In the early 1990’s my wife and I flew to Tortuguero in a small single engine plane. Leaving the hustle and bustle San Jose Costa Rica, far behind us. Our highly anticipated adventure began to unfold before us as we flew over the rugged continental divide mountain range with the inpennetratable cloud forests just below us. We landed on a tiny airstrip in the middle of the coastal jungle. We checked in at the nature lodge which we had booked months ago. Next day, was a day for exploration and discovery, experiencing first hand, the natural treasures of these tropical rainforests, along the Atlantic coast. The day did not disappoint !! Everything was much larger than anticipated (Amazon sized). We took many photographs with my Nikon 35mm SLR (all slides).
The Passion!
20 years later my passion for Wildlife Art was rekindled as was the desire to put brush to canvas, except this time, not with oils as I did over 40 years ago. This time, using a magical digital canvas, with software brushes that did not require turps to clean them and a palette with millions of colours. I realized immediately ’right then and there’ the endless possibilities for artistic expression using this media. I am now able to breathe life back into my photographs, in a way that I, the observer originally experienced in a super-real and fantastic way with all my senses.
I took this original photograph (Image 1), standing in a small tippy aluminum boat drifting past this very large male Basilisk lizard (about 3 ft long not counting the whole tail); the dead leaf to the right is over 8ft long, just to give scale to the supersize flora and fauna of this rainforest . This photograph; due the tippy boat and hand-held camera with a 200mm telephoto lens mounted on it, is not quite as sharp or framed optimally as I would have liked.
The Details!
Even if I had a better image, it still would not do justice to this magnificent lizard. Using digital “magic” has helps me in express the feeling of my first encounter with a Basilisk in its native environment(very humbling and awe inspiring). By enhancing the details and adding creative elements to this image, makes it much more interesting, intimate and realistic. All the while making sure that it is all compliant indigenous of this region. . Check the gallery page for larger images. Anton (Tony) Frei