A Costa Rica Photography Primer
Text and Images ©Gregory Basco/Deep Green Photography
If you like to put your nature photography skills to the test, then hop on the next plane to Costa Rica. Bringing back impressive images of the rainforest requires use of a broad range of lenses and flashes. Yet you'll also have to travel light and stay dry. This article offers a brief overview of Costa Rica and then gives some information on how to go about planning a photo trip to this tropical jewel in Central America.

Costa Rica - A Green Paradise
Since 1994, when it leapfrogged over bananas and coffee, tourism has been Costa Rica's top foreign exchange earner. Last year nearly 1.5 million tourists visited this tiny Central American democracy of 4 million people. Yet while true ecotourism - tourism that simultaneously benefits nature conservation and the local people who live near a given protected area - accounts for an ever smaller portion of these visits, most tourists do express an interest in experiencing the country's astounding natural beauty.

And well they should, because Costa Rica is home to an astonishing 4-5% of the planet's terrestrial biodiversity in an area of only 19,600 square miles, roughly the size of West Virginia or Denmark. Costa Rica has, for example, about 870 species of birds - more than are found in all of the continental US and Canada combined. The numbers for plants (around 10,000 species, including 1,200 orchids), mammals (280), reptiles and amphibians (380), and insects (in the tens of thousands and counting rapidly) are similarly high. This high diversity is due to a number of factors, the most prominent being the country's geographical position as a land bridge between North and South America and the varied topography that provides for a multitude of different tropical life zones and micro-climates.

Costa Rica's weather is influenced heavily by the trade winds, which come from the Caribbean and dump rain on the Atlantic plains and the Atlantic mountain slopes, leaving the Pacific side of the country noticeably drier. This results in a wide range of habitats packed into a very small area. Indeed, an energetic (and highly efficient, fast-driving) photographer could enjoy fresh fruit and coffee while photographing the sunrise over the wet tropical rainforest on the Atlantic coast, take the highway up to sub-alpine paramo at over 10,000 feet in the cold and mist of the Continental Divide to grab an image of a quetzal, and arrive at a tropical dry forested beach just in time to have a cold beer and ceviche (raw fish cured in lime) while photographing the sunset over the Pacific!

Fortunately, since the 1950s, political leaders and environmentalists (both Costa Rican and foreign) have contributed to the development of one of the most extensive natural protected area systems in the tropics. Despite the fact that Costa Rica had one of the world's highest deforestation rates throughout the 1970s and 1980s, an estimated 20-30% of the country's land presently is protected by law as national parks, reserves, and refuges. These protected areas contain representatives of most of the country's ecosystems. Nevertheless, like all developing countries, Costa Rica is saddled with high foreign and internal debt and is subject to the process of globalization, which often places macroecomonic goals above those of a social or environmental nature. These circumstances — together with socioeconomic inequality, the lingering effects of high population growth, government corruption, inefficient planning, and failure to enforce environmental laws — conspire to put pressure on natural resources.

Thus, Costa Rica's parks face a number of challenges. For instance, approximately half of the protected area system was expropriated without payment to its owners, and the cash-starved central government remains unable to pay off these debts, leaving the state's claim to the land tenuous. In addition, the parks are increasingly fragmented as agricultural and timber interests continue to encroach. Further, national forest policy is debated fiercely by environmentalists and timber interests, while the rural poor have little say over the fate of the forests near which they live and work.

And while it has brought many benefits, tourism itself is starting to have negative environmental consequences as the increasing numbers of visitors affect wildlife. Moreover, incentives and government policy favor larger-scale tourism development that proceeds with little attention paid to environmental codes and the social effects of land and capital concentration in the hands of large economic interests. Finally, urban ecology issues such as water and air pollution are reaching critical proportions. Therefore, although Costa Rica is often described as a conservation paradise and an ecotourism model for other countries, the truth is that the struggle to conserve Costa Rican nature and to determine who benefits from conservation continues to be complex and hotly contested.

Documenting Costa Rica's Natural Beauty
Against this backdrop, high quality photography, while far removed from the root problems threatening natural resources, will continue to be an important consciousness-raising tool in the pursuit of sustainable development and biodiversity conservation. Bringing back a sense of Costa Rica's stunning biodiversity on film or digital media is a challenge, particularly if you want to go beyond simple documentary photography and inject an artistic element into your images. Heat and humidity need to be dealt with and getting deep into untouched forest can require hikes on slippery trails. Even in the more popular parks, where trails are better developed, the effects of altitude, humidity and/or steep slopes will give even a tourist unburdened with camera equipment a good workout. And tropical forests exhibit chaotic and exuberant growth, making orderly and pleasing compositions hard to visualize. Thinking through all the steps that go into a really good photo, while never easy in the field, can require Zen-like concentration when you're tired, sweaty, muddy, and fighting mosquitoes and biting flies (not to mention fogged-up glasses, lenses, and viewfinders!).

