Category: Adventures

  • Mount Shuksan: Blue Hour is Better, Sometimes

    I’m used to paying for photographs. Sometimes in the form of itchy mosquito bites. Once I paid with a badly twisted ankle. More often I pay in numb fingers and toes in the cold.

    Last week, staying up late to take photographs of Mount Shuksan under the stars, I expected the lost sleep, but I did not expect to pay by losing my place to sleep and my sleeping gear!

    It all started when I noticed that sometimes even the most serious photographers miss great light.

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  • Tropical Birds of Costa Rica

    Manakin Magic

    Sun filtered through the verdant canopy. The air temperate was 80 degrees in the middle of January. It was hard to believe.

    I was hiking with my girlfriend on an abandoned road in Nosara, Costa Rica. Soon, we heard a faint but mesmerizing sound from the underbrush to our left. Transfixed, we moved closer to peek through the thick tangle. We waited. Then we caught glimpse of a black bird smaller than a sparrow sitting on a low branch. Soon, we heard two, singing with each other in bubbly notes.

    For a brief moment the bird sat in plain view, under the full light of the midday tropical sun—it was long enough to absolutely shock us both.

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  • Playa Guiones, Costa Rica

    Surfers, Birds, & Turtles

    Renowned for its steady waves and smooth beaches, Playa Guiones, on Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula, has become a destination for surfers, yoga enthusiasts, and others in search of a tropical getaway.

    Location

    It’s a bit remarkable that so many people flock to the area’s beaches through the nearby town of Nosara. It’s not exactly easy to get to.

    Nosara is a 6-hour bus ride from Costa Rica’s capital, San José. The final quarter of the journey is on narrow, dusty, and rutted dirt roads. But the dry tropical air, network of walking trails, and easily accessible beaches have made this area a hotspot nonetheless.

    A Beach of Birds

    Sandpipers at Sunset
    Sandpipers forage on Playa Guiones as the sun sets.
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