Workshops And Tours

COSTA RICA 2013

Art of Biodiversity with Greg Basco and Foto Verde Tours


For the past couple of years, my good friend Greg Basco of Foto Verde Tours and I have been talking about doing a tour together with the hopes to expose like minded photographers to the wonders of Costa Rica’s incredible biodiversity. This tour would take photographers to a few of our favourite places where the rainforest light can be challenging at the best of times. Greg and I will work with you in the field discussing various techniques and strategies required for successful rainforest photography. While the date is not set,  following is a sample itinerary with images ( thumbnails on the right )  taken from the locations indicated below. Be sure to check out  Greg's incredible images from Costa Rica at  Deep Green Photography.  Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions regarding this tour.   If you would like to be notified when a date is set,  please subscribe to my mailing list here or from my blog where you will also receive regular blog updates as new material is posted.


Sample Itinerary

Day 1:  Arrive in Costa Rica. One of Greg’s representatives will meet you and transfer you to your hotel where Greg and myself will be awaiting your arrival. If you arrive early, the hotel has beautiful tropical grounds that provide plenty of orchids and flowers to photograph.


Day 2 – 4:  After breakfast we travel to the atlantic lowland forests of the Sarapiqui region. Here, our lodge rooms are elevated above ground giving you a unique perspective of the surrounding tropical rainforest. Greg has set up bird feeders offering opportunities to photograph a variety of bird species including tanagers, oropendula’s, colorful aracaris and toucans! The area is also home to poison frogs, tree frogs, basilisk lizards and other wildlife to put our macro photography skills to the test. The lodge's forest reserve also provides us with the opportunity for landscape photography of the lush surrounding rainforest.


Day 5 – 7:  After breakfast we travel to the Arenal Volcano area. The Lodge offers fantastic views of Lake Arenal (great for sunsets) and boasts one of the best photographic viewpoints of the infamous Arenal volcano. The grounds also offer many opportunities to photograph a variety of bird species. From here, we will also embark on a side trip to photograph a private collection of snakes, lizards and frogs that are sometimes difficult to find in the wild. This is the only place I know where you can be within a few inches of an eyelash viper and live to tell about it! We will also head out to a nearby wildlife reserve to photograph a variety of rainforest wildlife which may include the Rufuos Tailed Jacamar , Boat Billed Herons along with a variety of colorful bird species.

Day 8, – 11:  On day 8 we travel to central volcanic mountain region of Costa Rica. The lodge is located on a private rainforest reserve that is simply beautiful and peaceful. Orchid and bromeliad trails along with cloud forest mountain streams and waterfalls provide plentiful photographic opportunities. The area is great for hummingbird photography where Greg and Fab will put the multi flash set ups to use for some great hummingbird images. We will also head to a nearby area where hummingbird photography will be the main focus but we will also have the opportunity to photograph a spectacular 110 meter high waterfall and cliffs along the surrounding cloud forest
tropical foliage. After a morning session around the lodge grounds on Day 11, we pack up head back to the hotel near San Jose where we can relax and spend some time photographing the orchids in the gardens before an evening farewell dinner.     

Day 12:  Private transfer to the airport for your flights home.