For this reason, you're best off with a lightweight equipment setup. Nonetheless, you'll want a range of lenses and flashes capable of photographing everything from wide scenics to tiny frogs and insects to birds and mammals. Further, you'll appreciate the speed of fast but heavy lenses in the dark forest understory for they allow you to use faster shutter speeds, employ large apertures to blur backgrounds, and to focus more easily in low light conditions. Whatever your brand of choice, exact equipment, and favorite subjects, do plan on bringing an assortment of gear that gives you the ability to shoot a wide range of subjects. If you plan on using zooms or lack a macro prime, make sure you bring close-up diopters and/or extension tubes for the macro opportunities that abound here.

Regarding your capture medium, both film and digital offer advantages. Digital SLRs allow you to forget about the hassles of bringing film through x-ray machines and worrying about running out halfway through your trip. Nonetheless, if you've gone digital, as the vast majority of us have, storage becomes a concern. You have three options. First, a device that allows you to burn CDs or even DVDs directly from your flash card or micro drive without a computer, such as the Delkin DVD Burnaway, is fairly lightweight and easy to carry. A second option, and by far the easiest to pack and carry is a portable hard drive such as the Image Tank or the excellent Epson viewers which allow you to download your images directly from your compact flash card. A laptop computer, your third option, is attractive because you can review and work with your images and connect to the Internet in certain areas to e-mail family and friends. But a laptop is somewhat unwieldy and adds another piece of luggage to your kit. The choice is yours.

Ambient exposures in Costa Rican forests often will be approximately 1/8-1/30 second at f5.6 with ISO 100 film, even at midday. This range of shutter speeds puts your photos at grave risk of shake due to mirror slap. For a full-flash shot of a frog, ISO 100 might be fine, but for a bird in the dark canopy, ISO 400 might gain you valuable shutter speed. With digital, you can make this change with the push of a button. I'm overjoyed finally to be able to produce publishable shots at ISO 400. Even pushing quality 100 ISO film or using films such as Fuji Provia 400F did not, in my opinion, yield publishable results as the grain overwhelmed the image. You'll also enjoy the ability to make sure you exposed your shot correctly. Exposure can be tricky in the rainforest, particularly with flash, and digital ensures you won't be disappointed when you have your slides developed upon returning home. Because of the ability to check the LCD screen and histogram in the field, you'll also be free to experiment with different types of shots. Finally, there's nothing better than enjoying a cold Costa Rican beer (in the lowlands or at the beach) or a strong Costa Rican coffee (in the highlands) while reviewing your images back at the lodge at the end of the day.

If you decide to stick with film for your trip to Costa Rica, you might consider bringing about 40 rolls of film for a one-week trip, with perhaps 30 Fuji Velvia or Provia 100F and 10 Fuji Provia 400F, or a similar range of films according to your personal preferences. Film prices are very high in Costa Rica, and selection is quite limited and available only in the capital city, so bring all the film you think you'll need.

Whether shooting film or digital, you'll face some substantial challenges in bringing back high quality images. While natural light can yield pleasing rainforest photos, it is often the case with macro subjects and wildlife that flash will be necessary to gain reasonable depth of field while maintaining a workable shutter speed. Nonetheless, a reliance on full flash usually will yield a black background which, while fine for nocturnal creatures, is objectionable for other subjects and quickly becomes repetitive when you view your photos later. If you are not comfortable with the use of flash, I strongly recommend you practice two flash techniques before coming to Costa Rica.

First, as in most nature photography, balancing fill-flash with ambient light will give the best images of birds and larger wildlife but I find this strategy to be useful in the vast majority of my plant, insect, and small animal photography as well. Many of my favorite macro images were made with a macro lens, an exposure of f16 at 2 or more seconds, and fill flash from a conventional or ring flash set at 1 stop underexposure. If your camera allows you to lock up the mirror before shooting, do so religiously.

Second, although balancing flash and ambient light is pleasing, it's not always possible. For many macro subjects in the dark forest understory, full-flash exposures are the best choice to gain depth-of-field and ensure sharpness. if you have a flash that can be used as a slave flash, learn to use it in conjunction with your primary flash unit to expand your creative lighting possibilities. I use Canon's MT-24 EX macro flash unit in conjunction with off-camera Canon Speedlites for closeup work. This is a fairly lavish setup, and one that I chose to improve my chances in producing photos above and beyond the norm as a macro shooter. Nonetheless, you don't need 4 flash heads to make great photos. If you have a flash that can be used as a slave, put it to work lighting background foliage or backlighting your subject. If you have one flash, try to compose your closeups so that the subject is against a leaf or flower that will give some color to the background.

Preparing Your Equipment
If you decide to come to Costa Rica, a few preparations with your equipment will save you from possible problems during your trip. First, clean everything well. Second, spray your camera bags with a water sealer to repel water. Third, stock up on silica gel packets and place them liberally throughout your camera bags, in every pocket. Fourth, buy two cheap throwaway ponchos and pack them in an outside pocket of your camera bag so you can access them quickly to cover yourself and your equipment if you get caught in a rain shower. Fifth, pack a few ziploc bags of various sizes. You never know when they might come in handy. Sixth, bring batteries from home to avoid the high prices here in Costa Rica. Seventh, you might consider bringing a small hairdryer to dry off your equipment in the evening. Finally, carry on all photo gear (as possible with today's restrictions) to avoid any problems with your check-through luggage.

