Great News!

Waiting for Wisdom

This Saturday, July 31 is the Wildflower Festival at Kirkwood. You've heard me rave about it before. This is the only outdoor show we do and we have a blast!

• Music
• BBQ
• Wine and Beer tasting
• Guided Hikes
• Ride the chair lift
and of course, lots of art! Including my newest images of an owl nest that you won't want to miss. And more large cloth panels to delight your visual senses.
NOON to 5 PM Kirkwood California
See you there!





Badgers










More good news!

I'm heading up a Wildlife Photography Workshop in the Grand Tetons this fall. (see side bar)

I'll be the workshop leader for Nikonians Academy and look forward to many new adventures. Hope you'll join in.

Our MarchTour to Costa Rica is reserved for photographers though Nikonians and we are in the planning stages for Africa next May.

The two tours to Costa Rica in February still have seats available so let us know if you are interested.

Costa Rica Book

Great News! I just published a book on Costa Rica. It was designed by my talented friend, Suzanne, at Picturia Press.  She's terrific and can help you with your own personal book, trips, weddings, etc.. I'll post more about her later. For now, I am excited to have you to see my book and leave a comment.
Thanks, Jim

Click on the book preview below.
When you turn a page it might take a while to load the images, relax and enjoy.

Costa Rica

By Jim Stamates

Book Preview

Hummers and more

from Costa Rica log 1/31 Sun...

...Slept in, 7 am, Kathy gets up at 8, we have breakfast, they find her decaf coffee which she left at the table yesterday morning. Very hard to find decaf at restaurants in Costa Rica so she has to bring our own to breakfast.

Off to Braulio Carrillo NP to look for hummingbirds at a closed butterfly garden not far from the entry. We meet Miguel, he just started a guide company, Agouti Tours? We will hike with him manana. He tells us of Bat Falcons near Toro bridge. But first we must find the hummingbird place that has become very popular for snowcap and the black-capped coquette. We find it and the snowcap but no coquette. Probably too late in the day. 

Photos of hummers here are difficult because flowers are everywhere and the hummers dart from one to another in no particular order. I don't set up hummingbird shots with multiple flash, bait, or backdrops. I enjoy the challenge and skill of shooting on the fly. I don't get as many keepers but it sure is fun!

Hiked around and found some leaf-cutter ants to photograph. Did you know that they don't eat the leaves? They mulch them up and use them to grow fungi (mushrooms of sorts) and eat them. 

Can you believe that! They cultivate a farm, and grow their own food!

Found the bat falcons, got some lousy pics, bad lighting. This one had just finished eating another bird. You can see the legs dangling from the left talons. 

We had our lunch at El Yugo. Went for snack, turned out to be a big snack so dinner should be light. El Yugo is right at the bottom of the hill coming east from San Jose. It is a cafeteria and has a great selection of typical foods. Naturally the universal law works in Costa Rica, too. Eyes bigger than stomach...

To learn how you can join Adventure Costa Rica 2011, email here!

Tres Lagos

excerpted from Costa Rica Log 1/29/2010...
...at Ara Ambigua, we enjoyed an open air breakfast watching birds from our table. After breakfast and a short walk we returned to our room for a nap, attempting to get into the rhythm of Costa Rica. I woke abruptly when a housekeeper came into the room. I was laying atop the bed in nothing but my Exofficio Give-n-Go™ Briefs! Nice.

After I recovered from the embarrassment we drove to Lapa Verde refugio, (5 clicks from Ara Ambigua at Chilamate) met Oscar Lopez. Lapa Verde is a 650 hectare private reserve. A very important project to increase the corridor needed for the endangered Green Macaw. We chatted and I took the above photo of Oscar holding a leaf filled with moth caterpillars.

We returned to the lagos where the Egrets and Little Blue Herons were coming to roost. This heron on a palm made a rather interesting subject so I made several images as howler monkeys told me of their displeasure of our presence. Then as the light was fading, we returned to the lodge for dinner.

Costa Rica 2010

My initial in flight. This is a Frigate bird that just caught an eel. It couldn't quite get it down and eventually dropped it into the ocean where it was sought after by a brown pelican. Not sure if the pelican retrieved the eel.

This one's a little gross. We came across this iguana eating a dead parrot. It would grab the bird and shake it violently until a piece tore off. After the iguana had its share a black vulture took its turn.

The Jabiru Stork is the tallest bird in the Americas with males standing up to 5 feet! They are endangered in Costa Rica and consequently hard to find. This one was at Palo Verde National Park.

Costa Rica 2010 has been a real trip. 56 adventurous days. I am going to try and recap from my log some of the highlights with photos in the coming weeks. Writing this from the first good internet connection since we arrived. Now, only a few days left until we return to the office.

Stay tuned for some exciting stories and incredible images and tips if you plan to visit.

Wildflowers!

The Wildflower Festival at Kirkwood was a huge success! Plenty of cold brews, wine, and food. We met new friends and fans, many are now collectors of The Jim Stamates Collection! Yea!

I showed a new application with the addition of a 3 panel PhotoCoth. You can see it in the photo above. 3 panels make up a large 4 foot by 6 foot image of Round Top and Wildflowers.

This is the perfect solution for large walls in a great room or for commercial installations. And it is affordable. Any image from the collection can be made into 3, 4, or 5 panels at any size.

I also introduced 6 new images including a couple of my impressionistic style photos that are made in camera. No Photoshop. 5 of the new images sold! I am really excited about that.

