Chelsea and Cam live in what most would call paradise – Costa Rica – and as a photographer, I hands down agree. I’ve been travelling to Costa Rica (1-2 times a year) since 2010. I love everything about this beautiful country and I often refer to it as my second home. I’ve travelled all over Costa Rica and have been from one end to the other backpacking from Panama to Nicaragua. Even after travelling through most of Central America, something always calls me back here.
On one of those adventures, I met Chelsea at a local hostel in Tamarindo. Which is now an Airbnb/ restaurant that you should definitely check out! This was way before I was a photographer and was just travelling through Costa Rica. Chelsea lives down in Costa Rica now, but we found out we’re from the same city in Canada – such a small world! We stayed in touch for years and on this trip back to Costa Rica, I got Chelsea and her boyfriend, Cam, to do a sunset surf session on the beach with me.
I’m not going to lie, I definitely manifested this session. I’ve been dreaming of photographing a sunset surf session on the beaches of Costa Rica for a long time. I just needed the perfect opportunity and this was it!
Cam is actually a professional wake surfer from the United States so this session was perfect for them. Chelsea doesn’t love the ocean as much with all the unknown creatures below you, but she braved it all for this session. You’re the best Chelsea!!
I’ve never been afraid of the ocean and enjoy surfing and snorkelling whenever I travel down south. Just another reason why I love going down there so much and have always dreamed about being a photographer in Costa Rica. The warm weather when it’s freezing here all winter definitely adds to that too.
If you’ve ever had a session with me around water, you know I’ll be in there with you! Kind of like this one in Nicaragua. Thankfully, we had a calm night so the waves weren’t tossing me around. I try to be extra careful with my camera in hand but I’m also not afraid to push the boundaries a little. I have to live up to my adventurous brand after all!
Costa Rica gets some of the most epic sunsets, which is a photographer’s dream. We shot from just before sunset right through to blue hour. Which is when you can get some pretty epic lighting and play around with artificial lights. This is also one of the best times for sparkler photos in my opinion (remember that if you’re planning a wedding!).
If you haven’t been to Costa Rica before, I highly recommend you go if you get the chance – it’s such a beautiful country and the people are so friendly.