A few rainy-ish hours is not nearly enough time to capture an area, but here is my attempt. We had an amazing guide named, Jose, who delivered the entire tour in Spanish and some bird calls thrown in for good measure. He was actually able to call over some birds that he heard off in the distance, who who flew over to check out our little group. The bird below is a Violaceous-Trogon. Yes, I had to look that up when I returned. My Spanish is a bit lacking.
After a bit of a walk up through the forest, we took a aerial tram through the trees to gain a different vantage point. From up above we were able to see a rather small and unassuming looking snake that we were told was an eyelash pit viper. They are typically yellow and very poisonous, but this one was a juvenile, brownish-gray and impossible to get a photo of while we were on a moving tram shooting into the dark under-canopy below. So you will just have to take my word for it that we barely escaped with our lives…
Let me make a bit of a note about traveling with photo gear. Packing for a trip that offeres photo oportunites, but not much time to spend actually setting up shots, is ridiculously hard for me. Sort of like packing for a trip with my real children, starting in the snow and moving to a warm climate. And making sure all of the items I bring with me will fit in a carry-on. Parents of young children out there will understand this dilemma.
So this is the type of trip when having a really fast lens makes all the difference. Also one with a bit of a zoom. I brought 2 with me on our trip. My Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L, and I opted to take my smaller, but longer, Canon EF Zoom lens 70 mm-300 mm, F/4.0-5.6, which I find disappointing because of the flatness of the images it produces and lack of control I have over light with such a slow lens. But it beats carrying around my far nicer, but much heavier Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8. I think in retrospect I should have sucked it up, but, what can you do? My poor friend, T, already had to stand there in the middle of the rain while I switched from my short to long lens so that I could go from capturing an orchid to the sloth that was hanging around up above.
Archive for the ‘tips’ Category
Braulio Carrillo National Park, Costa Rica
Burrrr
It’s cold out there. Take some photos and enjoy looking through them, all warm and toasty, in front of your computer.
Okay, I admit it. These were taken on a porch. But beauty is everywhere to be found. Even from a front porch.
Snowy Snow Owl
So it is time to play a little catch up. It has been “vacation” for us here. We filled the last week with holidays, family, friends, broken noses, severed fingers, good meals, birthdays and all sorts of other things that make vacations great and even when not so great… memorable.
Here are a couple I just found of Dunes building her Snow-Snowy Owl in our backyard while Griffin napped.
Note: I got a few smiles. Turns out Christmas, snow, and snowballs are all things that will bring out smiles without much prodding.
Here she is testing out her omnipotent powers and making it snow. Who knew bamboo trees were ever greens? They stay green throughout the winter.
Of course all Snow-Mama Snowy owls have their nest of eggs to protect from the predators of Providence. There are quite a few. You can ask Dunedin and she will give you a list.
Again, smiles. Before I jinx it, let me share my latest technique for getting my children to smile at my camera. Slapstick. Mommy falls, mommy walks into walls, mommy cannot hit child with snowball to save her own hide, mommy tries to talk but only squawking comes out… This sort of thing. Give it a try. Someone is sure to get a laugh.
Creativity is all about perspective
Sometimes what it takes for a little inspiration is just changing the venue. 
One of the greatest things about having kids, for me as a photographer, is that my world view is changed irrevocably with their presence. I will never be able to look at a pine cone without thinking of it as a “porcupine-fish”, as my daughter described one once or as a projectile, as my son demonstrates often. What I mean to say is I try to use this childhood perspective in my own life to see things in a new way. When applied to photography, I have been thinking more and more about how to *see* with fresh eyes the things that are all around me. Here is a little photo/creativity exercise:
Pick a subject and decide to capture it in as many ways as possible. At least 8. Use your toothbrush, anything. Just change your perspective. I bet you will find the first 4 easy then it starts to get harder.
I have been reading this book : How to Be an Explorer of the World: Portable Life Museum by Keri Smith. I found her book after stumbling upon her blog entry 10 ways to infuse your work with your personality Which is a good read if you are feeling like you need a kick in the creative rump.
How to photograph children and other ways to entertain kids for a half hour
I often get asked about tips for photographing children. I have a photographer friend that replies “hire me to do it for you” to this question. I imagine -although he is a great photographer- you may not always want a middle aged guy accompanying you on all of your family outings. So here are a few tips:
- Start with some cute kids. Look under the coffee table-that’s where I often find mine. I would lend you D and G, but they have started noting their worth and therefor are charging modeling fees
- Decide to devote 20-30 minutes taking photos. But schedule that in a 2-3 hour period to be out and about. That way if one location (nap time, feeding time) isn’t working, just move to the next.
- FIND GOOD LIGHT. This means 1st and foremost: Turn off your flash. You may need to consult your camera manual, but the results will be worth it. You are now going to look for:
- a large area for play that is in Open Shade. (You can check out the lovely PioneerWoman Blog for some more on this) For example: The woods, the forest, or a wooded area (get the hint?). Or, for something different like below, the side of a building or under a tree (with lots of leaf cover). What you don’t want is to be out in the bright sun. You will have harsh shadows, blown out areas of your photograph, squinting kids and you may all overheat causing the whole endeavor to break down. Unless your kids will sit still facing away from sun and you can control your camera settings to expose the face well with overblown hair highlights. Then knock yourself out.
- It would be very ideal is to find an area where the sun is reflecting off a wall into the shaded area where your kids are playing.
- Also not to be overlooked is an overcast day. Take them to a playground or for a walk on the beach or in a field. A cloudy sky works like an enormous soft box (fancy lighting equipment). But now you will have to make sure that there is enough light without using a flash.
- Okay, so you have your kids they are playing on the old rock wall, next to the big red barn or (as in the case here) on the stairs leading to the Natural History Museum in Providence.
Now what do you do? Step back and see how far back you can take a shot without it looking too wide. Does it make sense to add the tree or the whole entrance to your composition? Perhaps. Are there large garbage cans on the side that won’t add to your shot- zoom in or move in - Let them play and capture them doing so. If necessary prompt them. Ideas if you are feeling rusty:
- Have them tell you as story about who lives here. (or you can tell them one)
- Play hide and seek. Chase them, let them chase you. Inspire joy, you know, be their dorky parent- make faces and pop out from behind the camera.
- Sneeze, make animal noises, sing songs, have them sing songs. JUST DON’T SAY CHEESE.
- Have them show you how high they can jump, loud they can scream, fast they can run, quiet they can tiptoe… then you show them what a grown up can do.
- Fire away. And delete often. No one (well maybe Grandma) wants to see 300 blurry, blinky photos. But you should have at least some in there that capture who your child is. And if not, you will have a lovely memory of a day well spent with the kids.
P.S. Then again, if all else fails, you could always hire me to do it- But you better practice your monkey noises.. 
