Surfing

Tamarindo in the Guanacaste Region of Costa Rica is a surfing mecca and a delight. It boasts warm waters, sandy beaches and best of all a steady swell coming off the blue waters of the Pacific Ocean. There are beautiful beach breaks to be found everywhere. The town of Tamrindo caters to surfers with plenty of surf shops, lessons and easy access to the beach as the town fronts the playa. Walking around town we saw plenty of surfers carrying their boards to and from the beach. For a photographer even though I am not a surf photographer I was immediately drawn into capturing the action and beauty of surfing. It is quite addictive and harder than I expected to get a great image. You really have to work to keep the surfers composed in the right spot in the frame and make sure the horizon in the background is straight. It is quite challenging and fun. Enjoy the images and have a blessed evening, chris

Some Costa Rican Birds

Recently as many of you are aware I spent close to almost two weeks on a family vacation to Costa Rica. Even though it was family oriented I still managed to squeeze in some bird photography. One bird that I really wanted to see on this vacation was a Crested Caracara Eagle. I got to see three and I photographed one of them! What surprised me most about it was that was walking along the roadside hunting for roadkill in the form of grass hoppers that had been hit by cars! The lighting was pretty low but I was just so excited to see and photograph one in the wild. One oddity I didn't expect was the tree ducks landing on telephone wires. I also photographed them on a tree which looked a lot better but it wasn't as unique to me as the ducks on a wire. I photographed quite a number of common species such as egrets, herons and grackles. One of the more common species I photographed was the White Bellied Magpie Jay. The name is quite a mouthful for a really cool looking bird.I also got to photograph Thick Knees and a Broad Billed Heron. Some birds I just documented because I had no clue as to what they were. I really wish I had more time to photograph many other birds that I saw from a distance. There are some pretty amazing birds to be seen in Costa Rica. I think I just barely just barely scratched the surface of what can be found and photographed there. God's love and blessings to all of you, chris All images created with a canon 7D and a Tamron 150-600 exposures and settings varied.

Waiting for the Sunrise

This morning I set my camera up on our deck at six thirty two a.m. waiting for the sunrise. Sunrise for our location on earth in the Northern hemisphere was forecast or predicted to be at six twenty seven a.m. So what was I doing setting up my camera for the sunrise after the forecast time? I was waiting for the sun to rise over the mountains which in my location takes another eight minutes or so depending upon which peak the sun as to rise above or the earth to rotate past if you really put your mind to it. The vast majority of sunrise and sunset calculations don't take into account the mountains. I can't count all of the times i have sat waiting and wondering when the sun or the moon was going to rise. It's like a big surprise when it pops up. Here is a sequence of this mornings smoky sunrise. God's light and precious love to all, chris