Costa Rica Trip, November 2024

If you would like to post, you'll need to register. Note that if you have a BCG store account, you'll need a new, separate account here (we keep the two sites separate for security purposes).

aringer

aringer

Active member
Supporting Member
Marketplace
Member's gallery
I got back from Costa Rica a month ago from my second trip there. I'm still going through images, and I'm very happy with them, especially since I got images of wildlife I didn't see on the first trip. I'm hoping to get better ones next year of a few birds that keep eluding a nice perch while I'm trying to photograph them 🤣. I went to Sarapiqui, Tarcoles and Monteverde. While there, Costa Rica had one of the worst rainy seasons the guides and driver could remember, with floods and landslides. Fortunately we had good weather during the day, except for Monteverde, where it rained constantly for two days. No quetzales during those two days, but fortunately I have a good shot of one from Gerardo de Dota in April. A lot of the images had huge ISO numbers, LR did a pretty good job with them.
I had two Z8, the 500mm f4 with FTZ II, the Tamron 70-200 f2.8 and the Z 24-120 f4. I'm VERY impressed with the 24-120 f4, especially with the short minimum focal distance, didn't need a macro.

Z81_0491 (2).jpg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.
Z81_0692 (2).jpg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.
Z81_1162.jpg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.
Z81_2058.jpg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.
Z81_2542.jpg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.
Z81_3891-Enhanced-NR.jpg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.
Z81_6092.jpg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.
Z81_6696.jpg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.
 
Member's gallery
Your photos are fantastic in spite of the rain. I love them all but especially the two of the wet animals. Captures how I felt. I was there in early November and for the 3 days in Monteverde it rained.
I am very impressed with the frog photo using the Z24-120. I don't think of it being for close-ups.
 
Member's gallery
jhallettbc said:
Your photos are fantastic in spite of the rain. I love them all but especially the two of the wet animals. Captures how I felt. I was there in early November and for the 3 days in Monteverde it rained.
I am very impressed with the frog photo using the Z24-120. I don't think of it being for close-ups.
Click to expand...
Thank you! I was happy to take pictures in the rain, get something a little different. I was quite surprised at how close I could get with the 24-120, definitely worth considering as a combo landscape, people, macro lens.
 
Member's gallery
aringer said:
I got back from Costa Rica a month ago from my second trip there. I'm still going through images, and I'm very happy with them, especially since I got images of wildlife I didn't see on the first trip. I'm hoping to get better ones next year of a few birds that keep eluding a nice perch while I'm trying to photograph them 🤣. I went to Sarapiqui, Tarcoles and Monteverde. While there, Costa Rica had one of the worst rainy seasons the guides and driver could remember, with floods and landslides. Fortunately we had good weather during the day, except for Monteverde, where it rained constantly for two days. No quetzales during those two days, but fortunately I have a good shot of one from Gerardo de Dota in April. A lot of the images had huge ISO numbers, LR did a pretty good job with them.
I had two Z8, the 500mm f4 with FTZ II, the Tamron 70-200 f2.8 and the Z 24-120 f4. I'm VERY impressed with the 24-120 f4, especially with the short minimum focal distance, didn't need a macro.

View attachment 103151View attachment 103152View attachment 103153View attachment 103154View attachment 103155View attachment 103156View attachment 103157View attachment 103158
Click to expand...



These are EPIC!


As I'm a reptile/amphibian person, how did you get the frog image?? I shot some tree frogs at night recently, and was lucky to have come across them as it recently rained. In my location most of the frogs are canopy species and rarely if ever come down from the canopy. That image would definitely hang on my wall, along with a few others there. These are gorgeous.


This frog would have been INCREDIBLE to see, the same for the venomous snake.

The macaw- a lime green of sorts? I haven't seen such a color before from a macaw.
 
Last edited:
Member's gallery
viper699 said:
These are EPIC!


As reptile/amphibian person, how did you get the frog image?? I shot some tree frogs at night recently, and was lucky to have come across them as it recently rained. In my location most of the frogs are canopy species and rarely if ever come down from the canopy. That image would definitely hang on my wall, along with a few others there. These are gorgeous.


This frog would have been INCREDIBLE to see, the same for the venomous snake.

The macaw- a lime green of sorts? I haven't seen such a color before from a macaw.
Click to expand...
Thank you! The great green Macaws were taken in Sarapiqui, the rainforest in Heredia (north east of San Jose). I believe the green Macaws are in a smaller area and less common than the scarlet ones.
The shots of the frog and snake were taken at Frog Heaven, a sanctuary for frogs and birds where they will wrangle them for portraits and then release them. I did get some red-eye tree frogs in the wild, they are just not as good as these.
 
Member's gallery
I concur with the comments about extraordinary Costa Rica rains recently. My wife and I were at a lodge at the extreme southeastern tip of the Osa Peninsula from November 13 to 20. We had about 4 hours some sunshine the whole week. It rained most of the time for the first 4 days, including one stretch of 13 strait hours of fairly heavy rain with some wind too. After that dense dark clouds and lots of fog. Had one good session for about 30 minutes with a group of a dozen Scarlet McCaws. Otherwise the trip was a total photo bust. Such is life.
 
Member's gallery
JamesFarrell said:
I concur with the comments about extraordinary Costa Rica rains recently. My wife and I were at a lodge at the extreme southeastern tip of the Osa Peninsula from November 13 to 20. We had about 4 hours total sunshine the whole week. It rained most of the time for the first 4 days, including one stretch of 13 strait hours of fairly heavy rain with some wind too. After that dense dark clouds and lots of fog. Had one good session for about 30 minutes with a group of a dozen Scarlet McCaws. Otherwise the trip was a total photo bust. Such is life.
Click to expand...
Bummer. A whole week of rain is brutal when the goal is to get pictures. Hopefully you'll go back and get some great images.
 
Member's gallery
aringer said:
Thank you! The great green Macaws were taken in Sarapiqui, the rainforest in Heredia (north east of San Jose). I believe the green Macaws are in a smaller area and less common than the scarlet ones.
The shots of the frog and snake were taken at Frog Heaven, a sanctuary for frogs and birds where they will wrangle them for portraits and then release them. I did get some red-eye tree frogs in the wild, they are just not as good as these.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top