THE WILDLIFE OF COSTA RICA

Before the Workshop
We will ask you for:
– some basic information about your equipment
– your photos/portfolio
– your expectations from the workshop

Based on this, Sudhir will chart out best practices for your set of equipment. He will review the images and judge the areas that need working on.

Communicating your expectations beforehand will ensure that Sudhir addresses them during individual interactions with you.

During the Workshop
– Sudhir will demonstrate the best way to approach and shoot the subjects and give deeper insights on their behavioural aspects.
– He will introduce the advanced custom function settings of your camera. A firm understanding of these settings will be your first step toward shooting like a pro.
– In the park, he will continually guide you based on the field conditions and subjects.
– Knowledge sharing and image review will continue through the evenings as Sudhir interacts with you with focused inputs to reinforce the day’s learning.
– You will have assignments to complete, giving you ample scope to assimilate and apply all that you have learnt.

The below topics will be covered and the participants will learn how to apply these concepts in wildlife photography.

Fundamental and Advanced Concepts of Photography:
Wildlife Photography Learning:
As a part of the workshop, the 4 important pillars of photography – Subject
Knowledge, Fundamental concepts of photography, Shooting Techniques /
Understanding your equipment and Post processing will be covered.
The below topics from the advanced fundamentals of photography will be
covered and you will learn how to apply these concepts in Wildlife photography.

– Importance of Subject Knowledge and understanding natural history
– The key to getting right colours – Use of White Balance
– In-depth understanding of Manual exposure (ISO, shutter speeds, Aperture)
– Understanding exposure – the 18% grey concept
– Diving deep into Metering modes (evaluative / matrix / Multi, spot metering)
– Exploring the AF points (both DSLR and Mirrorless)
– Exploring the advanced AF points for subject tracking
– Understanding the advanced menu options for auto focusing (for both DSLR
and Mirrorless)
– Depth of field (shallow, deep, hyper focal distance)
– Motion (freezing, blurring and panning)
– When to use what: Aperture priority, shutter priority or Manual
– Shooting techniques
– Accessories in wildlife photography

Topics of Composition (framing):
– Understanding light
– Rule of 1/3
– Vertical vs Horizontal
– Angle of shooting
– Avoiding Distractions
– Getting complementary foreground/background
– Catchlight and head turn

Creative Photography:
– Backlit / rim lighting image creation
– Capturing Behaviour
– Extreme Close-up
– Eye Level
– High / Low key images
– Foreground OOF Images
– Portraits vs Habitat
– Using Reflections
– Complementary background
– Signature Shots
– Story Telling

Post-Processing:
During the course of the workshop, you will be taken through the fundamentals of
image processing and the following topics will be covered (Processing using
Lightroom and ACR / Photoshop will be covered):

– Fundamentals of colour management.
– Lightroom essentials: The Library and Develop modules of LR
– Importing and metadata of images into LR
– Key wording
– Filtering images
– RAW processing workflow covering advanced tools of LR

During the Field Outing:
During the field outing, your mentor Sudhir Shivaram will help you make memorable images. Inputs provided on the field will enable you make the most of the opportunity.

The teaching and learning will not stop after the workshop. In fact this is just the starting point. You will be part of the SSP community of the SSP website where your learning and interactions with fellow photographers continues.

Nov 25 – Arrival in SJO International Airport in Costa Rica
Upon arrival, you will be transferred to our hotel in San Jose in a private van. The drive from the airport to the hotel takes approximately 25 minutes depending on traffic.

Nov 26 – Drive to the Talamanca Highlands: Hummingbirds & Quetzal Tour
After an early breakfast, we will make our way up to the Talamanca Highlands. The drive to the highlands is approximately 2.5 hours long, as soon as we arrive we will be photographing hummingbirds in natural light. Some of the species of hummingbirds we will encounter on this day are Fiery-throated Hummingbird, Lesser Violetear, Talamanca Hummingbird, Volcano Hummingbird & White-throated Mountain-gem. After lunch, we will go in search of the most sought-after bird in Costa Rica, the Resplendent Quetzal. We will spend close to 3 hours looking for this enigmatic bird at some very reliable spots. After getting some pictures we will go back to our lodge where we will spend the following two nights.

Nov 27 – Quetzal Tour Am – Feeders – Quetzal Tour PM
We will have an early start today to go for our second chance of getting pictures of the Resplendent Quetzal. It will be a short drive to the Quetzal location and again, we will spend close to 3 hours at this site in hopes of getting excellent pictures. We will return to our hotel for a late breakfast. The rest of the morning will be spent in photographing from the deck and around the hotel grounds. In the afternoon we will have a third Quetzal Tour.

Nov 28 – Multiflash session and drive to our lodge in the Caribbean lowlands
We will spend most of the morning photographing hummingbirds with the multiflash technique. Then will check out from our lodge and start our drive towards the Caribbean lowlands. The drive takes approximately 5 hours.

