Traveling to Costa Rica can be a wonderful and incomparable experience. Costa Rica is a country that offers a wide variety of natural landscapes, including some of the most beautiful beaches in the Central America as well as many protected areas, National Parks, Volcanoes and more. Costa Rica is constantly visited by bird watchers, hikers, surfers, backpackers and photographers due the friendly and reasonably safety that you can find in this tiny tropical country. Most photographers come to do Natural photography more than anything else, but before you start making your own traveling plans, there are a few things you have to take in consideration.
Number one: do not expose yourself and don’t expose your equipment. Any photographer knows how much a camera costs, try not to walk around if you’re carrying expansive bodies, lenses, etc. A lot of people get robbed just for not paying attention to this detail, thieves don’t care if you’re traveling with a digital Rebel or an EOS-1D, they don’t know anything about cameras, prices or picture quality, all they will look for is to steal your equipment, so never leave your camera bag alone, not even at the airport or hotel room.
Number Two: Be prepared. The weather changes a lot in Costa Rica, there are just two conditions or “seasons’ in Costa Rica, the dry season starts around December and finishes in May and this is also when most tourists visit the country and finding a room can sometimes become a real pain in the neck. The rainy season lasts from May to December; however, several areas are very humid and the rain never stops no matter the month or whether conditions in the rest of the country. Costa Rica is famous for its Rain Forest, so if you’re planning to go to places like Corcovado, Drake, Golfito or the Caribbean area then don’t forget your umbrella, poncho or whatever you use to keep your camera from getting wet.
Number Three: Traveling to some areas could be difficult and tedious but is also very easy to find a traveling agency or a tour operator online that can help you to get an idea of how to organize your schedule. Some places are more visited than others, Manuel Antonio and some beaches in Guanacaste will always be crowded due their popularity. If you are planning to go to Guanacaste for example, avoid the big and very expansive hotels, they don’t really offer much to see and the prices can be ridiculous sometimes.
Now let’s go back to the photographic details. What kind of equipment do you need?...Well, anything that takes good shoots will work. I started taking pictures about ten years ago with an old Olympus OM-1, so if you’re not planning to do any professional or special work then don’t worry about this. Professional shooters know that carrying big lenses, a tripod and one or two heavy bodies can turn very difficult depending on your conditions. Bright and fast lenses are a must, but don’t try anything long or heavy, even if you’re doing natural photography. Most tours have specially selected sites for that kind of activities, the tour guides will know exactly where to take you. You’ll see that taking your big and heavy 1000mm lens could be very uncomfortable and inconvenient if you’re in the middle of the jungle or if you have to walk for a while or climb up a hill. Always try to carry a small camera with you; a back up will be very useful and a small and good digital camera can make things a lot easier if you’re not in conditions to change a lens or if you want something more expontaneous.