Back in Costa Rica, 2026

I just spent eight days in the Orosi Valley, my sixth time doing high-speed photography in Costa Rica. The last two times, 2023 and 2024, I went to well known rainforest areas that were four plus hours away from San Jose by car. This time, I chose to go to an agricultural valley that was just one and a quarter hours away. Jumping spiders don’t require rainforests, just plants, of which there were plenty. I did all of my collecting along roadsides.

I photographed four species of Salticid, out of perhaps a dozen that I found, a praying mantis, and a leaf hopper.

Highlights of the trip:

I used my new motion sensing camera to trigger the shutter and flash. This sensor system works by detecting changes in reflected light, instead of the interruption of a light beam. It worked very well, and I also discovered some of its shortcomings, most of which I think I can fix.

I took my first multiple exposure images with a recently purchased Canon 550EZ flash.

One one walk, I saw at least 20 Morpho butterflies. Although I stayed in an agricultural area, Tapantí national park was only a few miles away as the crow flies. I walked up a trail that took me into the rain forest, and would have gone into the park, had I chosen to walk further. There I saw a Fire Beetle, known as a Carbunco in Costa Rica, and a Firefly mysteriously hanging in mid air in the dark.