A Costa Rican Adventure | Travel Photography

Ahhh.. finally! Our honeymoon! A time to travel, explore, relax.....and take a ton of photos! Being a photographer while travelling can sometimes be a bit of a burden...carrying around all that photography gear and whatnot! I just can't leave home without it. I love to capture amazing images while I explore. Whether you're a tourist with a pocket camera or an amateur photographer with some great gear and a bunch of lens choices, I hope this post will have some tips for you! And read to the bottom to get some tips on gear options for travelling!

Take the time where you can.

I took this shot from various angles and waited for the exact moment when the water crashed against the rocks. And of course had to wait to ensure that no one else was walking into the frame- something I wanted to avoid. 

Get in close- and fill the frame!

It's so easy when you see something nice to just hold up your camera and take a photo. Especially if you're on a tour or with a group of people. "Hurry up!" they might say! But take another second to get in close. Fill the frame with whatever your subject is, and you'll end up with much more satisfying images. 

Look around for ways to frame a scene!

I was walking along a beach and saw these guys sitting on the hill. What immediately caught my attention was how they were sitting right under this tree which perfectly frames them and adds to the overall makeup of the scene. Look for ways to frame your subject and you'll get more dynamic photos. 

Beach secrets!

 Underexpose for a silhouette. If you have a camera where you can manually adjust the exposure, play around with under-exposing the scene and you might be able to catch some silhouettes. Here, I exposed for the bright parts of the image: the water (and what was the sky before I cropped), and the dog and dark spots of the beach were darkened to almost black. Otherwise, if I was exposing for the dog or sand, they would be bright, with more details, but the water/sky would have been too bright (over-exposed). 

Colours and textures.

I'm always attracted by different types of colours and textures- be they bold and rugged or muted and soft. I love the tourqoise colour of the sky reflected in the softly rolling waves along the shore here. 

Look for the small details.

OK, I admit that this tiny hummingbird nest was pointed out by the tour guide who definitely had it on their list of things to wow the tourists with. Make sure you look out for the small things too. Not just the wide open landscapes and larger wildlife. 

Here's another example of looking for the small things. I happen to have an attraction to mushrooms and fungus growing on logs and trees, so naturally, I bent down low to get this shot. But I didn't even realize until later that these little mushrooms have hairs all over them! Something I've never seen in Canada where I live. 

"Rule of Thirds"

If you've taken any introductory photography class or read anything on basic photography, it's likely that you came across this "rule". Our eyes (and/or brains) are most pleased by images that are separated into thirds; or rather, when the subject is not in the centre of the image. Imagine the photo being separated into three rows and three columns. The intersection where any of those lines meet is said to be pleasing to the eye. I composed this image with that in mind (well, by now its second nature, so I wasn't really thinking about it; but I encourage you to!). The bird and tree it is standing on to are on the left third of the photo, leaving room for your eye to check out the rest of the image. The position of the birds head/gaze also helps with this. 

Find beauty in a wall of chaos.

This greenery was literally growing out of the side of a rock wall along the side of a road near our hotel. I got in close and framed what I thought was the most interesting part. I under-exposed a little bit to get the shadows so dark, which made the mid tones (green and other colours) perfectly exposed and almost appear to pop! 

This was shot the same way. In fact, the underexposure was an accident! But I'm so happy with the way it turned out. And of course I love the pop of colours and the one yellow flower taking the lead. I know this goes against the "rule of thirds" from the bird photo above, but sometimes rules are meant to be broken! Sometimes things just look better in the middle! You decide.

The magical flowing water shot!

If you can manually adjust your shutter speed on your camera, you can easily get a shot like this. It's really not hard! Play with your settings so that you can properly expose while setting your shutter speed at 1/20 second or slower. You'll need a tripod or a steady rock or spot on the ground though. Otherwise, even a slight shake will cause the whole image to be blurry- not just the water. My shutter speed in this photo was 1/4 sec. 

Look for the light.

Walking through a forest, you'll likely notice lots of different lighting conditions. Keep an eye out. You might find the sun filtering through the trees, or spreading sunbeams across a stream. Or, in this case, you might find that the morning light streaming through the canopy and landing on this section of tree makes a great shot when framed through the hole in the tree. Just magical! 

Simplify!

Don't forget to look for those images that don't have much going on, but are beautiful just the same. I didn't really have much in mind when taking this photo. I was just looking to get a blue sky sort of shot. But I like how simple yet interesting this turned out. 

Don't forget the critters!

Often when we travel we only tend to be attracted to the really bright and colourful, or big and exotic animals. But spend some time with anything you see and you might be pleasantly surprised. This little guy had 3 other siblings and their mom who were roaming around the beach digging up crabs. They were nervous of our presence at first, but after about 20 minutes they barely noticed us  and went on their way, living their life, as we snapped away with our cameras. I love the colours and textures in this. 

