Costa Rica

 Recently I traveled to Costa Rica and I have to say it was amazing!  I spent 3 days in the mountains of Monte Verde, 3 days in Arenal near the volcano and 3 days by the beaches in Guanacaste.  When you are there you will notice Costa Rica is known for its coffee, which I have to say was very very strong! I was way more interested in the animals, plants and views I would be able to photograph.      " The country is home to over 9000 species of flowering plants, over 600 species of butterflies, more than 200 different mammals as well as prehistoric looking reptiles and boldly colored amphibians." (Bartley, Glenn.photo Itinerary- Making the most of Costa Rica: Nature Photographers Online Magazine, 2010 http://www.naturephotographers.net/articles0706/gb0706-1.html)

Fig tree in rainforest

If you are interested in photographing birds, monkeys and beautiful rainforests, Costa Rica is perfect for you!  While vacationing in Costa Rica I felt a main focus on most tours was the birds!!

They have over 875 different species!

Birds

 My advice for shooting here is to definitely bring a long lens! Either if your shooting with a point and shoot or a DSLR, make sure you have a large enough zoom to catch those small animals that hide in the trees.  I would also recommend bringing along a macro lens, which is my favorite, to get those small details. 

Hummingbird nest with eggs (macro lens)

 Remember Costa Rica has a lot of rainforests, so I would recommend bringing a rain cover for your backpack, since you will most likely encounter rain at some point.

Arenal Volcano

Costa Rica has so many different photo opportunities such as mountains, beaches, volcanoes, tropical rainforests, waterfalls and much more.  Plus the sunsets are amazing!! 

Sunset in Monte Verde

I spent 10 days traveling around this beautiful place and just wanted to share some of my photography as well as some tips with all of you. Enjoy!

Stefanie

“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”  ~Albert Einstein

Macro Photography

Its a New Year, and I hope everyone had a great holiday!

Today, I want to discuss one of my favorite types of photography; Macro.  Whether you are using a macro lens on your DSLR, or are setting your point and shoot camera to Macro, it is a different way to shoot the world and the objects around you.  I tend to use it both in my personal and professional work.  While shooting weddings, I use macro to shoot close details of the bride's accessories. This is an image of the bride's necklace laid on her flowers:

Necklace Detail

Limited depth of field is an important consideration in macro photography.  A limited depth of field means that only the parts of an image in a particular focal plane will be in focus, which can make or break a composition.  This makes it essential to focus on the most important part of the subject, as parts of the subject that are even a millimeter closer or farther from the focal plane will be noticeably out of focus.   This can be seen in an image that I shot in college of water dripping out of a faucet, with a pack of highlighters behind it.  The highlighters are entirely out of focus so that they just become a hint of color, while the water is in clear focus:

Rainbow Water

If you are going to try this with your point and shoot or DSLR with a Macro lens here are a few tips to help:

- If you are shooting with a point and shoot, select Macro mode.  This is generally symbolized with a little flower.

- Using a tripod can be useful.  Keeping your camera still not only improves your shots (getting rid of camera shake), but it also allows you to play around with different settings without losing your composition.

- Using a timer can also help reduce camera shake, so that you do not have to touch the camera when triggering the shutter.



I would love to see some of your examples of macro photography! Please email me at Elegantedgephotography@gmail.com with your examples and I will post my favorites!

Stefanie



"I really believe there are things nobody would see if I didn't photograph them." - Diane Arbus