BEHIND THE LENS

By César L. Barrio-Amorós

César Barrio-Amorós is a professional herpetologist, photographer and Scientific Director of CR Wild. Currently based in Costa Rica, his photography has helped illustrate his numerous contributions to herpetological study.

In this article, César explains his evolution as a photographer, with a focus on herping photography. He will cover the story of his hobby plus the photography gear that he uses, as well as his opinion about it, all illustrated with photos taken using different equipment.

Since I was very young, I demonstrated a huge passion for nature. One of my first birthday gifts was a Polaroid camera, with which I went all around the forest of my garden in the surroundings of Barcelona, taking very expensive and very bad pictures of spiders, wall lizards and pigeons. Once my passion for photography was well established and understood by my family, my father gave me another wonderful present, his old Nikon FM (as he bought himself an FM2). That first real camera with just a Nikkormat 50 mm lens was a totally new discovery for me. I quickly got three approximation rings and started to photograph all the microfauna I saw. Of course, those photos were mostly out of focus, with very bad illumination, etc, but it serves me to love and get involved further in wildlife photography. Then, I got a 300 mm lens for my FM and started to pursue all kinds of birds. Something as common, but colourful, as a European kingfisher was like a trophy to me.

In the analog era, of course, slides were the only semi or professional way to shoot. I normally used Fuji Velvia 50 ASA. Development was not very expensive, but took a few days, and I remember all the excitement of the wait, especially after a trip in which maybe I shot 10 or 15 rolls (this means 360 to 540 slides). Of course, many things could go wrong, from a bad roll to malfunction of the camera or just bad judgment while shooting. In some cases, entire rolls were burned or very dark, just unnoticed until too late. We had no way to see the result in advance, so many times, I shot blindly! I took several photography courses to understand the methods of macro and nature photography, but even then, all accessories were too lame (compared to those nowadays) and not many people used diffusers for macro photography in those days. The best pictures of those days could be compared with the worst pictures of a current photo shoot. I moved to Venezuela in 1995, carrying my FM, with a new 70-200 macro zoom lens and a new flash with a small diffuser, and my time for macro shots of Neotropical herps began

In 1998 I was hired by a Foundation (FUDECI) to make a census of the giant river turtles (Podocnemis expansa) in the Upper Orinoco River. For that, they provided me with industrial Kodak rolls of slides that I should develop myself. I must say, that was the worst decision ever, as I failed miserably doing so. My photos of that magic time are gone (many also attacked by fungi). At the end of the project, FUDECI bought and sent me a new strange and ugly camera, a Sony Mavica, the first commercial digital camera that used a floppy disk and took seconds to process each photo! However, to see the result immediately and the possibility of deleting any bad photo was an incredible novelty! Those pictures were done at 34 dpi with very low quality. Then, Hinrich Kaiser, a herpetologist supporting my research in Venezuela, sent me a Sony DSC P1 Cybershot, which was a huge improvement from the floppy disk camera, as it was very small, portable, and did not use floppy disks, but a memory stick. I was in love with that and used that camera for at least 4 years, until I saw the first bridge cameras during a trip to Peru. There, my photos were so limited compared to those taken by colleagues, that I firmly decided to go after one of those. Soon after, I saw a German client coming on one of my tours with a marvellous and beautiful Sony F717 and I was instantly in love! I needed it!

But, when I had the opportunity in 2005 to buy a new camera, the new and spectacular Sony F828 appeared in my horizon and I was, once more, charmed by it. I bought it and I must admit, that was the best camera (or at least, the one I remember with the most affection). The idea to have a Carl Zeiss lens with a 7x optic zoom, 28-200 mm, with the possibility of shooting a very short range like a wide angle was totally new for me at that time. I went to some expeditions in wild areas of Venezuela during that time carrying only my F828 and my fellow companions, pro photographers, like my mentor Charles Brewer-Carías, using Canon, Mark Moffet from National Geographic, using Pentax and Alan Highton, using Olympus, were all surprised by the features of that camera, also because it could shoot videos of high quality for that time. Some of my images were published in books and articles of the time.

In an expedition in 2007 to the Cuyuni River between Venezuela and Guyana, my first F828 failed, and I used a borrowed Sony HX9 bridge camera. A whole new world was discovered in the incredible and fast zoom and macro possibilities. I was quite interested in the model and followed the evolution of the Sony series H and HX for a while, but the mermaids of a reflex camera were calling sweetly.

In 2008, I decided to get myself a good present. I was eager to move to a reflex camera and I was already a Sony fan, so I investigated Sony models and ended with an Alpha 350 - my first digital reflex camera. Of course, it was necessary to get some good lenses and the Sony 100mm macro lens was the choice. I also had a Sigma zoom, and ended with a Sigma 150-500 mm. That equipment was the determinant for my last expeditions in Venezuela, where I could make my first real macro shots since the analog era. Unfortunately, just a few examples remain, as my whole equipment was stolen in 2010 and I lost a great amount of material.

