The Savegre River flowing among live oak and alder forests. Photo by Eduardo Libby.
Travel Photography

One camera, one lens

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Once in a blue moon I like to do a bare-bones photo-shooting excursion: I have spent one day shooting only a wide-angle, a medium telephoto or a normal lens (in the old times a normal lens was all I had anyway)…

After many years of sporadic episodes of GAS (all photographers of course know this is the medical acronym of Gear Acquisition Syndrome) I suffer the consequences of the disease: A full camera store inside my heavy backpack.

Image of a huge boulder with plants growing on the light-receiving sides. Photo by Eduardo Libby.
A huge boulder with plants growing on the light-receiving sides.

Knowing that the disease might lead to a big belly, heart disease, and even lower-back and knees pain I thought I would go to a birding trip without my big lens… maybe then I would hike more. Then, the night before, I said to me: Eduardo, you know you are going to a rain forest in the middle of Costa Rica’s rainy season… today you are not going to set up tripods, flashes and big cameras under an umbrella. Just take your binoculars and enjoy the birdies!

Image of foliage on the forest floor. Photo by Eduardo Libby.
Foliage on the forest floor.

I did it! All my birding friends asked me about my camera and I said “I am on vacation: just plain birdwatching today.”  I was about to open a large wildlife photo exhibition and it really felt good not to think about photos for a while.

Multiple exposure image of a waterfall. Photo by Eduardo Libby.
The OverCam app came in handy for adding texture to the small waterfall on the Savegre River.

We watched Yellow-thighed Finches, Flame-throated Tanagers, several hummingbird species and even Resplendent Quetzals. Then we drove to another place where we saw more hummingbirds and forest species. We started a hike along a mountain stream. I was walking in front of the group  and slowly left them behind.

I then remembered my iPhone with its 29 mm equivalent focal length lens was in my pocket …and I cheated.

Image of Alder trees (Alnus acuminata), a Costa Rican species with bromeliads growing on their trunks. Photo by Eduardo Libby.
Tropical Alder trees (Alnus acuminata), with bromeliads growing on their trunks.
Black and white image of plants growing on a rock by a stream. Photo by Eduardo Libby.
Some plants growing on a rock by a stream.
Image of a yellow leaf and a red leaf in the forest floor. Photo by Eduardo Libby
One leaf I found there, the other I put there!
The Savegre River flowing among live oak and alder forests. Photo by Eduardo Libby.
The Savegre River flows among live oak and alder forests.

Can you really have a camera in your pocket and not take pictures?

5 thoughts on “One camera, one lens”

  1. The answer to that last question is – NO. And all the times I have gone somewhere with no camera and no camera phone I have so regreted it. I do think that some events you should just be in the event and not worry about taking pictures, but when I am in nature, I want to capture little bits of it to bring back with me. Approaching a hike this way helps me stop and look around and enjoy what I am seeing. It’s not just an exercise walk, it’s emerging myself into the full experience. Glad you had your phone with you, very nice shots.

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  3. Even if God forbid I don’t have any sort of camera with me I am framing shots in my head…I also try to make do without a new piece of equipment by trying to make another piece do the same job. It’s challenging but I always learn something from it!

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