If you are in Tahoe this weekend I will be at the Showcase Gallery this Sunday 11 am to 4 pm. Stop by and say hi.

This is one of my new impressionistic images; The Tree

There are a couple of new things happening at In The Rhythm™ Tours and Workshops. You may have noticed in the Event column above the "Workshop by the Day". You'll be hearing more of that very soon. We think it will be way cool, and very popular.

Also, if you are interested in Costa Rica February 2010, let me know soon, the first tour is filling fast and there is still room in the second tour.

Adventure Costa Rica 09

Exciting news! We are getting closer to our Adventure Costa Rica 09. Yep! Summer is over and I am finalizing the itinerary for two adventures and boy, I am excited! We adjusted our tour to make it even more fun, see more stuff, and maximize our adventure.

We are going to watch a Volcano erupt, weather permitting. See crocodiles, enjoy a sunset cruise on the Tarcoles River, swim in liquid gold on Costa Rica's most famous beach, visit a coffee plantation, eat with the locals, hike to waterfalls, watch monkeys play, and see Costa Rica's most sought after birds, the Scarlet Macaw and the elusive Resplendent Quetzal.

Of course, I will be there to share my knowledge of photography, Costa Rican travel, and wildlife while Dino, our local bilingual guide, will show us hidden treasures and tell us all about Costa Rican culture. (Dino is one funny guy)

11 day tours;

Tour 1 leaves Feb 14 2009

Tour 2 leaves Feb 28 2009. 

Limit 12 Explorers. 

Cost: $2350 per person, double occupancy.

Includes everything except flight and alcohol. 

Hotels, transportation, meals, tours, park entrance fees, guides, non-alcoholic drinks. Lots of fun and adventure.

For more information, itinerary, application, and to reserve your space email:

info@stamates.com

or call 800.367.5772

Each tour is limited to the first 12 Explorers! Our tours fill fast, don't miss out on an adventure of a lifetime!

It's not a vacation, it's an Adventure!

Here's is what past explorers have said:

Even the travel along the Pan-American Highway felt like an adventure!…Bob ’08

Sunset cruise was phenomenal, every moment of it!…swallows fed, quietly ‘kissing’ their reflection…Sue ’08

As evidenced by how long it took me to get (back) ‘into country’ I’d say it was one fantastic tour, probably even life-changing…Sheryl ’08

I met new people at every stop and came home with many tico acquaintances…Erin ‘08

Better Sunset Photos

Well, most of us now have digital cameras. What fun! But you might notice that many digital cameras do not produce great sunset photos. Not like film used to, anyway. Here's why and a tip to help:

There were two types of film, daylight and tungsten. Most of us used daylight film most of the time. At sunset the color temperature rises (measured in Kelvin degrees)  and the scene becomes warmer, or more red/orange in color and since the film was balanced for midday, we got great sunsets! Digital is different.

Here’s the problem:
Digital cameras adjust white balance, as well as exposure, to make everything look ‘normal’. This is a great feature if you move from outdoors to indoors, or if you are shooting under a mix of different lighting conditions, like fluorescents, incandescent, and daylight coming in the windows. Most cameras do a good job of balancing the light automatically.

Incandescent, Halogen, and Daylight

Outdoors, when the scene gets warmer, like sunset, the camera adjusts the white balance automatically and takes away the red/orange. At the same time it adjust the exposure and brightens the scene.

Everything set to 'Auto'.

Here’s the solution:
In the menu of most point-and-shoot digital cameras are settings to override the auto features. The first one you want to adjust is the ‘white balance’. Take it off ‘auto’ and set it to ‘daylight’.

White balance set to daylight.

The next one is ‘exposure’. Most cameras have a + or – adjustment. Adjust this to ‘- 1 stop’ then take a picture of the sunset. If it is still too bright, adjust it to ‘- 2 stops’. You can usually adjust this in 1/3 or 1/2 increments. You might have to play with this a little to get the image you like for your particular camera. Once you figure it out, you can set it to ‘your’ setting every time you take a sunset photo.

2-stops under exposure.

NOTE: Remember to return your setting back to ‘auto’ after you take your sunset photo. Most cameras will default to ‘auto’ once the camera is turned off and turned on again.

Try this at home to get used to adjusting the settings before you go on vacation. This way you won’t miss that ‘once in a lifetime’ sunset! Happy shooting!

Talk about sunsets, join us for Adventure Costa Rica!

Adventure Costa Rica!

Hello, friends and fans.  I am going to write a little on  our most recent adventure, Costa Rica!

We have just returned from a month in Costa Rica.  During that time we guided  an "In The Rhythm™" tour of 12 adventurers to some of our favorite areas.  

The 11-day, 10-night tour included birds, monkeys, crocodiles, jungles, more birds, coffee tour, beaches, sunsets, more birds, swimming in the pacific, boat rides, zip lines for some, more birds, and lots of great food! 

We visited Manuel Antonio National Park - a favorite for some, Volcan Arenal - unfortunately it was hidden by low clouds, Carara National Park, Santa Maria, Cartago, and a very special place, San Geraldo de Dota.

Since the tour was such a great success, we have added 2 more tours for next year.  A total of three tours in January, February, or March. The tours are designed for photographers, birders, and anyone who just wants to see Costa Rica and join the fun. "It's not a vacation, it's an ADVENTURE!"  If you want to learn more about "In The Rhythm™" Tours and Workshops, drop an email to: jim@stamates.com