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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Planning a trip to Costa Rica - some questions | |
Hola! Not a regular member with many photos but I did 3 trips to Costa Rica, 9 weeks in total, with about the same general idea as yours: to get nice photos. First a link to those we were able to produce on our last visit (just to give you some sense of what an average photographer can get in Costa Rica):
Costa Rica 2013 - http://tinyurl.com/nz553rd
Now to answer some of your questions:
December to March is so called dry season, yet there are many weather patterns for such a small country. If Osa then do go in that time period. But avoid both xmas and New Year. Best would be second half of January. Then July is a good month, a break in so called rain season. Or, if you are a birder, the two migration months (check out google for more about bird migration).
Seven days is a bit short; although the country is (relatively) small, driving times between different locations are longer than you would think. General idea is to allocate 3 days to each location.
Osa peninsula is one of the most appreciated wildlife areas; specially Corcovado N.P. But it is also at the far end of the country, and logistically is not an easy destination. If renting a car you could do Carara (with Tarcoles river) and Osa (without Corcovado) in one trip; if Tortuguero will be one of your targets then you should add Sarapiqui area as the second location on that side of Costa Rica.
If going to Osa peninsula, for your amount of time, stay somewhere on Cabo Matapalo area; if costs of Bosque del Cabo are within your budget, do stay there. They have almost all the wildlife that you can find also inside Corcovado (if you will see them, well, that depends on how lucky, or how patient, you are). If you will stay closer to Puerto Jimenez, then renting a car is obligatory, to make daily drives towards Cabo Matapalo and Carate.
Definitively, hiring a private guide is a way to go. They might not be pro photographers but they all have experiences photographing inside rain forest where light conditions are very different / difficult. As for joining a specialised photo tour, depends on your personal taste. I prefere private guides. You van search the net for names, or ask on travel forums like Tripadvisor, or even PM me for a couple of names. However, there are many and to my experiences they are all very good, both with scope and with camera.
I haven't find landscapes in Costa Rica to be very impressive (to me anyway). So most of the photos were about wildlife, birds and monkeys. Definitively take your fastest lens; for general photography 24-105 is more useful as 17-55. As Dorian have already said, an external flash with a BB is a great aid inside the tropical rain forest. The wildlife you will take photos of will move so tripod will be useless. Bring your monopod but I think most of your shooting will be hand held.
Above all, have fun. Luckily for you Costa Rica is close, so return visit is almost guaranteed!
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