Costa Rica's Osa Peninsula
We host our Costa Rica workshop on the Osa Peninsula because it is the the "most biologically intense place on earth" according to National Geographic. On our first day of the workshop we toured the grounds of the elegant Botanika Resort and were treated to a spat between a Northern Tamadua Anteater and a troop of White-Faced Capuchin Monkeys.
Our photographers can walk around the grounds in between photoshoots and photograph any of the animals on this page.
Rainforest Photography
Photographing in the rainforest canopy is fast paced and exciting. You never know when a photo stop with a troop of monkeys will be interrupted by a toucan flying in to snatch lunch or a secretive Motmot cooing from a branch.
We teach a class on canopy photography on the first day of the workshop followed by a more advanced class on wildlife photography on day 2. Our air-conditioned conference is a great break the action of our daily photo excursions away from the lodge.
The Sloth Garden
Sloth photography is great because they move so slow! No need for high shutter speeds for an animal that barely moves. This year we had a baby Three-toed Sloth quite low in the canopy. He started out in a sleeping pose and then moved on to a full extended view. Photographing at La Perica Sloth Garden is always a highlight for our group.
Macro Photography
Our favorite macro session of the year happens in Costa Rica. We have access to a dozen specimens of frogs, snakes and lizards all perched on colorful native flowers. We photograph with both natural and continuous light.
As an added bonus this year we had a pair of Fiery-billed Aracari fly into our macro area. We dropped what we were doing and followed them around the property. As we were finishing the macro session a Baird's Trogon flew in.....well....you get the picture!
Macaws, Toucans and Trogons
Tom and I are huge fans of bird photography. One of the reasons we love the Osa Peninsula so much is that it has the largest population of Scarlet Macaws in Central America. This year we even photographed Scarlet Macaws from our balcony at sunrise.
Costa Rica is a wonderful place to see and photography large colorful species of birds that you don't see in many other places.
Flower Photography
Bring your macro lens when you come to Costa Rica because there is always something to photograph at your feet. We taught a class on lighting and light painting in the conference room before looking for macro subjects in the field.
Everywhere we go we are surrounded by flowers in Costa Rica. We go at a prime time for blossoms and It is a paradise for flower lovers.
Seaside Palms
For our final excursion of the workshop we crossed the Golfo Dulce in a speed boat to explore the pristine National Park on the other side. This gave us a great vantage point to photograph the tropical landscape and search for shorebirds in the mangroves.
A big thanks to our 10 photographers, theirs spouses for joining us, and to our wonderful guide Eduardo!
Join us in Costa Rica, we go back every year
Costa Rica 2026 - 2 spaces available
Costa Rica 2027 - several spaces available
Credits:
Tom Bol and Cree Bol