INTRO TO RAINFOREST PHOTOGRAPHY 2012 W/GREG BASCO & DENNIS GOULET
This brand new workshop is designed for those starting out in photography but with a desire to learn to use their equipment in new and exciting ways to capture the essence of the rainforest. Through a mix of formal instruction and photography and hands-on learning in the field, you'll master basic techniques such as exposure, metering, depth of field, and focusing and move to more advanced strategies such as use of flash, creative lighting, slow shutter speeds, and selective focus. You'll return home with a colorful portfolio of tropical nature images and an expanded photographic toolbox.
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Features & Info
A wealth of photo subjects
We'll have some fantastic photo opportunities, including the amazing red-eyed tree frog. There are a number of different ways that one can shoot any subject, and Greg and Dennis will work with you to explore all of the different photographic strategies available to you.
Fantastic lodges
We'll be staying at Greg's favorite lodges on a very efficient route, meaning that you'll have plenty of time to photograph and very little time on the bus. That means time to explore the beautiful rainforests and cloud forests we'll be visiting.
A plethora of techniques
Costa Rica is akin to an obstacle course for the nature photographer; you have to use all of your camera's functions to deal with the quickly changing photo opportunities and the challenges they present. Greg and Dennis will cover the basics but also go into advanced techniques such as using off-camera flash.
Full Itinerary & Tour Leaders
The Itinerary
July 28 San José
Arrival to Costa Rica. Meet our representative at the Juan Santamaría International Airport and transfer to your hotel near the capital city of San José, where Foto Verde Tours' Greg Basco will be awaiting your arrival. Those who arrive early can take the afternoon to photograph the beautiful orchids and other tropical flowers in the hotel's expansive tropical gardens. There is also free wireless Internet throughout the grounds and in the rooms available.
no meals included
July 29 San Jose
This day is an introductory day, and we will enjoy it in the beautiful facilities and the wonderful garden of our San Jose hotel. Rainforest photography demands a diverse skill set and the ability to change techniques and strategies literally minute by minute. Through a mix of classroom time and hands-on field work, Greg and Dennis will help you to nail down the basics of metering, exposure, flash, lens choice, depth of field, and shutter speed so that you can use your camera in ways you didn't know you could. After the day's session, we have a relaxing dinner at the hotel restaurant and then time to repack before our departure for the lowland rainforest the next morning.
all meals included
July 30 Atlantic lowland rainforest
After breakfast, we travel to the beautiful lowland rainforests of the Sarapiquí region and our first lodge, where Greg has worked with the lodge owners and management to install two feeders that offer great bird photography opportunities. A number of colorful birds including tanagers, aracaris, and oropendolas visit the feeders. Our lodge is also a fantastic place to photograph poison frogs, tree frogs, basilisk lizards, and lots of other wildlife. We arrive for lunch and then spend the afternoon looking for frogs and birds on the lodge grounds, putting into practice all of the techniques we covered yesterday. In the evening, Greg will give a presentation on landscape photography and techniques such as graduated filters, polarizing filters, fill-flash, and HDR (high-dynamic range) photography.
all meals included
July 31 Atlantic lowland rainforest
After an early breakfast, we head into the lodge's primary forest reserve where we will focus on landscape photography of the lush, verdant forest and its buttressed trees. After lunch, we take the afternoon to search for more wildlife on the lodge grounds, where other possibilities include canopy lizard, black river turtles, howler monkeys, and spectacled caiman. In the evening, we photograph the abundant red-eyed tree frogs right on the lodge grounds and using a flashlight technique developed by Greg to protect the sensitive eyes of these nocturnal creatures while at the same time providing creative lighting for dramatic portraits.
all meals included
August 1 Atlantic lowland rainforest
After breakfast, we take a private boat trip on the Sarapiqui River for photo opportunities of kingfishers, howler monkeys, bats, iguanas, and various aquatic birds. In the afternoon, each participant is free to explore any photo opportunities that may have caught their eye during the previous days. Greg and Dennis will be available to help and to answer any questions that participants might have. After a relaxing dinner, we have time to pack up before our departure to the cloud forest tomorrow morning.
all meals included
August 2 Atlantic slope cloud forest
After breakfast today, we pack up and head to our next destination -- the high cloud forests of the northern Central Volcanic Mountain Range and our lodge and photography base for the rest of our trip. Our lodge is located in one of the most biodiverse areas of the country, nestled in a picturesque valley at approximately 4,500 feet above sea level. With its rushing mountain streams, cool air, and orchid and moss-festooned trees, the area is akin to a tropical Colorado. On the way, we visit a surprise secret destination – a nearby farm owned by a local family that is a great place for photographing both the Great Green and Scarlet Macaws. The macaws are free flying but stay close to the farm to roost and feed. After our stop, we arrive to our lodge with time to check in and enjoy a relaxing dinner.
