Fiery Arenal Volcano: A Costa Rica Photography Delight

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Fiery Arenal Volcano: A Costa Rica Photography Delight

It is eight in the morning and the van is packed with all our luggage and camera gear. We are off to our first destination, soon to become an adventure. Being the first day, the group is just getting to know one another and the level of excitement is high with everyone talking about cameras and pictures.

We are on our way to Arenal, an active volcano in Costa Rica, but there are a few stops along the way. First, we stop in Sarchi, famous for its tropical furniture, where magnificent, brightly decorated ox carts are made in an eighty plus year old water powered factory. From there, we drive to the little mountain town of Zarcero where the focal point is the old wooden church with its much-photographed double row of topiaries leading to its entrance. You can fill your camera's memory card just at these two places with the colours and patterns in Sarchi and the fantastic shapes of the topiaries in Zarcero.

Along the way, the potholes in the roads are many. Our Tico driver, Luis, knows this and so drives extremely cautiously to avoid them. However, it seems like everyone else on two or four wheels pass us. Those passing us seem to believe that they are Formula One contenders and in Costa Rica there is even a bus driver who is known to have passengers find God while on his bus.

Lunch in La Fortuna follows and we are now approaching our lodge in Arenal. The road up to the Lodge is a continuous pothole because the rainy season has just ended and most roads are in horrible condition. Our road is unique because it was constructed with crushed lava.

We round a curve and a come to a clearing at a river and there is Arenal Volcano! Most have never been face to face with a volcano before and it is truly an awesome sight to see, a perfectly shaped volcano.

The point of the cone is cloaked in puffy white clouds with a beautiful blue sky as a backdrop. We immediately stop and quickly leave the van attaching cameras to tripods. Some of us wade into the river for a better image while some shoot from the riverbanks getting a different perspective.

Who is to say how dangerous being this close to an active volcano can be? Fortunately, Arenal is very predictable and today is closely monitored so there is a very low risk of a serious, catastrophic, unexpected eruption. Only 1 km away from the base of the volcano and 2 km to the top of the cone is the lodge where we stay and without a doubt any activity attracts the attention of everyone.

While unpacking and getting settled in, Arenal speaks. It is a great roar, smoke and gas billowing many hundreds of feet into the sky and the sound of the rocks tumbling down the slopes. After the eruption, the Mantled Howler monkeys are extremely vocal but we do not know if they are protesting the roar of the eruption or just answering back.

While sitting in the lodge dining room enjoying our dinner Arenal speaks again. Everyone had been told of the many photo opportunities in Costa Rica but who would imagine eating dinner and having something like this happen? And this was only our first day of the tour!

The next two nights are without much sleep since we find comfortable chairs in the common area of the lodge just outside our rooms and we mount our cameras on tripods attaching cable releases. Since I had already been to Arenal many times I had chosen to use an 80-200mm lens set at 80mm and an aperture of f8, the camera shutter set at "B" for time exposure.

I think a time exposure of more than 20 minutes will produce an ugly yellow blob of light since there is a lot of activity of small flare-ups at the cone. Lava is flowing down the opposite side, so I allow no more than 20 minutes to pass before I closing the shutter and starting another exposure. The use of a cable release makes these exposures very easy and while we were there Arenal puts on quite a pyrotechnical show.

What a magnificent first day of the tour in Costa Rica. Eight more days of photography to go and everyone is anxiously looking forward to what exciting adventure tomorrow will bring.

About the Author

Frank Scott lives in tropical Costa Rica where he is a professional Costa Rica Photographer offering unique photography tours. Some of his work can be seen in Costa Rica Vacations, a very popular travel guide to this unique country.