Take the time to perfect the shot.

If you've ever been to Costa Rica (specifically to any forest there) you'll likely have noticed that monkeys are everywhere! Of course you can snap a few (or a million) shots and be done and think: "Great! I got a picture of a monkey to show everyone at home". But take some time to think some more. How can you make your 'monkey trophy photo' even better? Find a different angle, explore a different scene? Get the focus bang on? Capture a certain expression? There's so many different ways to take a photo and so many different opportunities to get there, if you take the time to do it.  I waited until this monkey calmed down in the tree he was in so I could get a crisp shot and a straight ahead gaze. 

Here's another example where it paid off to get to know the creatures! I could have just walked right by these guys when I saw them...but it was hard to do. They were everywhere. They were pretty scared of any movement by us humans! They'd scurry back into their holes if we so much as moved our heads the wrong way! But a bit of patience and careful planning allowed for an opportunity to get this shot. 

This is another example where I took some time to take a bunch of photos, moving myself around the scene for different angles. This guy (or girl) was pretty nervous of me at first and I literally had to inch my way forwards to get this close (I was about 15 feet away). I wanted to compose the image so the tail was included, draping along the front of the log. I love the detail. And it was also another opportunity to try to nail the focus. And I believe I did! 

Don't be afraid to photograph the people!

When you're in a new place, the people might fascinate you; draw you in; but you might be too nervous to approach and take a photo. If you're really into "street photography", a long lens works well, allowing you to photograph your subject from a distance. Perhaps without them seeing. But if you're nervous, go ahead and ask them first. The worst they can say is no. (Also be aware that in some countries or regions of a country, taking photos of people without their consent is frowned upon or even dangerous. Check into it before you go snapping about!)

Sometimes the locals will surprise you!

Sometimes they love having their photos taken! This was captured on a mangrove tour. This fisherman was busy working away. But while our boat floated past him, he reached down, and pulled up his fresh catch, with a proud smile on his face. What a great catch- for both us us! 

Here's another example of a local allowing the tourists to take his photo. He knew we were there but kept working away, shaving the cinnamon bark from the log. It made for a great 'candid' moment, though he was aware of our presence the whole time. 

"WHAT GEAR SHOULD I HAVE?"
Really, anything will do! Most of the tips here don't have anything to do with camera settings, or need fancy gear. Most of the tips I've given have to do with looking and being aware; and trying new things! Challenge yourself! But if gear is what you're wanting to invest in, and you want to take it to the next level, here are my suggestions. 

1. Unless you want to carry around a backpack in hot humid weather (if that's where you're going!), I suggest sticking to a smaller camera, but one with interchangeable lenses; such as a mirrorless camera. This was what bothered me the most on this trip: carrying around a backpack with camera gear- even if I was carrying my heavy DSLR camera in my hand most of the time. It was so hot and humid that even a light load was bothersome!  If you don't mind carrying around large lenses and a larger camera on your back, then here is my suggestion: 

2. Lenses: Having too many lenses while travelling can definitely be cumbersome- and definitely make you a target for theft! I suggest bringing one or two main lenses with you. If you like landscape, architecture, or city/urban shots, you'll want a medium to wide-angle lens, such as a 50mm or 35mm (or wider!). If you are intending to get wildlife photos, where you'll be a fair distance away, a longer lens, such as a 200mm or 400mm might be a good choice. BUT! There is a happy medium! If you just want to bring one lens, I suggest something along the lines of an 18-200mm lens. This gives you the flexibility to take wide landscape shots, but also zoom in when you're far away from your subject. Lenses that will be the most crisp and are higher quality are ones with one focal length (they don't zoom), but if comfort and convenience are more important to you, then something with a range of zoom capabilities is your best friend! 

2. Ensure you have a good strap for your camera, with good padding. Keeping it around your neck or in your hand most of the time is key! It's always a pain to see something pass you by because you don't have enough time to take your camera out. 

4. It's a good idea to buy an extra battery for your camera (if your camera takes AA's , that won't be so hard. If you've got a DSLR, chances are a battery will cost you $50 or more. But its worth it!) If you're out all day taking photos, you don't want to be left with a dead camera half way through the day. Get a spare back up! It's also a good idea to have a large enough SD storage card in your camera so it won't fill up! 32GB and 64GB cards can be bought on sale super cheap these days. I say invest in one of those. Or bring along a few. The higher the price range for the specific size you're looking for, is generally better ("class 10" is best to aim for). It will be faster and more reliable. When it comes to SD cards, "you get what you pay for".

I hope this post has been helpful for you! Feel free to share it around and comment below! I love reading your comments.