Travel Virgins in Costa Rica

Robert Watcher · Feb 17, 2008

Anne and I have headed down to Costa Rica for 2 months. I will be shooting and posting lots of stock photography and video footage on our Travel Virgins website. We are not going for a vacation, but to live for part of the year and to get into the culture of the cities, towns and highlands where we will be staying.

I will still be maintaining by businesses from our apartment down there. The beauty of the web is that everything carries on as normal. I will be checking in to see how much freedom Canadians and Americans have to work at their craft in Costa Rica.

Along with the images I post on this forum, you can visit our TravelVirgins website at:

www.asifweknow.com

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Robert Watcher · Feb 17, 2008

A few shots from our first days:

Robert Watcher · Feb 17, 2008

Anne posting in the www.asifweknow.com journal:

Robert Watcher · Feb 17, 2008

For the next 2 months while I am away from home, I have to get used to a quite different approach to editing my images as I do not have Photoshop on my Macbook. I was hoping that Lightroom (which I have installed on the Mac) would do what I wanted, but that is not the case - - - and so I am attempting to get used to the Open Source Software GIMP and it's functioning. Most of the PS tools are there - some aren't - - - but the difficulty of switching from a familiarity and comfort level I have with Photoshop from hours a day working with it, is proving to be the same challenge that I had when I moved from years of using Corel Photopaint, to Adobe Photoshop a couple of years ago. Oh well - I am of the opinion that being put in difficult situations many times expands our abilities. Probably more than anything I am missing my handy and efficient specialty Windows programs like Irfanview, Porta, etc along with the custom PS actions I have created - that I use on a daily basis for fast conversion, layout and manipulation of images for web use.

Robert Watcher · Feb 17, 2008

Being I am unable to converse in Spanish yet and am very shy about approaching people and intruding on them, I finally got the nerve up and simply held my camera up and smiled and nodded my head to the natives I came across today - as if to ask if I could take a picture. They nodded back letting me know it was OK, posed (which I will work around in the future) and then chuckled when I showed them the picture on my camera screen. For the mot part everyone was cooperative in letting me take my pictures without having to sneak them or use a long lens so they wouldn't see what I was doing. I found that my Olympus E-510 with 12-60mm f2.8 is a perfect companion to this type of street shooting - providing wider angle, faster operating, dead accurate focus where I wanted it, and a fast zoom for increased light capture.

These 2 young men were sitting at the bus stop with their crates of eggs and were pleased to have me take their picture - - - as were the different food vendors in the Central Market. The man with the bananas, actually grabbed my hand and shook it vigorously with a huge smile after I showed him what I had taken. I wish I had a photo printer here so that I can take them back a copy - I may have to check into getting one or finding a place to print them for me:

Robert Watcher · Feb 17, 2008

I PREFER PEOPLE TO SCENERY

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Robert Watcher · Feb 17, 2008

NOT 106 Flavors - but 108 Flavors of Chicken Wings

All pictures in this series taken with Olympus E-510 and 12-60mm f2.8/4 Zuiko lens ISO 200 to 800 handheld - processed in Adobe Lightroom

Robert Watcher · Feb 17, 2008

A Morning in Atenas - Mercado Central

1 - Butcher

2 - Municipal Worker - as Anne and I were walking by he pointed to my camera and indicated that we may want to take his picture. He set himself up with his broom and wheelbarrow and so I took that shot - - - I followed up with a quick closeup, showed him his picture on the screen and he smiled and shook my hand. Even though there was no place to get out of the sun, the facial character came through

3 - Reading paper at Bus Terminal

Robert Watcher · Feb 17, 2008

4 - Shredding Cabbage - I implied that I wanted to take a picture, she hesitated and turned and asked her husband who nodded positively. The fellow in the blue shirt (looked like Engelbert Humperdinck) was encouraging her and directing her where she should stand so that everything could be seen

5 - Vegetable Vendor - I saw this cute young woman attaching bags of beens to a string when I first approached her - - - asked if I could take her picture which she obliged - - - then after getting a couple of shots of her looking at me, I waited for a few seconds for her to go back to her business so I could get the shot I really wanted

Robert Watcher · Feb 17, 2008

At the local Super Market on the way back to La Garita I captured these 2 shots - - - with their permission of course. First is the man supplying our meat and next is the young fellow weighing, pricing and bagging our vegetables and fruits.
(Now I just have to find a One Hour lab so I can print up a few 5x7's to take back to them all)

Robert Watcher · Feb 17, 2008

Sugar Cane Harvest

While winding through the mountainside roads, high in Costa Rica yesterday I was fortunate to come across workers hand cutting the sugar cane with their machetes. Although the road was very narrow with treacherous curves, and busy with large trucks, buses and cars all vying for their space on the road, we managed to turn around and pull off the road enough so that I could approach these workers and ask to take a few shots of them. After I did, a friendly handshake and pat on the shoulder ensued.