all meals included
August 3 Atlantic slope cloud forest
After breakfast today, we make a day trip to a nearby waterfall, which is 110 meters high and offers beautiful photographic opportunities of the waterfall itself and the surrounding cloud forest. There are some spectacular tropical foliage shots here of palms and ferns on the cliffs surrounding the waterfall and great opportunities for making panoramic and HDR images. We also will work on photographing hummingbirds with natural light and fill-flash. A number of species, including the green hermit, black-bellied, green thorntail, coppery-headed emerald, and white-bellied mountain gem hummingbird, visit the restaurant's feeders. We enjoy a delicious typical lunch at the waterfall and return to our lodge in the evening for a relaxing dinner and time to download our great hummingbird and landscape images.
all meals included
August 4 Atlantic slope cloud forest
Today we have a treat -- multiple-flash hummingbird photography, which is one of Greg's specialties. After breakfast, we set in immediately to begin photographing hummingbirds at our multi-flash setups right on the lodge grounds. We will concentrate on the violet sabrewing (Costa Rica's largest species), the purple-throated mountain gem, and the green-crowned brilliant. Greg will run the setups and provide attractive native flowers to ensure that you capture some fantastic hummingbirds. Greg also will share with you his secrets for great multiple-flash lighting so that you can incorporate these ideas into your future nature photography. Greg's company, Foto Verde Tours, is the only company that has permission to do multi-flash hummingbird photography at this lodge. When not on the setups, you can relax and download images, keep shooting the guans and coatimundis, or explore the cloud forest trails for macro and landscape photography with Dennis.
all meals included
August 5 Atlantic slope cloud forest
After breakfast today, we pack up and head back toward San Jose, arriving to our San Jose hotel for check-in and lunch. After lunch, we have reserved a conference room at the hotel, where we will work on optimizing your images in the computer using Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop. In the evening, we enjoy our farewell dinner.
all meals included
August 6 Airport
Private transfer to the airport for your flight home.
breakfast included
END OF SERVICES
THIS ITINERARY INCLUDES
Lodging as specified
Meals as specified
Private transfers to and from hotels/airport on first and last days
Professional driver and private transportation in spacious, air-conditioned tour bus
Greg's services as photo instructor and guide throughout the trip
Entrance fees for all described activities
Taxes on all services listed above
THE ITINERARY ABOVE DOES NOT INCLUDE
Airfare
Airport departure tax (US $28)
Alcoholic drinks
Gratuities
Dinner the first night (since some people arrive late, we prefer not to include dinner to avoid having people pay for something they might not use)
Non-meal time snacks
Non-meal time soft drinks and bottled water
Single room supplement (US $309)
Your Tour Leaders
Greg Basco is a resident Costa Rican professional photographer and environmentalist who enjoys a working relationship with Canon. He is a BBC/Veolia Wildlife Photographer of the Year and Nature's Best Windland Smith Rice prizewinner, and his photos have been published by National Geographic, Outdoor Photographer, Newsweek, and other magazines and have been used in many books, public exhibits, calendars, and other projects. Greg's latest work in progress is a coffee table book of artistic photos from the rainforest.
In addition to his own photography, Greg truly enjoys working with tour clients to help them improve their photography and capture great photos of their own in the challenging habitats of Costa Rica. Indeed, he liked it so much that a few years ago he founded Foto Verde Tours, Costa Rica's first and only travel company specializing in photographic tourism.
You can see more of Greg's photography here.
Dennis Goulet is an award winning photographer from Massachusetts who enjoys sharing his knowledge of nature photography with others through presentations at camera clubs in New England and at the New England Camera Club Council (NECCC) annual three-day conference where he has given four presentations. He is on the Steering Committee of the Massachusetts Camera Naturalists, a "by-invitation-only" organization and a vice president of the NECCC. He has been a judge for camera club competitions as well as the Ocean State International Exhibition and the Photographic Society of America International Nature Exhibition.
Dennis' images have appeared in several magazines including Audubon, Nature's Best Photography, Wild Bird, Birder's World, Rhode Island Monthly, Outdoor Photographer, and Sierra, as well as on the websites of Audubon and National Wildlife magazine. His image of a Green-breasted Mango was selected Grand Prize Winner of Audubon Magazine's 2010 Birds-In-Focus photography contest. Some of his competition awards are Austrian Super Circuit Bronze Medal in Nature, NECCC Print of the Year, Greater Lynn International Best Nature, and Ocean State International Bronze Medal and Best Nature Medal.