Natural Costa Rica Photography Workshop

Photographing Nature's Wonders in Beautiful Costa Rica

Guest Instructors: Tom Till and Greg Basco

June 11-22, 2012

Post-Workshop Extension June 22-27, 2012

Come to beautiful Costa Rica and join world-famous landscape photographer, Tom Till, and Jon Fuller of Moab Photo Tours on a photographic tour of the natural beauties of Costa Rica, June 11-22, 2012.  Also accompanying the workshop will be local Costa Rican professional photographer and naturalist, Greg Basco. Greg is one of Costa Rica's premier nature photographers, and like Tom and Jon, has been published in numerous publications world-wide including National Geographic Magazine. Hone your photographic skills under the tutelage of Tom, Greg, and Jon as you photograph beautiful Costa Rica, from tropical lowland rain forest to highland cloud forest. This workshop is limited to 12 photographers, so you'll have an instructor/photographer ratio of 1:4, allowing you unprecedented personal attention. This workshop is open to photographers of all skill levels. To see Tom Till's work, go to http://tomtill.com/. Jon's images of Costa Rica are in this website Gallery.  Greg Basco's images are at http://www.deepgreenphotography.com/.

Costa Rica is a nature photographer's paradise. Typical subjects to photograph include tropical birds like toucans and macaws, colorful frogs, monkeys, sloths, iguanas, spectacular tropical flowers and equally colorful hummingbirds, along with a volcano and gorgeous jungle waterfalls. You will learn how composition, natural light, flash, movement, and color allow you to produce magical images. In addition, you can learn more advanced techniques such as multi-flash hummingbird photography, daylight tele-flash photography, natural-looking daylight fill-flash, macro photography, landscape HDR and long exposure night photography, as well as general landscape and wildlife techniques. If you have a non-photographer spouse or traveling companion who would like to come along, they will still have a great time hiking and watching wildlife while we try to photograph them. There are also many non-photographic activities that can be arranged separately while you take photos. The tour cost does not cover these alternate activities, however. These activities could include things such as visiting the fantastic hot mineral water spas near the Arenal Volcano, horse-back riding, hiking, rafting, or zip-lining through the forest canopy.

ITINERARY

 Day 1:  June 11, San José

Arrival in Costa Rica. Meet our representative at the Juan Santamaría International Airport and transfer to our 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. The hotel has free wireless Internet throughout the grounds and in the rooms. No meals included.

Day 2:  June 12, Atlantic Lowland Rainforest

After breakfast, we travel to the beautiful lowland rainforests of the Sarapiquí region. A number of colorful birds, including tanagers, aracaris, and toucans, visit the our lodge's feeders, and this destination 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, birds, and monkeys on the lodge grounds. All meals included.

Day 3:  June 13, Atlantic Lowland Rainforest

We spend all day today on the grounds of our lodge, where we will work to capture great photos at the bird feeders and the surprise photo opportunities that always pop up at this magical place. We will take a morning hike into the lodge's primary forest reserve for landscape photography, focusing on the beautiful buttressed trees along the trail. In the evening, we photograph the famed red-eyed tree frog with flashlights for different and dramatic images of this iconic amphibian. All meals included.

Day 4:  June 14, Atlantic Slope Mid-elevation Forest

Around mid-morning, we travel to the Arenal Volcano area. Though currently experiencing a lull in activity, Arenal is normally the country's most active volcano, with continuous emissions of lava and incandescent pyroclastic flows since the beginning of the recent active cycle in 1968. On clear nights, the views of incandescent avalanches can be breathtaking. En route, we photograph wild green iguanas at eye level in the trees on a riverbank and stop for a bite to eat. We arrive to our lodge in mid-afternoon and, after check-in, photograph the sunset over Lake Arenal. All meals included.

Day 5:  June 15, Atlantic Slope Mid-elevation Forest

After breakfast, we head to a nearby wildlife reserve to photograph boat-billed herons and possibly three-toed sloths, caiman, emerald basilisk lizards, and rufous-tailed jacamars. This little refuge boasts an amazing number of photographic opportunities in a small area. A highlight is the numerous species of honeycreepers that visit the feeders right by the entrance. We enjoy lunch at a nearby local restaurant and then continue our shooting at the reserve in the afternoon. We return again to our lodge in late afternoon to photograph the sunset and the Arenal Volcano. All meals included.

Day 6:  June 16, Atlantic Slope Mid-elevation Forest

This morning we roam the hotel grounds in search of wildlife to photograph, including crested guan and collared aracaris. We also will take time to photograph the numerous Montezuma oropendolas at the lodge feeders. Later this morning, we depart for a nearby spot with an amazing collection of frogs, snakes, and lizards. This place is run by one of Greg's friends, and the staff there will help us to photograph these colorful animals on natural stages that we will set up on site. This is a great opportunity to photograph a number of species that are very difficult to find in the wild and also to continue our work on creative lighting for pleasing macro images. We will enjoy a delicious home-cooked lunch as well as refreshments and coffee throughout the day. We return to our lodge in late afternoon to photograph the sunset and the Arenal Volcano. All meals included.

Day 7:  June 17, Atlantic Slope Cloud Forest

After an early breakfast, we travel to the higher cloud forests of the northern Central Volcanic Mountain Range and our next lodge, another of Greg's favorites. 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 between two large national parks. 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. Greg has recently put up a new feeder at the farm that offers great opportunities for beautiful portraits of the macaws. We enjoy a delicious home-cooked meal at the farm. We arrive at our lodge in the early evening with time for a relaxing dinner and then time to download images and recharge batteries for the next day's shooting. All meals included.

