When I was a naturalist tour guide, I met a couple of amateur photographers who I traveled with for a while (I shared their passion for photography. We had been in different areas of Costa Rica and wherever we went, I could see their passion for finding beauty in the most simple places. But what they really taught me is that you can have and enjoy a photographic eye even without a camera (or phone) in your hand.
Whenever in the tour we had pouring rain, and cameras were put in the dry bags, they kept on sharing whatever they saw that could have been a great image. They observed life around them. In detail. They took their time to see what was around them. With or without the camera.
They demonstrated that photography is an art that can teach us to be deeply connected with the present moment. It can be an exercise of mindfulness and an experience to fall in love with for the rest of your life. (Even if you never again held a camera in your hand). It uncovers the hidden beauty of details and points at the invisible in what is seen.
By knowing a few tricks and learning to observe life around you, not only will your pictures be much more beautiful and impactful, but the simple act of taking them can be a powerful, personal practice.
Because of this, we decided to share some of these secrets and tricks that might be super useful for your trip to Monteverde.
1. Start practicing at home
Nature Photography can start with your own potted plants in the living room.
Practice at home! If you have a garden or a nearby park, even better.
But if you can learn to see the beauty in the edge of a leaf, or in the delicacy of a petal. Open your eyes to detail, get prejudices out the door and observe all that surrounds you in detail trying not to leave anything behind. Sometimes, a just-born fern leaf holds enough beauty to turn into an art piece.
Practice, and practice. Move around your garden, go slowly, and focus on finding the extraordinarily bright beam of light that reflects on the surface of a leaf. The color details are at the bottom of a tiny petal. Look for the beauty that lies everywhere, if you don’t see it, look from another angle. Make it a mission for ten minutes… or ten hours!
2. Take your time
Give yourself the gift of time to enjoy photography.
Probably, this is the most important advice of them all, especially if you are taking photography seriously. Forget about regular group tours, and rushed activities. One of the most rewarding yet difficult skills to achieve in photography is the art of patience.
Walk slowly, take time to observe in all directions, and stop frequently.
It may be on the ground, on tree bark, or in the shape of clouds. Beauty is there waiting for your focused attention.
If your travel companions are photographers, think about the possibility of hiring a photographers’ tour guide. In Costa Rica in general, as in Monteverde tour guides turn into photographers easily, and finding them is not that hard. You can always ask us about it here.
If your travel companions don’t share your passion for photography, take some walks at your own pace. Maybe you can agree to meet outside two or three hours later. These solo walks may turn into the highlights of your trip.
3. Put the phone down
Put the telephone down if you are using a camera. And if you are taking your pictures with the phone, my suggestion is to put it in plane mode to do this.
When artists talk about "the zone," they're talking about a very real state of mind where silence comes in, and things happen without us even realizing them. It is a joyful, intense, and focused time that allows creativity. But we have to give ourselves time to find this "zone" in photography. And getting out of the daily rush and the screens asking for our attention is the best first step to enjoying photography fully, and finding breathtaking images.
An open mind and an alert state of mind are almost indispensable to enjoying the activity. Wildlife is not going to wait for you to read that one message to take their picture.
4. Take lots and lots of photos
As many as possible, from all angles and perspectives. This advice was good in the time of film rolls and it is perfect now that we can do it at no cost.
Go beyond wildlife, think about strangler fig trees with their surreal shapes and forms, or exotic miniature orchids, abundant in the region. Blankets of fluorescent moss and spider webs shining droplets. Take as many pictures as possible.
It can take even thousands of photographs to produce a couple of magical ones.
5. Plan or not plan? That is the question
And the answer is: Do both!
For me, a plan is a perfect excuse to go to a particular place in search of the one picture that I want. However, once there, I believe plans should become more flexible, adaptable, and open doors that can go either way.
And sometimes, just let nature surprise you!
But yes! When we take wildlife as photo targets we get the perfect excuse to go places and find many other fascinating things.
For example, one of the most gratifying trips in my life as a tour guide, birdwatcher, and amateur photographer was on a walk I took with a friend to find the mighty Umbrella Bird, which is an extremely elusive big black bird found in primary forests away from the human presence. A true trophy for birders and photographers.
We went into a private reserve, walked for hours in the area where the bird was supposedly nesting, took some amazing pictures of coatimundis, monkeys, and all sorts of birds, got lost for about fifteen minutes, got soaking wet, and, in the end, I had the chance to take some very bad pictures of the fantastic Umbrella bird flying above us directly against the light (and nearly impossible to make out).
Were the pictures of the Umbrella bird worth the trip? Not at all!
Even if I never got the perfect picture of the Umbrella Bird, I took so many other amazing photos on that walk!
Plan, but be open to abandoning the plan if nature finds other possibilities for you.
However, if you want to go for the one target, the next tip is for you.
6. Get to know your subject
While some unique moments are captured in the natural world by luck, some of the best pictures are the result of the photographer's knowledge. With animals, research their behavior and habits. At what time do they feed and where.
Are they visible during the day, or only at dawn and sunset? The best way to catch a targeted animal or bird is to know it enough to be able to foresee its actions.
Once you are in Monteverde, observe, and follow the next piece of advice.
7. Tap into local knowledge
Locals and especially local tour guides know where and when the wildlife is.