Robert Watcher · Feb 17, 2008

The modes of transporting the cane through the mountainside was first by tractor from the fields and then by transport truck to the destinations around the country. Traditionally done with OxCarts.

Robert Watcher · Feb 17, 2008

JUST ANOTHER PRETTY FACE - high in the jungle trees

Robert Watcher · Feb 17, 2008

Very productive day today

I engaged some conversation at the bus stop with locals that spoke a little English. Was able to get some beautiful expressions on the children:

Standing in line in Alejuela, this little boy was being held by his mother - beautiful lighting under the overhang:

I figure that I will run in to them again and have some prints for the parents

Robert Watcher · Feb 17, 2008

Friendly Market Vendors:

As soon as we walked in to the very busy indoor market in downtown Alejuela, these fellows hollered at me to take their picture (not sure if the word had gotten around from when I was in a week or so ago). Everyone is getting used to me and calling me the "guy with the camera"

Robert Watcher · Feb 17, 2008

This time I delivered prints to the vendors that I had taken pictures of last time I was there. They were laughing like crazy and thanking me. At one butcher shop, the father (who is the owner) refused to take our money for the 4 smoked Pork Chops that we purchased. I tried to get him to accept - but he wouldn't. I said "I'd be back" and the one son said "we know you will". It was so nice of them and not expected at all.

Always warm freshly made potato chips from this vendor. Will have a hard time going back to our favorite Lays when we get back:

Street vendors hamming it up for the camera:

Robert Watcher · Feb 17, 2008

HAVING PRINTS MADE

I was having a terrible time getting decent print results from the One Hour labs in the Alejuela area. It was recommended that I try a Professional Photography Studio located in the heart of the city - right across from Central Park and the large church.

It ended up that they had a Kodak system that provided me with prints within seconds - and very good quality from my Mac processed files.

Here are a couple of shots of the Studio's interior where huge enlargements line the walls of this large space:

Anne took this back shot of me attempting to explain in English and sign language - what I wanted done with the CD files I presented the young man behind the counter:

Robert Watcher · Feb 17, 2008

So far I have a bit over 2000 shots that I have to edit and get posted in the "snapshots" section of the "Travel Virgins" website. The few that are posted there now are from the first couple of days in Costa Rica.

I realized that my OnePageGallery script that I adapted for this website that I built several months before leaving, is not ideal as it places the newest images at the end of the list and does not allow for notes made by me about the shot and its location. So I haven't bothered updating that section with new images in some time. Today I am going to start working on the code for that particular page - so that I don't end up too far behind.

Asher Kelman · Feb 17, 2008

Well Robert, you are so welcome here. This window into your travels and into the warm people of Costa Rica is a special treat. I stop at an image and say that is the quintessential shot I love of your work then I find several more. Keep it up and we'll never need anti-depressants.

It's so good to find a mirror to a world that just reflects the good.

Asher

Robert Watcher · Feb 18, 2008

Thank you Asher. We are enjoying bringing the bright side of our journey to our stories and pictures of Costa Rica - - - and it is encouraging for Anne and I when different ones comment to us (whether by the "Contact Us" page, forum replies or phone/Skype) that they are enjoying seeing the country through our eyes and experience. We're hoping that our slant on things will make our efforts good viewing for many.

Robert Watcher · Feb 24, 2008

Just got back from a long day busing through the hairpin turns of the mountains, to visit some of the small towns there. We were up around 2500 feet above our normal 3500 foot elevation here in La Garita.

Waiting at the bus stop has provided me with different photographic opportunities during this excursion. This morning was no different.

Stopped at the Super Market across from the bus canopy to get a bottle of water and saw this good looking young man:

Across the street sitting alongside the soccer field were these two young fellows sharing a set of earbuds as they listened to American music on their mp3 player:

After I took the shot so that they wouldn't notice and destroy the mood, I approached them and showed them the shot then asked for this shot:

Robert Watcher · Feb 24, 2008

This fellow came up and started talking and pointing. The only word I recognized was OLYMPUS as he pointed to my camera. After getting nowhere with the conversation, he pulled his Pentax DSLR out of his backpack and tried to tell me more - - - but I didn't understand. Just as I was leaving on the bus, he quickly pulled some cards out of his pack and handed them to me. When I was settled on the bus, I read them and learned that he was a professional photographer in Turrucares - a small town about 6 KM from us.It has his phone number and address, so I'll have to check in to it - - - - and give him a print of this shot with him proudly holding his Pentax:

This little cutey pie and her handsome brother were enjoying the trip into Alajuela on the bus:

Robert Watcher · Feb 24, 2008

In Grecia, we had some wonderful and inexpensive native food in the indoor market. The place was packed so we figured there must be a reason for that. I got this shot of the women working in the kitchen. Most turned their back when I took the shots. OF course when I went around to show them what I got, they all flocked over to me and couldn't miss the moment - - - laughing and giving me a thumbs up:

The owner came over to look too and asked why he wasn't in the shot. I obliged as he pulled a woman close to him, telling me that she was his:

Anne took this shot of me on the way home, sitting on the curb (hauling bags of fresh fruit from the local vendors) with the natives - - - waiting for the bus to arrive:

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Robert Watcher · Feb 25, 2008

I am sharpening in LightRoom. I have had to learn a new set of skills with this program, but it had to be done eventually anyway. I did not understand the sharpening method at all for the first couple of weeks as they do not relate to the complex and effective PS Unsharp Mask or my preferred Smart Sharpen tools. I searched the web and did find a video or two that help me understand. Even though I do now, I do not find the LR sharpen as controllable or effective as that of PS - - - but it is doing the job for me. One tool I have come to rely on is the "Clarity" setting which effectively gives the appearance of sharpening as a result of it's edge contrast enhancement - - - which is really what the "sharpen" tools are doing anyway.

I am so used the standard Radius/Amount/Threshold sharpen settings and they do not directly translate to LR Sharpen. The general settings that I have been using are:

for portraits - "Radius" almost always 1.0 - "Amount" in the 50-75 setting - "Detail" at the default 25 setting

for landscape and textures I will quite often go a little higher with the "Amount" but never over 100 - - - and will sharpen the details by moving the "Detail" slider anywhere between 50 and 100

Robert Watcher · Feb 26, 2008

In the small town of Turrucares (sounds like "too - roo - car - res")

We traveled by bus down to this small town where we had heard that a rickedy old train passes through on weekends to pick up passengers between the main city of San Jose and the oceanside beach area of Puntarenas. We just wanted to get familiar with what it looks like as we are thinking that the train would be an interesting way to head across the mountainous terrain in order that we can get to the Pacific side of the country. We found the tracks and station in a setting almost out of an old broken down movie set - people walking along the tracks, children riding bikes on the tracks, and homes off the distance perched alongside the tracks:

Robert Watcher · Feb 26, 2008

Young man cooking his pork product on the street in front of his shop:

A local butcher (on the right) and his friend standing in front of his shop:

Father and daughter team inside their small produce shop:

Robert Watcher · Feb 26, 2008

School was out and the students were cramming on the buses to get home. The young girls tended to all gather at the back of the bus. This fellow in charge of making sure all were on the bus safely, got a "charge" out of picking up small pebbles and tossing them in an open window at the back of the bus, from a position where the girls could not see him. He could hardly contain himself with his giggles of mischief:

Finally a few of the girls clued in to what was going on and poked their heads out a small window in the back of the bus to let him know, and tease him:

This was the view out the bus window on the way back to our home:

Asher Kelman · Feb 26, 2008

This is a magnificent and personal journey! Thanks so much!

Asher

Robert Watcher · Feb 28, 2008

Anne and I decided to have a local treat for lunch today, and so headed to the food court at the Mall International in Alajuela. TACO BELL - with one of the combos being the "Mexican Pizza" which I used to love before it was taken off the menu in Canada many years ago. I asked the young fellow who took the order if I could take his picture. He turned back toward the kitchen and then proceeded to gather everyone that was working there, so that I could have a group shot of them all (that is our lunch served up in the forground):

A small roadside vendor along the street on the walk back to town:

We bought some fresh beens, cucumbers, cabbage and carrots from this cubby hole on a Calle (street) in Alajuela. When we first arrived we were told that all of the vendors like this were inspected regularly and that you could trust their produce:

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Robert Watcher · Feb 28, 2008

In front of the indoor central market, this strapping fellow hoisted heavy bags of flour on to his shoulder and delivered them to the vendors in side:

A couple of times I have walked past this motorcycle repair shop and witnessed the man in the wheelchair working on a bike while a few others hover over him. I kept track of where the shop was located and was prepared to take a picture of that today - however there was no such action going on. Nevertheless, the character of this setting struck my fancy and so I asked if I could take a shot:

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