Nov 29- Full Day Private Property Feeders
After breakfast, we will go on a 45-minute drive to a private property, where we will spend the full day photographing birds at feeders. Chestnut-headed Oropendola, Orange-chinned Parakeet, Golden-hooded Tanager, Red-legged & Green Honeycreepers are all possible today.
Additionally, there is an optional walk in the forest to look for Spectacled & Crested Owls, with luck some trogons and the cute Honduran White Bats.
At this location, we can also do a macro session of poison and glass frogs.

Nov 30 – Macaws in flight in the morning and Private Feeders in the afternoon
After breakfast, we will drive to a private property to photograph Scarlet and Great-green Macaws.
In the afternoon we will visit a different location where we will photograph birds at feeders. Crimson-collared, Scarlet-rumped & Dusky-faced Tanagers, Green-honeycreeper, Collared Aracari, and Black-cheeked Woodpecker are just a few of the birds that come to the feeders. Besides we will keep our eyes open as the activity in this yard is usually very good and it can produce birds like Lineated, Smoky and Golden Olive Woodpeckers, Slaty-tailed & Gartered Trogons, along with White- collared Manakin and many more!

Dec 1- Check out and drive to our lodge in the rain forest
After breakfast, we will do the check-out and depart to our next destination, the drive takes only about 2 hours. Once we arrive, we will be photographing from the deck. Yellow -throated & Keel-billed Toucans, Montezuma Oropendola, Brown-hooded Parrots, Red-legged, Green & Shining Honeycreepers, Black-cheeked Woodpeckers and with luck the very attractive Chestnut-colored Woodpecker are all possible on this day.

Dec 2 – Photography from the deck and King Vulture Hide
Before breakfast, we will photograph from the deck and by mid-morning we will go to a hide to photograph the extremely elusive King Vulture. The rest of the day we will take pictures from the deck at the lodge. More opportunities for Yellow- throated & Keel-billed Toucans, Montezuma Oropendola, Brown-hooded Parrot, Red-legged, Green & Shining Honeycreepers.

Dec 3 – Last photography session and departure to San Jose
We will have our last morning session at the lodge deck and leave before lunch to San Jose. We will make a stop at a local feeder where there are possibilities to photograph new species of birds. Red-headed & Prong- billed Barbets, Crimson Collared Tanager, Common Chlorospingus, Violet Sabrewing, the endemic Coppery-headed Emerald, and more can be photographed here.

Dec 4 – International Departure

Depending on your flight schedule you can have one last Costa Rican breakfast at the hotel and then you will be transferred to the airport for your international flight home.

Price per person: USD $6000 on double occupancy
Price Per Person: USD $6500 on single Occupancy
INR 4,98,000 (Double Occupancy) / INR 5,39,500 (Single Occupancy) – For INR calculation we have considered 1USD = INR 83. The final pricing will be calculated based on the exchange rates at the time of final payment to vendors.

Group Size:
In order to for you to get personal photo guidance and the best experience with our photographer our groups are always small. On this tour the minimum and maximum number of guests are 8 / 12.

Photo Gear:
– A DSLR Camera.
– Telephoto lenses up to a 600mm.
– Wide-angle lens, like a 24-70mm.
– Tripod.
– A Laptop computer with any of the Photoshop or Lightroom software.
– Extra batteries, chargers etc.

YOUR CANCELLATION & REFUND
We understand that sometimes you unfortunately have to cancel a tour. Therefore, the following are the cancellation policies for our tours:

– 25% deposit is non refundable booking fee.
– Balance 75% to be paid 60 days prior to departure date.
– even though initial 25% booking fee will be non-refundable, in event of tour getting cancelled (for whatever reasons), we will refund full amount charged from the clients.

The below refund policy will be applicable to amount outside of the 25% deposit amount.
90-60 days before departure, 50% of above mentioned tour cost will be refunded.
59-31 days before departure, 25% of above mentioned tour cost will be refunded.
30 days or less before departure, no refund.

This policy also applies to pre- and post-trip extensions. Any airline tickets issued are subject to the carrier’s refund policy. Leaving a tour in progress will not result in a refund, and no refunds will be made for any unused portions of a tour.

All cancellation notices must be received in writing and emailed to [email protected]

TOUR CANCELLATION

We reserve the right to cancel the tour due to few guests that have signed up for the tour, strikes, war, natural disasters or other unforeseen circumstances that make the tour inappropriate. If a tour is canceled prior to departure, you will be fully refunded.

We are not responsible for any refund for non-refundable airline tickets or for any airline tickets purchased by the passenger directly from an airline or travel agent.

In the event of the photo leader being unable to attend due to illness or other circumstances beyond our control, a photo leader will be provided.

EXCHANGE RATES AND PRICE CHANGE

Our tours are based on different currencies and exchange rates. The currency and rate used for calculating are listed under the “Cost” sections of the tour page. In terms of fluctuations in exchange rates a surcharge will be invoiced. Notification will be given at the time of final invoicing.

The prices are subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances such as increase in fuel prices, government surcharges and other increases beyond our control. While we will do everything possible to maintain the listed prices, if it is necessary to levy a surcharge, we reserve the right to do so, and notification will be given at the time of final invoicing.