For hiking, I recommend good hiking boots, cargo pants, and a long-sleeved shirt, even in hot lowland forests. Though bugs will bother you very little in Costa Rica (surprisingly, it's much worse in the US in the summer months), covering up will save you from mosquito and no-see-um bites and help to minimize chigger problems. I always bring plenty of repellent with me when I go deep into forests at any altitude as I've been bitten equally mercilessly by mosquitoes in lowland swamps at sea level and by blood-sucking flies in cloud forest at 8,000 feet. You probably won't run into a bug problem, but it's best to be prepared so you can concentrate on photography.

Planning Your Trip
A number of major airlines fly to Costa Rica, with departure points from Miami to New York to LA. The tourism high season coincides with Costa Rica's dry season, from December to April. And this is indeed a good time to visit. January can be windy but during the dry season sunny days are a virtual certainty in much of the country. Nevertheless, visiting during the northern summer months of June to August has its advantages as well. The rainy season will have started, and with the rains come more flowers and insects (rainforests do have seasonal rhythms). Further, there are fewer tourists in the country, which means that lodging prices will be lower than in the dry season, and reserves and parks will be less crowded. During these months, mornings are often clear, with rain showers starting in the early afternoon and skies clearing again toward the end of the day - a perfect schedule for photography. Even September and October, generally the rainiest months, are actually excellent for visiting the Caribbean lowlands. Because of a dip in the Intertropical Convergence Zone, this area typically enjoys mild, sunny weather while the rest of the country is suffering heavy rainstorms.

Although your trip itinerary should reflect your own interests, a fair sampling of Costa Rica would include a visit to a volcano, a cloud forest, a rain forest, and a beach. For your next visit (and every photographer wants to return to Costa Rica!), you might decide to spend more time in an area or habitat that you particularly enjoyed. There are a number of travel agencies that offer package tours to the general tourist or to birdwatchers, but these trips are designed with no knowledge whatsoever of the needs of the photographer. The choice of lodges is key because some of your best nature images will be taken on the grounds of ecolodges and nature hotels. Wildlife is quite hard to see at close distance in Costa Rican forests so spending all of your time hiking through reserves and national parks is inefficient and will quickly become frustrating. Choosing lodging destinations that don't have the best views or that lack bird feeders conducive to high-quality photography will dramatically reduce your number of photo opportunites. In addition, we photographers need flexible schedules with the ability to spend plenty of time in one place if the photography is good. You don't want to have to leave a great photo opportunity because your group is late for its next tour.

Having a guide familiar with the needs of photographers and the process of obtaining high-quality images can be enormously helpful. These guides know where the best places are, where the wildlife hangs out, and crucially, how to evaluate potential sites and wildlife sighting in terms of their photography value. Spending an hour hiking with a guide to view a sloth 100 feet up in a tree against a white sky is not a good use of your time! If you decide to do a self-guided trip with your own rental car, knowledge of Spanish, while not absolutely essential, is an enormous help. Though people here are very friendly and will nearly bend over backwards to help out a lost tourist, the road system is confusing and signage is notoriously lacking. In addition, tourism-related crime is on the rise, so you'll want to take the same precautions as you would traveling in any other part of the world. Quite frankly, I do not recommend traveling alone as a photographer in Costa Rica unless you are familiar with the country. I try not to pull out camera equipment until inside the reserve or park I'm visiting, and I never leave my gear in an unattended car. I only stop to eat at restaurants that offer parking tableside. If you must stop to eat at a restaurant with questionable parking, bring your camera gear in with you and hook it under your chair, particularly in urban areas. These are, of course, sensible precautions for the photographer in any part of the world.

As nature photographers, we care about the environment, and in the developing world this means caring about the people who live near tropical forests. Recent census data show that 87% of the Costa Rican population lives within 6 miles of a tropical forest. Since 60% of the population lives in the metropolitan areas surrounding the capital, this means that nearly all country folk live near the rainforest. Only where these local people are involved is there the potential for true ecotourism and sustainable development. Therefore, when choosing where to stay and eat, I strongly urge you to patronize establishments that practice ecotourism. Small lodges owned and run by local people collectively are a great choice. Additionally, many foreign lodge owners make sincere and concrete efforts to spread economic benefits and to involve local communities in conservation.

If you're looking for a small group photo experience or a customized photography trip, I run a company named Foto Verde Tours with my good friend Paulo Valerio, a highly respected Costa Rican biologist and tourism entrepreneur. We offer photo tours with a high level of customization and boast an excellent combination of Costa Rican ecological and cultural knowledge, bilingual guides, and photo expertise. We also choose lodges that maximize your photo opportunities while at the same time practicing ecotourism to ensure that your tourism dollar goes to benefit conservation and local communities. Visit Foto Verde Tours to learn more.