Thank you for reading my stories and looking at my photographs. Behind the lens is Christopher Becerra, a citizen of Costa Rica born in the city of Golfito in 1990. I moved to Cartago to study business at Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica in 2007, and moved to Alajuela in 2010 after graduating. Since then, I have worked for ten years in multinational companies, starting in accounting, then moving into IT and more recently as a Lean Six Sigma practitioner. But this story does not explain at all why this site came to life.
When I was a kid, I remember reading a Spanish book titled La Tierra y sus recursos (translating to Earth and its resources), by Cuban geographer Levi Marrero. It’s an old geography book dating from 1981; our copy was missing the front hard cover and a few pages had cutouts, a testament of the heavy use it had seen by my older brother and sister. There were wonderful illustrations and photographs, but there was one in particular that caught my attention: The Grand Canyon in Arizona. I always dreamt of being there and admire its vistas.
Fast forward to 2010, when I start working, I realized how little I knew of Costa Rica. I joined in 2013 a hiking group, which whom I visited many beautiful places just 1 or 2 hours away from the capital. Bridge cameras were all the rage at a time when phone cameras were not “good enough”, so I bought one to document all my trips. I immediately fell in love with photography, not just for the results, but for the process to visualize, compose, take and review those photographs. None of those photographs survive anymore, but it was a very important learning period for me.
With advice from a friend photographer, I bought my first DSLR, a Nikon D5300. I felt that photographing birds in particular was enjoyable for me, so I joined a birdwatching tour with Fundación de Rapaces de Costa Rica. I instantly became hooked! I bought the Birds of Costa Rica guide and went on every birding trip I could. I learnt a lot, not just photography, but biology, ecology and conservation. I also knew that I wanted to create great landscape pictures, which brought me into field photography workshops with ToTheWonder.
So I resolved to create a website to showcase all the beauty that I have had the opportunity to experience as I travel Costa Rica and beyond. In particular, my mission is to publish high quality photographs from every wildlife species to be found in Costa Rica, which is a daunting task! There are more than 900 species that have ever been recorded in the country, along more than 200 amphibians and another 200 reptiles. That’s still missing the incredible marine diversity along both coasts, the elusive mammals, and the insects and arthropods that fulfill important roles in the rain forest.
Along the way, I’ve met many incredible friends and picked up other hobbies like mountain biking and piano (click to watch me play). The bike plays along well with photography, as I sometimes bring my camera gear with it as I pedal through the road. I have also spent a lot in photo equipment, and my Amazon wishlist is still really long (and expensive!). At the same time I have come to realize that it is not the equipment that matters (although it influences), but the passion that one puts into it.
So I hope you continue enjoying my stories and photographs for as long as my life will allow it. Please get in contact if you have any questions, suggestions or stories to share.
