Thanks to Juan Carlos for providing the best opportunity for capturing my amazing photographs. He is the snake wrangler and bird whisperer that made every shot possible. During 10 days of shooting, I took almost 9,000 pictures, even though we lost two days of shooting because of heavy wind and rain at the Arenal Volcano. I shot 900 on the day we shot hummingbirds and 135 of the Violet Sabrewing alone. Juan Carlos said that we shouldn’t think of our photos as children and that we need to evaluate our photos with a critical eye. I had a difficult time determining which one of my Violet Sabrewing photos was the best image. Every one of them was my favorite. Juan Carlos worked tirelessly to stage the photos with perches, lighting, and background. All this was done to provide a natural-looking picture. The advantage of having a local award-winning photographer paid off time after time. The knowledge that I gained has made me a better photographer.