Day 8:  June 18, Atlantic Slope Cloud Forest

Today we have the entire day to explore the mystical cloud forest of our lodge's private reserve for landscape and macro photography. Possibilities abound, and we will work on techniques such as HDR, incorporating flash, and working with motion to help you produce dramatic landscape images. All meals included.

Day 9:  June 19, 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. In addition, we have secured permission to set up our multiple flashes near the feeders at the restaurant at the waterfall, which gives us a great chance to photograph some hummingbird species, such as the green hermit, black-bellied, green thorntail, coppery-headed emerald, and white-bellied mountain gem, that are less common at our lodge. And there are some spectacular tropical foliage shots here of palms and ferns on the cliffs surrounding the waterfall. 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.

Day 10:  June 20, Back to San Jose

After more morning photography around the lodge grounds and feeders, we have lunch and then leave for San José and our San Jose hotel. After a stop in Greg Basco's hometown for some HDR photography of the beautiful park and church, we arrive to our San Jose hotel with a bit of time to unwind before dinner. All meals included.

Day 11:   June 21, La Paz Waterfall Gardens

After breakfast today we enjoy a fun last day with a trip to the La Paz Waterfall Gardens, a great place to shoot everything from butterflies in their butterfly house to hummingbirds around the feeders to native orchids to captive ocelots in a nice setting to a series of fantastic waterfalls. We also enjoy a nice buffet lunch at La Paz. We return to our hotel in the late afternoon for final packing and our farewell dinner. All meals included.

Day 12:  June 22, Airport

Private transfer to the airport for your flight home. Breakfast included.

Post-workshop Extension Details at bottom of page.

MAIN WORKSHOP ITINERARY INCLUDES -

Lodging as specified

Meals as specified

Private transfers to and from hotels on first and last days

Professional driver and private transportation in spacious tour bus

Three professional photo guides

Professional bilingual photo/nature/culture guide

Photo guide educational presentations and assistance in the field

Multiple-flash setups for hummingbird photography

Photo guide assistance with caption and ID info for your images

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

Non-meal time snacks

Non-meal time soft drinks and bottled water

Single room supplement of $598.00 

Extras, including activities for non-photographers

Price for this 12-day, 11-night photography tour is $4495.00 USD per person, based on double occupancy. A single supplement is $598.00. The workshop is limited to only 12 photographers. A minimum of 8 participants will be required, or the workshop may be canceled. Trip insurance is strongly recommended in the event that you have to cancel, or in the unlikely event that the workshop is canceled by Moab Photo Tours, LLC. For further information or a registration form, email moabphototours@gmail.com.

POST-WORKSHOP EXTENSION:

At the request of some of our participants, I have been working with Greg Basco in Costa Rica to put together a post-workshop extension.  The extension would be for an additional 5 days and would take us to two areas with different biozones than the other places we’re going on the main workshop.  This would give us the opportunity to photograph some things we probably would not get to see otherwise.  The itinerary is as follows:

June 22: After breakfast, depart from Hotel Bougainvillea, arrive in Manuel Antonio for lunch, with a free afternoon to look for squirrel monkeys and maybe hit the beach for sunset photos.  (This is the day every one else has to go home.  Too bad for them!)

June 23: After an early breakfast, we'll spend all day in Manuel Antonio National Park & return to our hotel for dinner.   Manuel Antonio, located along a beach on the Pacific Ocean, is the best place in all of Costa Rica to get good shots of white-faced monkeys and tree sloths.  

June 24: After breakfast, drive to Savegre, arriving there for lunch.  We’ll have the afternoon for hummingbirds and quetzals.  Savagre is a spectacularly beautiful high mountain valley at 7700’ elevation and is the most reliable place in Costa Rica to see the Resplendent Quetzal, the sacred bird of the Mayas and Aztecs.  It is also the Holy Grail of bird watchers in the Western Hemisphere.  This can be a difficult bird to photograph well, so I felt very fortunate last year to spend three days in Savegre and get great shots every day.  The year before, in two days, I got a few OK shots, so there is an element of luck here, as is always the case in wildlife photography.

June 25: We’ll spend all day around Savegre photographing hummingbirds and searching for quetzals.  There is also a beautiful river there called the Rio Savegre, oddly enough, of which I’ve made some great images as well.

June 26: We’ll have another morning to quest for quetzals and other birds. After lunch at the hotel, we’ll drive back to San Jose and the Hotel Bougainvillea.  With a little luck, we may get to photograph the Fiery Throated Hummingbird on the way back.  

June 27: Private transfers to airport for flights home

We need a minimum of 4 participants to run this extension.  Tom Till will not be able to accompany us on the extension, nor will Greg Basco, unless we have a large group who wants to go.  If we have a small group, we’ll still have myself and Jose (our fourth photo instructor and bus driver during the main workshop) as guides.  Jose is also a professional nature photographer and a trained naturalist as well as being our driver. We are keeping the cost for this extension at the same day rate ($375 per day) as the rest of the workshop, even though the extension is considerably more costly to run because of the smaller group size.   That makes the cost of the extension $1875 per person, double occupancy.  The single supplement will be $312.50 if you don’t have a roommate.  This is a great opportunity to see and photograph some great wildlife and spectacular scenery in addition to what we’ll see on the main workshop.