advanced macro photography workshop: for Costa Rica’s tiniest wonders
This intensive, hands-on macro photography workshop in Costa Rica is a truly special experience, led by world-renowned macro photographers Laurent Naman and Rafi Steinlesberger. With access to Costa Rica’s rich, concentrated biodiversity, your subject variety is practically limitless, including colorful orchids, bromeliads, spiders, jumping spiders, moths, beetles, ants, stick insects, frogs (tiny glass frogs and tree frogs), damselflies, butterflies, and intricate plant textures and subjects often overlooked such as insect eyes, wing scales, pollen grains, fungal fruiting bodies, dew and water surface tension effects. Designed for advanced levels, this workshop is not necessarily a general wildlife tour and requires previous basic macro experience (manual exposure, focus stacking basics, and off-camera lighting). Return home with a substantial portfolio of high-resolution macro images suitable for print, contests, publications, and professional use, as well as practical, real-world skills you can continue using long after the tour—right in your own garden or local green space.
General Information | Overview | What’s Included | Reviews
Gallery | Itinerary | Location & Accommodations | Tour Leader
costa rica advanced macro
Dates: July 24-27, 2026
Location: san jose/osa peninsula, costa rica
Price: $3800 USD*
Fitness Level: LEVEL TWO - GENTLE ADVENTURE
Group Size: 8 participants + 2 group leaders
*Price per person, based on same-sex double occupancy accommodations. A limited number of single supplement rooms are available for an additional fee, which you may select at time of booking. If the single supplement rooms are sold out online, please contact us, and we will reach out to the lodging to see if we can accommodate more, though we cannot guarantee this is possible.
Tour Highlights:
Hands-on field instruction from world-renowned macro masters Laurent Naman and Rafi Steinlesberger, with personalized guidance to refine technique and creative vision
Daily guided shoots in Costa Rica’s most diverse microhabitats: rainforest understory, cloud forest edges, bromeliad-rich canopy, and riparian zones
Advanced focus-stacking demonstrations and one-on-one help for building multi-image composites in the field
In-depth sessions on natural light shaping, portable flash techniques, and multi-flash setups for complete control of highlights and shadows
Precision subject isolation and composition coaching: tips for background control, scale cues, and storytelling in tiny subjects
Live post-processing workshops covering RAW workflow, advanced focus-stack blending, noise reduction, color management, and image finishing tailored to macro work
Techniques for ethical approach and low-impact handling of insects, amphibians, and plants to ensure safety and conservation-minded shooting
Specialized gear support: macro lens selection, extension tubes and bellows usage, tripod and rail setup, and troubleshooting in humid tropical conditions
Night macro sessions for photographing moths, katydids, and other nocturnal arthropods with safe attraction and lighting methods
Small group size for maximum tutor access, on-location image reviews, and personalized critique to accelerate technical progress and creative growth
Our Advanced Macro Tour in Costa Rica is an unmatched opportunity for serious photographers to push their technical skills and artistic vision in one of the planet’s richest micro-worlds; Costa Rica’s extraordinary biodiversity, stable climate, and compact geography mean you can spend your days focused on composition, lighting and technique rather than long drives between habitats. On this tour you’ll work side-by-side with experienced guides and instructors who specialize in macro optics, focusing rails, flash modifiers and advanced stacking workflows, so you’ll get hands-on coaching tailored to shooting live insects, frogs, spiders, flowers and unique fungal subjects in situ; we time shoots for peak activity at dawn and dusk, use proven approaches to control depth-of-field and movement, and teach field and studio lighting setups that preserve natural behavior while delivering high-resolution, gallery-ready images. Costa Rica’s cloud forests, lowland rainforests, mangroves and coastal zones are concentrated within a small area, giving access to endemic and range-restricted species—poison-dart frogs, glass frogs, leaf-mimic katydids, jewel-like beetles and extraordinary moths—that are rarely found together anywhere else. The country’s strong conservation ethic, extensive protected areas and a network of accessible private reserves mean more predictable encounters and ethical close-up shooting conditions, while local naturalists provide invaluable species knowledge that helps you anticipate behavior and composition opportunities. Whether you’re mastering focus stacking, flash balancing, motion-freezing at high magnifications, or refining your post-processing stack to extract detail without introducing artifacts, this tour is designed to accelerate your technical growth and creative output in a setting where extraordinary subjects are reliably abundant and easily reached—making Costa Rica the ideal classroom for advanced macro photography.
What’s Included:
All accommodations as listed in itinerary
Reserve entry fees for listed activities
Transportation to hotel via hotel shuttle
Transportation to location and throughout the duration of the tour
Transportation back to airport or airport hotel
All meals outlined in itinerary
Expert guiding and photography instruction in the field
What’s Not Included:
International flights to/from San José (SJO)
Beverages (alcoholic and specialty drinks)
Travel insurance
Tips and personal items
This tour begins and ends at San Jose International Airport (SJO). Please make travel arrangements based on the itinerary below, or Contact Us for travel assistance.
Day 0: July 23
When we have everyone's flight details, we will arrange a time to get together at the hotel to meet and go over the morning plan.
