i've been contemplating a trip down there for a few years -
(from my nikon days, there's a workshop guy who specializes in birds and small critters Steve Gettle who i've traveled with previously and who goes down there almost every year and i've been trying to hook up with again) -
a few Qs, if you have time to reply (given that you generally set the bar, your experience would be really appreciated by pudknockers like me):
1. what cities did you stay in and how did you scout your trip locations/ideas, etc.
2. was this time of year based on your personal schedule or is that an ideal time to go down there
3. lens usage (after i'm back for a month or so and have selected my 'winners', usually about 4% of my shots, i like to get a 'count' of lens usage of those 'winners' to see what was most useful for a given trip/region)
Thank you very much, Eric! Either join a work shop,like you mentioned, or hire a CR professional guide who is also a photographer. He or she should know local guides/biologists that have intimate knowledge of those specific areas. Don't even bother doing it on your own. There were two species of bats we encountered. One was hiding/sleeping under a banana leave. Who could figure that out among millions of banana leaves? The other one was found sleeping along the Sarapiqui River, under a huge tree trunk on the water side. It was simply impossible to find otherwise. We selected the second option.
1. We stayed at a lodge in Sarapiqui area for 4 nights and based the short trips to various ecosystems from there. In general the travel time from and to those about an hour or less. The last night we stayed in San Jose. We checked out and left the hotel at 4:00AM to go to a higher location to the south to photograph quetzals, the most colorful bird in Central America.
2. Peak season is the dry season from October to February. But it would be more crowded, I understood. We went at the low season. We gambled actually and got lucky with respect to the weather.
3. That's a tough question. Let me put it this way. At this point, Sony doesn't have the right lens for this kind of photography, except the macro lens that I used quite a bit for frogs, tiny snakes, etc. Frankly, the AF of the mirrorless system cameras right now is not adequate. Quite a few of the shots you see was either pre focused or manually focused. Again, I got lucky in that respect and i am counting my blessings. I cannot give you much if any advice on lenses. My main lens is Canon 400mm f/2.8 Mark II, which is a truly superb performer alright but a little on the short end. I used a 1.4X TC quite a bit, too though.
Hope this helps and feel free to contact me for more info if you have more questions.
Joshua - thank you for the detailed reply - notably, your comment on Sony not yet having the right lenses for such a trip is a major reason i haven't taken it yet (although i had the 90 macro for a while and loved it, i just don't do much macro and went the 85mm route instead). In my Nikon days i had their 400/2.8 but now i'd just rent such a beast (it will be nice when that is available along with a faster focusing Sony body).
Great work as always and thanks for taking the time to reply in detail, eric.
Lots of great work on the last few pages, as always.
A few photos with Sony A7 from my weekend trip to Jotunheimen in Norway. Highly recommended place for hiking. Cabins are set up so that you can walk from cabin to cabin for several days, while staying warm in the evening (DNT cabins). One of my favourite destinations in Norway, both winter and summer.
Great images just wish I could keep up!!!! No matter what he posts, Joshua is hard to follow..... Great Hummingbird Pic.
CubaOcho Museum and Performing Arts Center
This unique place in Little Havana is designed as an art gallery to promote all expressions of arts, with live music, cocktails and cigars.
Ronny Olsson wrote:
Great shots Joshua ! Really looking forward to upcoming shots.. Impressed Iso also
Thank you very much, Ronny! It would be great if we could get together next year in Lofoten with Philippe, Bobby, Luz and Chris. Maybe Manuel can join us, too
Greggf wrote:
I repeat everything Ronny just said!! Great images these pages.
Joshua...that little ass viper has a very serious look to him! I got awfully close
So I picked up a Contax N70-200 3.5/4.5 to compliment the 24-85 I have(had)...could not get the 70-200 to cooperate with the Kipon adapter at all!! So I found a Fringer v2 adapter for a relatively good price so now I've got a long(ish) lens for our camping trips. So far I really like it. Sold off the N24-85 and decided to keep my 35-70, which goes really well with the N70-200.
Gregg
A7rll and Contax N70-200 w/Fringer AF adapter...Show more →
Thank you very much, Gregg! That is really an excellent lens. It would give the GM a run for the money. Nice images you got there, Gregg!
bowens wrote:
Great images just wish I could keep up!!!! No matter what he posts, Joshua is hard to follow..... Great Hummingbird Pic.
CubaOcho Museum and Performing Arts Center
This unique place in Little Havana is designed as an art gallery to promote all expressions of arts, with live music, cocktails and cigars.
A7rII and Batis 25
Butch
Thank you very much, Butch! That is one of those lucky shots I mentioned earlier.
Great images from Cuba! I would like to go there one of these days. I am not quite sure when at this point....
My thoughts exactly!
Really looking forward to upcoming shots.. Impressed Iso also 
