‚ Miscellaneous‚
Costa Rican Rainforest

The Mangrove Swamp By Boat

One of the days was devoted to touring theRio Aquinasdelta in a small boat. With a 6 foot range between high and low tide the mouth of the river is a mangrove swamp and home to a huge variety of both aquatic and avian life. The numbers of birds found nesting in the mangroves was truly astonishing. Once again the use of an Image Stabilized lens made all the difference between being able to get shots and missing them due to movement of the boat.

Flacon & Branch‚ Costa Rica, 2001

Photographed with a Canon EOS D30 and 100~400mm f/5.6L lens @ 400mm
1/500 sec @ f/8‚ ISO 400 

Beyond the mangrove swamp theAquinasstarts to meander though a countryside dominated by cattle ranches. This is one of the contradictions about Costa Rica; it has some 25% of its total land area devoted to national parks and eco-reserves, yet it is deforesting at a rate greater than almost any Latin American country.

This photograph was taken from the boat and shows the richness of the landscape away from the jungle‚ where flowering trees line the river banks and birds of every type are the dominant animal life.

Foliage

Ferns‚ Costa Rica, 2001

Photographed with a Canon EOS D30 and 100mm f/2.8 Macro lens
1/180 sec @ f/9.5‚ ISO 200 

While wildlife fascinates and attracts, the rainforest is first and foremost about vegetation‚ an almost unimaginable profusion of sizes and shapes. This photograph is one attempt to capture a feeling for the density not to mention the beauty of the vegetation.

Spiders‚ Oh My!

Spider‚ Costa Rica, 2001

Photographed with a Canon EOS D30 and 100~400mm f/5.6L lens @ 400mm
1/90 sec @ f/9.5‚ ISO 400 using Canon 550EX flash @ -1 withBetter BeamerFlash Extender

No, this wasn’t taken with a macro lens! It was taken at 400mm. This guy is about 4 inches in length. He was encountered on a forest trail and just as quickly avoided.

This portfolio consists of 4 sections in addition to this page.

The Rainforest

Monkeys

Birds

Iguanas