Would you like to take a trip?  In our new series on travel photography we’ll explore the beautiful country of Costa Rica.  We’ll use this scenic Central American country to illustrate many types of photography as well as share lessons learned.  This full course is also available on lynda.com and you can subscribe to watch the entire thing on their site.

https://youtu.be/gLKfm3rzB88

We’re gonna take a photographic safari and explore the country, but it’s not just about seeing the country, it’s gonna be a chance to learn tons of techniques that you could use out in the field. This is a very diverse country with lots of challenging photographic situations, so you’re gonna see how to shoot in those conditions and how to make some great shots. But the cool thing here is that you could take this knowledge and apply it to lots of places. Costa Rica has a lot of unique features, but it shares a lot of things in common with other Central America and South American countries, so this is gonna give you skills that you can use on your next trip.

This course is organized geographically. Now that may sound strange, but I just group things by how the country was, where we visited, and each situation is then broken down in the activities that we did there. I think this is gonna be easier because you can now search for the type of photography that you’re interested in. For example, when we go out into the rainforest, and we are photographing animals, that’s all grouped together versus when we go down a zip line, so let’s take a look at how this course is actually structured. First up, we’re gonna talk a bit about getting ready for the trip.

What gear do you need? What sort of things should you pack? What does this country hold? So you sort of know what Costa Rica is like and how you’re gonna get around the country. (upbeat music) Then, we’ll start with Monteverde, which is a very cool mountain town. Now this town is remote and the rental car companies, some of the tour places won’t want to take you there because it’s really rough going. You drive about 10 miles an hour to get there, but it is just filled with fantastic shooting opportunities.