Just returned from back to back sold out Costa Rica Photo Tours. Thanks to all the participants! I was very fortunate to have two excellent groups. Both tours were filled with great fun photographers. Here are a few highlights from the trips. First and foremost the Resplendent Quetzal, a truly amazing bird. Thought by many to be the most beautiful bird in the world… and who am I to argue?
Of course I brought along my high-speed flash equipment for the participants to use to create great stop action photographs of hummingbirds in flight. Pictured here is the beautiful Fiery-throated Hummingbird. As it sipped nectar from a flower. I was able to stop the wings with the incredibly fast flash duration, around 1/15,000 of a second.
No trip to Costa Rica would be complete without photographing the cartoonish Red-eyed Treefrog. I have had this image in my head for quite a long while getting one to pause long enough for a natural light exposure was the tricky part of making this image. Once they start walking they usually don’t stop until they get where they are going!
Quite possible the highlight of the trip for me was getting to spend a half hour with this beautiful Margay. The mostly nocturnal Margay is very similar to an Ocelot. But unlike the Ocelot the Margay spends much of its life in the trees where it hunts birds, lizards, frogs, and even small monkeys. That is one of the greatest things about a trip to Costa Rica you just never know what you are going to come across. It is truly one of my favorite places in the entire world.
For my next post I will tell you all about the Toucan hot tub we discovered!!!
Good Luck and Good Light!
Steve