘definitely’. And I suppose it depends on what one defines as ‘great.’ I wasn’t really mocking the gear guys but perhaps they don’t need my help with that.
As I’ve stated many times in the past I personally care more for the subject and way it’s expressed than the technical imperfections of the image, which are largely irrelevant to me. In that vein I’m very pleased with my shots and don’t feel let down at all. If I could only feel fulfilled in my photography by having the latest greatest gear to shoot with then I’d be a very sad little man indeed! Sorry, but life is more meaningful and enjoyable to me than that.
But hey, good luck with it! :)
“If I could only feel fulfilled in my photography by having the latest greatest gear to shoot with then I’d be a very sad little man indeed! Sorry, but life is more meaningful and enjoyable to me than that.
But hey, good luck with it! :)
You can’t stop being sarcastic about it, but there is not only two opposite extremes to choose from.
A lightweight high quality system is perfectly feasible, you don’t need 10 pound lenses. A decent DSLR body, and a decent lens, such as a professional quality 70-200mm would be fine. The stuff you use is really no good for that type of photography in those sorts of conditions.
You don’t need the latest and greatest, and you don’t have to be a sad little man.
Thanks. I’m not. :)
Actually I do have a ‘decent DSLR body’ and a 70-200mm F/2.8 but it’s still too heavy for my liking and I choose to shoot with the gear I’ve mentioned. Maybe that says something about me, who knows. ‘No good for that type of photography in those sorts of conditions’? It’s all weather-sealed equipment (by contrast my DSLR and 70-200mm aren’t), built like a tank and wasn’t disrupted in any way by the environment. And I even managed to capture some images with it too.
But what do I know, right? Evidently not much, I’ll be the first to admit :)
But point taken. Apologies if I seemed sarcastic. Thanks for your remarks.
I, for one, appreciate the sarcasm, and the images.
Thanks Dan :)
I’m confused by your point. I was in costa Rica last year with a D7100 and 70-300( ok not the best lens in the world) and whisky’s photos are much better. I think they are great images and whilst they may not win the next wildlife of the year award (no criticism implied whisky just making a point) I don’t see where your criticism is coming from. If he had lied and said they were taken using a dslr would you have made your point?
How can you said that a 40-150 f/2.8 from olympus is not good? Go clean your mouth with bleach. A photographer choose the equipment that he wants. 70-200 f/2.8 is HEAVY and EXPENSIVE.
D7100 + 70-300 +1 here
Thanks for your 10 out of 10 pictures Alpha.
In what photos was AW limited by his equipment? Where would a larger sensor have improved the IQ?