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Mentor Trekking in Costa Rica with Bill Durrence (cont.)

When you have an interesting scene, the "design" of the jungle pathway here, wait for a person to add life to it and maybe a splash of color for contrast.

As students become more comfortable with these techniques I try to help them realize that learning is never over; we just use the things we've learned in more and more subtle ways. The most underutilized accessory for most photographers is their feet—you need to move around the subject and try different backgrounds. But sometimes the necessary movements are pretty small; "micro movements" is the phrase coined by one trekker.

In this shot we had just finished touring a coffee plantation and were visiting the gift shop.

This chair and "window" made up a set display just inside the doorway. The other mentor, David Tejada, stepped outside with an SB-900 Speedlight with an orange gel, creating the warm light and shadow pattern on our guide who posed for me. What I noticed as we shot was the merger happening between her head and the blue window frame. I needed to make a small adjustment to get a little separation between them.

You need to really work a subject.

After the trekkers left I was walking around San Jose and found this wonderful yellow and blue building, but it needed something else. Over about 30 minutes I tried shooting all sorts of passing vehicles (mostly red for the bright color contrast) and people, but just as I was about to move on, the street vendor and boy with balloon walked into the shot simultaneously. Sometimes, if you work hard enough, you will be given the gift of serendipity.

To see more of Bill's work, visit his website.

To learn more about the Mentor Series Worldwide Photo Treks click here.

Bill Durrence has been an NPS member since 1988.