Costa Rica is easily one of the most wildlife rich places I’ve ever travelled. I’ve never had so many amazing opportunities to take wildlife photos than I did here. I’m not a professional photographer, it’s just a hobby. Not all of these photos are perfect, but I hope you enjoy them. The majority were taken at Tortuguero National Park, all photos are mine unless stated.

Photos above George The Explorer

My photography Gear

Are you interested in starting out in photography? Then take a look at some of my key equipment, where I bought it and why I like it. All tried and tested by me ?

Camera

They come in all shapes and sizes! I shoot with a Sony A7 II E-mount, the Sony mirrorless range is a great balance between DSLR and compact. I used to have a Canon DSLR until I saw the opportunity to downsize in terms of weight, but not sacrifice quality. It also has a 5-axis image stabilisation built in, helping you get the perfect focus and steady video, that coupled with a good lens (below) is perfect for me

If money was no object: Sony A7R II or Sony A7S II (better for video)

Lens

There’s a whole range of e-mount Sony lenses, and you can also get the adaptor for other brands, it’s quite overwhelming choosing a lens. I wanted one lens, as with Canon I had 3 and hated constantly changing them over, not to mention the space in my bag. Therefore I went for the Sony E-mount zoom lens 24-240mm. As a full frame lens it offers a wide angle coupled with a long zoom. However I do find sometimes it lets you down at low light and I’d rather have an even wider angle, so you have to find your balance.

If money was no object: Sony FE 16-35mm F2.8 (for low light and wide angle, and also enough zoom for everyday photography). Or the Sony FE 100-400mm (for high zoom and wildlife with an amazing crisp image)

Point and shoot Camera

A small versatile camera, for vlogging & photography. For me it was a toss up between the Sony RX100 range and the Canon G7X range. Both amazing cameras, but the slow mo options on the Sony won me over and I went for the Sony RX100 mark 4. It’s such a fun camera, and if I want to travel light I can take only this and still expect great photos!

Accessories

Backpack – a light weight, padded backpack is vital and I’m a backpack geek, I have a lot! Again choosing the right one is a minefield. I get most of my accessories from Calumet, who have great service, price and quality. I have the Calumet Pro Series 740 Medium Backpack, there are larger and smaller available, but this is the perfect size for me. Check out the full Calumet Backpack range.

Shoulder strap – a strap that connects to the tripod mount rather than the standard camera strap is vital for me. It keeps your hands free, it’s comfortable and makes life a lot easier for shooting on the go, take a look at the BlackRapid Street Breathe.

Tripod – OK they are a pain to carry, but for night photography, cinemographs and video they are vital. I shoot a lot of video, so a fluid head for panning is important to me. This is the Prima Photo Video Kit and I love it.

This article was written in collaboration with Calumet, however all of the content, photos and views are my own.

 

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