If you are into getting for instance pictures of the many hummingbird species in Monteverde, or the Resplendent Quetzal, ask the staff at the Ocotea Boutique Hotel, for instance. If we don’t know the answer, we know who knows.
8. Be prepared to wait
There are some behaviors that can get a perfect picture.
For example in the nesting season of the Resplendent Quetzal, you may see the beautiful ritual between the male and the female to take care of their nest. Another fascinating photograph to take is of Long-tailed Manakin males singing and dancing during mating. You can follow their distinct calls, but seeing all of the males perched on one branch dancing and singing is a one-of-a-kind and difficult-to-see experience and image.
There are other animals, though, that may not be as predictable, but usually, animals and birds follow patterns, and at times we just have to wait for that picture.
9. Try looking closer
Macro photography is a great adventure! Surprisingly beautiful surprises may be behind your macro lenses.
Beyond the fascinating miniature orchids that abound in Monteverde, going for macro photography in the rainforest is a neverending life passion for those who discover it early enough. Insects, mushrooms, moss, lichens, vines, and surrealistically shaped roots and tree trunks.
10. Don't shy away from unsettling moments
Nature may sometimes seem cruel but it is in these moments that the photographer can often find beauty and compelling stories.
Scenes of predators hunting or the struggle for survival are common subjects for wildlife photographers. While these events can be unsettling to witness, capturing them can provide unique images.
As a photographer in nature, we often find the most compelling stories and stunning images in the roughest moments of nature.
Photographers who specialize in wildlife often focus on scenes of danger or conflict. As unsettling as it may be to actually be present during one of these, the photographs that are taken of it are sure to be one of a kind.
A huge boa constrictor around a fat male iguana or a crocodile catching an egret can be disturbing yet breathtaking scenes to take.
11. Step back from your image
When you're working with hundreds or even thousands of photos, it's often tempting to immediately dismiss one for being strangely framed or slightly out of focus.
You may be unsure of an image when we are shooting, but once you see it on the big screen of the computer, it looks much better.
But sometimes it gets even cooler, and you're photographing a toucan perched on a nearby branch while a wildcat watches from behind.
12. Pay special attention to the light
In the outdoor nature of landscape and wildlife photography, light is a crucial component.
It is much more challenging to achieve dynamic, soft, and colorful results when shooting in the middle of the day as direct, unfiltered sunlight reflects extremely bright colors.
Most nature photographers avoid shooting in direct sunlight by waiting until the "golden hours" of sunrise and sunset. These times of day produce a dreamy, romantic quality in the natural light that brings out the true colors of the subject.
13. Use the rule of thirds
The "rule of thirds" is one of the best and easiest ways to make your landscape photos look like they were taken by a pro.
When we shoot landscapes, unless you’re shooting rolling vistas, it can be hard to pick out obvious focal points or even a horizon line. So for a beginner, it can be helpful to imagine two horizontal lines and two vertical lines in the viewfinder or on the screen.
If we look at the cloud forest photography above, we may think that there is no horizon line.
However, when we place the lines on the image underneath you may see that a branch is deciding the lower horizon, and the skyline is defining the one above.
What do you want to show? The sky or the forest? Depending on your answer that is where the lines go.
In order to help you take the perfect picture, some cameras have a grid camera mode that superimposes a 3x3 grid on the screen.
14. Coming in or going out?
When you take a picture of a moving target, you must place it accordingly in the grid.
If it is coming in, the picture has a story to tell. If it is coming out, the story seems to have been told already.
Look at the flying bird underneath, in the first picture we don’t have space for imagination. It flies out, it goes somewhere we don’t know.
In the following picture, the bird is coming into the picture and there is a story to imagine for us.
15. Play with depth of field
Getting into some of the more fine-tuned details of photography, you can explore the depth of field. Common subjects in nature photographs include birds and flowers. Use a larger aperture (f/2.0 or f/2.8) in these situations to help isolate your subject from its surroundings.
The depth of field is affected by the lens's aperture, which resolves how much of the foreground and background are in focus.
A larger aperture marks a more superficial depth of field, which blurs the background and pulls the viewer's eye to the foreground.
Check one and the other from different perspectives to get the most out of your subject. Especially if we are talking flora, but also insects.
16. Get creative
Monteverde Cloud Forests offers infinite opportunities for landscape, macro, and wildlife photography, so, if you are into it, enjoy it freely! Bring your ideas in, try new things, and play with the camera and the light.
Do it differently from all you have seen, go for the detail, use close-ups where you have seen everyone using wide shots, go down to the ground, and take vertical shots from above. Go beyond! That is what art is about!
17. Always be respectful of the natural world
Nature photography is amazing and we can take many great photos while being fully respectful of what lives around us.
Not manipulating wildlife to take pictures is essential.
As a good example, we must not use flash when taking pictures on a night tour: Can you imagine what a bright flash does to the eyes of a frog that has the pupils fully dilated because it’s trying to survive in the dark?
Be careful, and know that humans are just one more creature in nature, and to show our appreciation the best is to witness it without interfering.
For Your Next Journey!
Taking fantastic pictures is a gift for the future. A way of expressing joy and awe that you can take home in the hope of reviving the wonder.
Using these tips and tricks will help you express what you want in a fuller way. And don’t forget, when you are staying at the Ocotea Boutique Hotel that you can share your pictures with us on Instagram and Facebook!