Please book Villa San Ignacio in San Jose (this night not included). This is a beautiful little hotel with lots of birds and a few bugs right in the garden. I love choosing this spot to get everyone gathered up. We will have a driver waiting at the airport with a Focus photo tours sign ready to bring you to the hotel.
Evening free to relax and prepare for the adventure ahead. The hotel has an on-site restaurant (not included).
Day 1: July 24
Transportation: min bus 4.5 hrs drive SJO → Puerto Jiménez + road transfer to lodge (included)
Accommodation: Corcovado Beach Lodge
Meals: B/L/D Included
Arrive at Osa Peninsula, one of the most bio-diverse places on the planet.
Arrive after lunch and visit the local bug museum
Afternoon Macro class: Orientation with our Macro Guide. We will start with an overview of the basics this is a great way to learn different techniques and get an idea where everyone is at.
Evening guided walk: you won't believe the diversity of species we find here we will start to explore light and focusing techniques. As well as the ethics of macro photography.
Day 2: July 25
Bosque del Cabo — Macro Photography
Accommodation: Corcovado beach lodge
Daily itinerary
Meals: B/L/D at the Bio Sur reserve (this is where they will have lunch and dinner every day. This is where the macro classes will be held in two groups with a guide and a leader for each group. This reserve is one of the most amazing places on the planet for bio diversity and macro. Paradise for macro photographers.
Morning: We will take some time before breakfast to photography the other species this amazing area has to offer such as: scarlet macaws, toucans, trogons, manakins, tanagers, howler/spider/capuchin monkeys, coatis, agoutis, iguanas, basilisks, and abundant hummingbirds. You are welcome to use your zoom or practice your macro.
After Breakfast: we will go to Macro school learning the finer details of macro photography. This will include: lighting, focus, different methods, composition, ethics, gear and much more.
Lunch: Quiet time to download, pool break, or independent garden macro.
Afternoon Macro Applied: Macro is all about practice and we want to send you home with all the skills needed to continue your macro journey. We will set up practice scenarios so you can start to apply what you have learned in the morning classes.
Evening:Macro session: we will go out into the forest to apply what we have learned and practiced during the day. We will have opportunities and many species and natural as well as staged macro.
Day 3: July 26
Morning: We will take some time before breakfast to photography the other species this amazing area has to offer such as: scarlet macaws, toucans, trogons, manakins, tanagers, howler/spider/capuchin monkeys, coatis, agoutis, iguanas, basilisks, and abundant hummingbirds. You are welcome to use your zoom or practice your macro.
After Breakfast: we will go to Macro school learning the finer details of macro photography this will include: lighting, focus, different methods, composition, ethics, gear and much more.
Lunch: Quiet time to download, pool break, or independent garden macro.
Afternoon Macro Applied: Macro is all about practice and we want to send you home with all the skills needed to continue your macro journey. We will set up practice scenarios so you can start to apply what you have learned in the morning classes.
Evening:Macro session: We will change locations and head to a local reserve, Rio Nuevo. Here a group of amazing Costa Ricans will show us what can happen when conservation and tourism can come together and what that means for the environment. Here we will walk through the jungle in search of macro treasures.
Day 4: July 27
Osa → San Jose, Costa Rica
Transportation:road transfer from Bosque/Domestic flight Puerto Jiménez-SJO
Here we will say goodbye. You are welcome to book a hotel near the airport or continue on your journey.
Return to San José. Book outbound flights 6:00 p.m. or later,
OPTIONAL ADD-ON
Extend with your Macro Guide — +2 Days of private one on one time. Stay with our amazing macro guide and teacher. This would allow you a couple more days to perfect your skills. Only one spot (or if traveling together 2 spots available). This add on will be customized. First come first served. Pricing available as customized.
location & accommodations
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![Map showing a route from San José to Sosa peninsula in Costa Rica, with nearby cities and national parks labeled.]()
San Jose to Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica
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![An aerial view of a swimming pool area surrounded by lush tropical greenery, with lounge chairs, umbrellas, and a small grassy area.]()
Villa san Ignacio
San Jose, Costa Rica
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Corcovado Beach Lodge
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Tour Leader: LAURENT HESEMANS
Laurent Hesemans grew up in the vast openness of the Namib Desert in Namibia. From a very young age, he was aware of the privilege of growing up surrounded by the stark beauty and incredible nature of the area, and it sparked an appreciation and interest in nature which was to become a lifelong passion.
Now based in Costa Rica, he spends as much time as possible in the forest - where his adventures have resulted in thousands of incredible images of the creatures which call these tropical jungles home. His goal is to educate and incentivise those who view his images - changing long- held opinions and helping to conserve the intricate ecosystems and incredible species which colour the rich and important tapestry of the Natural World.
Focusing primarily on documenting the tiny world beneath our feet through compelling macro images, more of Laurent’s work can be seen on his website and social media accounts.
Tour Leader: rafi steinlesberger
I am a photographer from Vienna, Austria focused on nature macro photography. Why macro? The ability to open the door to a whole new world full of captivating life forms, shapes, structures and colours still fascinates me every day.
After finishing my master’s degree in teaching for biology and psychology / philosophy I started working as a teacher in a middle school in Vienna. When I am off work, I am usually found exploring different habitats close to Vienna or editing photos.
Since April 2023 I am honored to represent my camera brand as OM SYSTEM Ambassador.