costa rican cloud forest photography questions

[skip_wilson]

<p>Hi, I'm traveling to Costa Rica in late March and will be in Guanacaste coastal areas, followed by the Monteverde Cloud Rain Forest and Arenal Volcano areas. I plan on using my Nikon D90 with the 18-200 lens and my Nikon 50mm Ais micro closeup lens and will probably need my Bogen 321 tripod with Kirk B1 ballhead. What precautions with humidity will I need out in the cloud forest, will I need my Nikon 600 flash, what might be the best white balance to use considering lighting there? Any other suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you. Skip Wilson</p>

[noreen]

<p>I was in those areas this past summer and didn't take any precautions with my D300 and 70-300 VR. The best advice I can probably give is to be sure you bring more memory than you think you'll need!</p>

<p>The wildlife there is fantastic. I hope to go back someday. Until then, I can only envy you. Enjoy your trip!</p>

[stemked]

<p>Note: the national parks do not allow the use of flash (at least that was what it was like when I was there). The private reserves are generally fine.<br>

When it rains it REALLY rains. But otherwise you'll be fine. I took a lot of splendid wildlife images even though I was limited by the group of students I was traveling with. Will be going back in May with another group of students.</p>

[photoprospect]

<p>You may want to bring some silica gel as - while there might not be any immediate issues - fungi build-up can occur long-term due to high humidity inside the lenses.</p>

[rawrainforest]

<p>Hi Skip - <br /><br />As for white balance, go for shady/cloudy when using ambient light for your closeups, and then you can color adjust entire batches of images in Lightroom. Don't know you intentions for the images, but sharpness may not be optimal with 18-200 zoom range on a lens. I like breaking it down into maybe a 20-something - 100, then slight overlap with 70/80-200 lenses. On macros, consider the 100 macro to have more working space so you're not bumping leaves, scaring herps or getting too much of background in focus. Think you meant the Bogen 3021 lens. <br>

Regarding your concerns about humidity, I just lifted this from the FAQs section of my tour site www.rawrainforest.com. You might also be interested in my new Blue Earth project "Amazon Headwaters" at blueearth.org If you're looking for a great photography tour program in Costa Rica and a great guide!, contact my friend Greg Basco at www.fotoverdetours.com <br>

All the best,<br>

Bruce Farnsworth<br>

www.brucefarnsworth.com<br>

"How do I keep my equipment safe from humidity while in the rainforest" <br />(from http://rawrainforest.com/faqs/) <br>

The lush cloud forests and rain forests for which Ecuador is famous means that your camera gear will be exposed to high humidity. During relatively short tour visits, we’ve never had problems with our gear here in Ecuador and neither have our clients. Humidity is not a reason to miss the rainforest environment. Nonetheless, a three-pronged strategy will help avoid damage to your gear and allow you to concentrate on your photography.<br>

First, pack your gear well in water repellant camera bags. Fungal growth is not critical on short stays in the tropics, but it is cheap insurance to use desiccation units to minimize the conditions for fungus growth. Those little crystal packets that come with cameras and lenses do very little. They have no indicator to tell you when they are saturated and require an oven to “recharge” them. Consider the smaller version of the new “plug-in” units made by EVA. Keep one in your camera case during the night, then leave it plugged into a wall outlet during the day while you’re photographing. Whenever possible, pack each piece of gear into ziploc bags to avoid condensation that might occur when you take your equipment from cooler or air-conditioned indoor settings to the outdoors.<br>

Second, try to avoid actually getting your gear wet. We try to send our photo clients to lodges with covered shooting areas but these are not always available. A good rain cover for your camera and/or a small umbrella can be very useful. Rain showers can come down suddenly when you are out with your camera. Along with a mini-umbrella, it’s good to have a couple large trash bags stored in your camera bag. We like the all-weather camera bags offered by Lowe Pro and Think Tank.<br>

Links for the aforementioned gear which protects your gear from the elements can be found on our <a title="Resources for Nature Photographers" href="http://rawrainforest.com/resources-for-nature-photographers/" target="_blank">Resources for Nature Photographers</a> page. If we experience a rainy day, you may want to have a compact folding travel hair dryer to blow over your equipment when you return to the lodge (using the “no heat” setting). Our wilderness lodges do not provide hair dryers in the rooms."</p>

[rawrainforest]

<p>One last thought Skip, which I need to add to our FAQs. Microscopic fungal spores are in the air constantly in rainforest environments, but you just don't seem then. So it's a good idea to wipe your lenses after shooting to minimize chances of them getting into and "sprouting" as those nasty filamentous growths on the interior of your gear. Some people use an alcohol wipe. Best, Bruce</p>

[skip_wilson]

<p>Thankyou to all your comments and suggestions! Bruce, I located where I could order the mimi-dehumidifiers by EVA but can't find anything about the plastic waterproof memory card wallets with neoprene seal on either Adorama or B&H sites. Any ideas. Also, how big a "mini umbrella" are you suggesting? Does it attach to anything in particular on equipment or is it just handheld? Thanks Skip Wilson</p>