La Joya del Lagarto: Photobook ENG

LA JOYA DEL

LAGARTO Manzanillo BEACH Photography and edition Alan E. Peña Mata

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La joya del lagarto - January 2021

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Branches with spider web and beach background out of focus.

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I

am Alan E. Peña Mata, from Cartago, Costa Rica. I am 28 years old and I am an advertising designer, with extensive experience in the area of ​​photography, corporate image, logo design, photomontage, matte painting, I also have knowledge and experience in audiovisual production and music production.

For this project I presalan.emeth@gmail.com

La joya del lagarto - January 2021

(506) 8449-6093

ent photographs taken in the province of Guanacaste, Costa Rica, specifically in Playa Manzanillo, where I stayed in a place called La Joya del Lagarto. In this beautiful place I witnessed incredible sunsets and the activity of Mother Nature, which I took as a challenge to achieve good captures through my photographs and thus be able to create this document.

For this challenge, I decided to take different images at different times of the day, observing at the same time what scene was presented to me in order to capture it in a magnificent memory and photo. With limitations such as the variety of lenses, I was able to achieve interesting results, just with a wide angle of my Sony Alpha 600 camera and a 200mm telephoto lens.

This solitary hammock gives photographs different feelings depending on the time of day

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There are thousands of trees around us, but only an interesting composition will highlight that desired result.

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La joya del lagarto - January 2021

These flowers were enclosed by other bushes, casting a shadow around them, and the morning sunlight strongly illuminated those red tones that stand out in the photograph, one of my favorites on the trip.

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Arriving almost noon, I was practicing the blur in the foreground when I captured this photograph, this type of vegetation was common in the area, but with an interesting capture even if it is in practice, it generates an interesting result.

Between a small hill and the beach was this Papaya tree, just bearing the first fruits of summer.

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I could have spent hours in these beautiful corals of Playa Manzanillo, capturing the infinite biodiversity in a considerably small space, as nature always gives us landscapes and beautiful elements to capture.

The coral on the beach appears when the tide goes out, I liked this photograph a lot because as the sea moves away from the coast, the water of the coral little by little appears as if mixing with the waters of the ocean

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It was quite difficult to walk slowly over the coral to get close enough to take pictures of these seagulls resting after hunting fish.

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The coral on the beach appears when the tide goes out, I liked this photograph a lot because as the sea moves away from the coast, the water of the coral little by little appears as if mixing with the waters of the ocean

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January 2021- La joya del Lagarto

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When the birds notice my presence, they decide to fly a little further, that’s when I take the opportunity to capture the frozen flight with my camera

Balancing on coral, and taking photos of birds in motion is quite a feat, but the results are quite rewarding.

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This little friend, despite the fact that I was very close, stayed in that part of the coral and allowed me to take many photos, when he got tired he decided to go with his companions, letting me take this beautiful image

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When night falls, even the faintest colors manifest themselves in moments of pure beauty.

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A beautiful sunset from the restaurant of the place where I was staying, I found it interesting to capture the cilla and part of the wooden pile to frame the landscape.

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It really is difficult to get good sunset photos, especially when you only have a few minutes. However, for this trip I was psyched to do this type of shots, since I had never had the time, so far these images make me feel satisfied.

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January 2021- La joya del Lagarto

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La joya del lagarto - January 2021

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The sun goes down and leaves in its wake that beautiful orange light that, luckily for me, was reflected on the back of that immense cloud, generating a very beautiful contrast.

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Taken at sunset with long light exposure, this photograph turns the ocean into a soft blanket of clouds.

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Taking pictures only in the sun is a somewhat cliché scene, but I resolved the composition by framing part of the sunset with the branches and giving it some contrast.

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This classic truck belonging to some foreigners seemed very striking to me, contrasting with the beach and the palm trees.

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A beautiful wooden sculpture of a Tiki, located in a business in Marbella beach

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It was cloudy over Marbella beach, but the sun with these soft sparkles adorned the landscape that I was able to capture in this photo.

In Costa Rica, and for all beach residents, it is important to protect and conserve nature.

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A typical route to the Pacific beaches.

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EVEN THE MOST TROUBLESOME BIRDS IN NATURE HAVE THEIR FUNCTION AND THEIR BEAUTY.

This Grackle posed right in front of my camera as I focused on the pool water, allowing me to capture its curious nature.

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January 2021- La joya del Lagarto

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This little dog is called cinnamon, but we named it “tanela” because of its light brown color, like a traditional Guanacaste dessert that is based on cinnamon. While I was in the pool, Tanela walked towards the entrance and sat down, and since I couldn’t miss the opportunity, I took this beautiful photograph, almost being able to see the dog’s smile.

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January 2021- La joya del Lagarto

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Don Carlos is an uncle of mine who while he was focusing on the flowers in the photo, to leave the background with a bokeh effect due to the sunset light, he sat on that wooden support, adding an interesting subject to the image.

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For this sunset I changed position, and left the shadows as seen in the photograph to highlight the palm tree against the light.

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For this beautiful sunset, I changed the framing and composition to contrast it with the tree trunk.

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January 2021- La joya del Lagarto

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Photography of a campfire with a fast shutter speed, the light of the fire itself allowed me to freeze the image.

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January 2021- La joya del Lagarto

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On the way back home, we stopped to rest, when an iguana posed and sunbathed under the sculpture of the Bull, in the three sisters.

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This beautiful hyper-realistic sculpture of a bull in Guanacaste imposes its presence on the road and draws the attention of everyone around it.

January 2021- La joya del Lagarto