As it was very difficult to quickly re-gather a whole set of camera body (I was in love with the Alpha 700) and lenses, I decided for the time on, until I could save enough for another Sony reflex equipment, to follow up with the much cheaper and still versatile Sony H7 (which I destroyed quickly in rough conditions), a HX100 that was my perfect companion in Argentina and Chile and a little after a HX300, with which I went to Colombia (30-33). I loved the possibility of making quite good macros and also decent wide angles. Those Carl Zeiss lenses present on these cameras, as well as on the HX400v, permitted me to approach a very small subject (for example a dendrobatid frog of 2 cm) and make great compositions.

When in the field with some of my friends from Tropical Herping, Lucas Bustamante and Alejandro Arteaga who use APSC cameras like Canon 7D (the most pro camera used by macro photographers, along with Nikon D200, at the time), they always recommended me to make the change again to a reflex. I was hesitant for many reasons… I was comfortable using those bridge cameras that were so light and versatile that I needed not to change lenses and were easily transported even in the pocket of my cargo pants. In my expedition to Argentina (Barrio-Amorós 2013) I was delighted to have just that Sony HX100 camera as my whole photographic equipment and the results were quite satisfying.

Since I shared wonderful times there with some photographers, I saw them carrying heavy gear and I was not convinced at all to do so again. I was more than reluctant to gather again a whole heavy piece of equipment with one or two bodies and several lenses, weighing around 10-12 kilos on my already broken back (I have had a discal hernia since 1992). But sharing good amounts of time with pro photographers in Argentina, Ecuador, Mexico and Costa Rica, helped me decide to get a new reflex.

On the way to get another set of equipment, the amazing Sony RX10 appeared on my horizon in 2014, and I went for it. And that was the best decision I ever made! To have a bridge camera with a sensor of 1” (13.2 x 8.8mm), 20 megapixels, and a focal range of 24–200 mm in a Carl Zeiss lens was a dream for me!! I also started to try video and the video settings were more than enough, filming at 4K with a powerful stabilization. With that weapon, I was able to take similar photos in wide angle (24 mm) including better macros than with my beloved Sony HX400v, winning in image quality but losing in zoom range. This RX10 was my loyal companion during my first expedition to Mexico. However, the only limitation I noticed was the short range of a 200 mm zoom.

Surprisingly soon, in 2016, the RX10 M3 was released with a 24-600 mm Carl Zeiss lens! A real monster! That was then my preferred camera to this day! I had 3 of them, as the first I destroyed after 2 very good years of roughness, the second was with me 3 more years until it was stolen, and immediately when I could, I bought a third one, as the differences with the RX10M4 are minimal and the price of the last is quite a bit higher, I preferred to stay loyal to my Mark III. This RX10M3 is for me the best camera ever. It is easy to handle, to shoot, you can see the taken pictures through the screen or the viewer with high quality, the lens is admirably stable making it easy to film at hand. The 600mm optic zoom (1200 mm digital) is just outstanding in image quality and reaches mostly all targets you will need. Many other expeditions (to Ecuador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, etc) followed that wonderful time. Are there some cons? See below, but just a suggestion, if Sony adapts an APSC sensor and a lens which could be 20-1000 mm, then they would make the most perfect camera ever!!!! Another important improvement any bridge camera or lens should have is some LEDs directly on the lens to facilitate focusing of the target when it is very close.

When my second RX10 M3 was stolen in July 2021, I obviously needed to have that camera back. I was too used to it, too comfortable, it was like a great relationship that I denied to finish! So, I had some savings and immediately I bought it again. However, I must admit I wanted something else.

My Sony was able to make good macro pictures of medium sized animals, but not of very small ones or with great detail. For that, I should use a proper macro lens. And also, I was looking for a long time at those pictures of a small target, like a dendrobatid frog of 2 cm showing all the background and I really wanted to do that. Actually, the RX10M3 makes outstanding wide-angle pictures as it is able to focus as close to the lens as 2 cm and I was very satisfied with that kind of picture. The difference was that other photographers used dedicated 15mm macro wide-angle lenses, like the Laowa 15 mm. Then I started to investigate which camera I would need to shoot those pictures, and to avoid the conversion factor of APSC needed to be a full frame.

With a lot of effort and help from some friends, especially a Nikonista from Barcelona to whom I explained all my necessities, he sold me his almost new Nikon D750 body, with less than 100 shots, quite affordable. Then I decided to go for the Laowa 15 mm and searched for a macro until I saw a used Tamron 90 mm without stabilization. That is my current equipment and I started to shoot it in Ecuador. I just brought the Nikon and lenses, leaving the Sony, which

I really regret. Why? The Sony is perfect for video… and several kinds of pictures I can´t do with those two lenses. Some more sessions with the Nikon plus macro Tamron 90 mm and the Laowa 15 mm leave me some of my favorite photos ever. Currently, I carry with me the Nikon and the Sony together, plus a Go Pro Hero 7, a DJI Mavic Mini 2 and a Samsung Galaxy S10+ cell phone, 5 cameras in total!

Conclusively, my selection of cameras are equip me for any possibility. I use the Nikon+Tamron 90 mm for macro, Nikon+Laowa 15 mm for wide angles, Sony RX10M3 for videos and long shots (zoom) and macros with 600 mm, the GoPro for adventures in and out of water and the Mavic Mini2 for very good quality aerial video (4k, 30 fps). I also use my cell phone for quick videos with decent quality.