Sloths
likelyin OctoberHigh, backlit, behind leaves
Tours and guides
LYFERR PHOTO
PHOTOGRAPHY TRIPS · COSTA RICA
Photo trips led by Costa Rica's Photo Experts
Light-first plans and the guide who has photographed your animal for years. Each guide sets the group size, shown on every trip. Pick a date and book on Lyferr.
- Photo pace
- Photo Expert guides
- Light-first plans
- Image review
WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY TRIPS FROM LOCAL GUIDES
Photo trips and private sessions
Multi-day trips give you dawn and dusk sessions in two or three places, so you can work one animal properly. Want your own guide and pace? Private sessions and custom trips start from a short shoot brief.
No photo trips listed yet
We only list guides who pass our checks, and none of them sells a photo trip on Lyferr yet. Send a shoot brief and we will match you with a photo guide.
Plan your shootHOW BOOKING WORKS
- 1
Pick a tour or trip on Lyferr
- 2
Choose your date and pay the 25% deposit on Lyferr
- 3
The guide confirms within 24 h. You message them in Lyferr
- 4
After the trip, rate the photo guidance. Only travellers who booked can review
- Deposit protected
- Verified trips
- No paid ranking
Prices are set by each guide. The price you see is final. Lyferr's commission comes out of the guide's price, not on top. Each card opens the tour's page on Lyferr.
WHY LYFERR PHOTO EXISTS
The wrong guide can cost you the trip.
Wildlife photographer and guide who grew up in Guanacaste, and a finalist in the Sony World Photography Awards and Wildlife Photographer of the Year.
LIOR BERMAN · FOUNDER · WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR FINALIST
WHY IT COSTS MORE
What you pay for on a Lyferr Photo trip
Same animals as a standard tour. The day, the group and the guide are built for the photo.
A LIGHT-FIRST DAY
In the field before the park opens. Back out when the light turns gold.
LYFERR PHOTO TRIP
- Dawn session · 5:30 to 8:30
- Image review · 12:00 to 14:00
- Golden hour · 15:30 to 18:00
STANDARD TOUR
- Park walk · 8:00 to 11:00
Times from a typical Caribbean trip. Each listing shows its own plan.
REALISTIC ODDS
Odds from data, not promises
- Slothslikelyin October
- Scarlet macawslikelyin October
- Frogslikelyin October
Every trip shows the odds for its animals, from eBird checklists and guide logs, including the days they were not seen.
TIME WITH EACH ANIMAL
As long as the light is good
LYFERR PHOTOUNTIL THE LIGHT GOES
STANDARD TOUR5 TO 10 MIN
No rush to the next animal while the frame is still working.
YOUR GUIDE
A Photo Expert who shoots
- LYFERR PHOTO
- Positions you for light and background
- STANDARD TOUR
- A naturalist who finds and explains wildlife
HIDE ACCESSHide access
Private hides and feeders where the guide has permission. You shoot at eye level, from cover.
IMAGE REVIEWImage review
An evening session with your guide: your best frames, what worked and what to try at dawn.
Each trip lists what it includes. Hide access and image review appear on the trips that offer them.
Compare standard toursHOW A GUIDE GETS IN
Four checks before any guide can sell a Lyferr Photo trip
A Photo Expert badge is earned with work you can see, trips Lyferr can count and ratings only travellers who booked can give.
20-MIN VIDEO CALL WITH LYFERR
01. Application and video call
Years guiding the animals they name, a link to their work and first aid. Then a 20-minute call with Lyferr.
REVIEWED FRAME BY FRAME
02. Portfolio review
A body of work in one technique, reviewed by Lyferr’s photo team, led by a Wildlife Photographer of the Year finalist.
“NOT SEEN” COUNTS TOO
03. A record with that animal
At launch, Founding Photo Experts are invited for years of premium photo guiding with that animal. After that, 40+ photo trips logged on Lyferr, and “not seen” counts too.
PHOTO GUIDANCE · ONLY FROM BOOKINGS
04. Rated by photographers
4.8+ for photo guidance, only from travellers who booked through Lyferr.
- 4checks before a guide is listed
- 40+photo trips logged, or a Founding invite
- 4.8+rating for photo guidance
- 0paid placements
AND ON EVERY BOOKING
Clear refunds
Full refund up to 6 months before trips and 7 days before day tours, half until 60 days or 48 h, except Lyferr's commission.
Group size upfront
Every listing shows its maximum.
Your guide, confirmed
Your guide's name arrives with your booking. You message them in Lyferr.
PORTFOLIOS REVIEWED BY A WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR FINALIST
The Photo Experts behind each trip
A photo tour is built around light, not a checklist of animals. These guides are photographers first: they know where each animal sits this week, how to set you up for the light, and how to keep the animal and the group safe.
Are you a wildlife photographer and guide in Costa Rica?Join Lyferr as a photo guide →
PRIVATE PHOTO TRIPS
Plan your shoot
Tell us the animal and the photo you have in mind. A guide who shoots for a living plans the light, the access and the pace, then sends you a trip you can book.
- 1Send a briefTell us the animal, the shot and your dates
- 2Get a planA reviewed photo guide replies with a plan for light and locations
- 3Book itAgree the plan, then book the trip on Lyferr
What do you want to photograph?
- Eye-level portrait
- Birds in flight
- Night macro
- Animal in habitat
- Behaviour
Nothing to pay until you agree on the plan and book.
Start my shoot briefWHAT DO YOU WANT TO PHOTOGRAPH?
Pick the animal, then the guide
Resplendent quetzal
Dark forest, shiny green
Tours and guidesHummingbirds
Freeze the wings, or not
Tours and guides
Scarlet macaws
likelyin OctoberFast shutter at almond trees
Tours and guides
Frogs
likelyin OctoberMacro and diffused flash
Tours and guides
Whales
Long lens from a moving boat
Tours and guidesToucans
likelyin OctoberDark bodies, bright bills
Tours and guides
Monkeys
Fast, in deep shade
Tours and guides
Sea turtles
Dawn releases, never flash
Tours and guidesOdds are for one guided outing in October, from eBird checklists and published studies.
THE SHORT ANSWER
WHERE
Sarapiquí, Monteverde, Carara and Osa
Plus San Gerardo de Dota for quetzals
WHEN
Dec to Apr for birds and macaws
May to Nov for frogs and soft light
WHY A PHOTO GUIDE
They place you for light and background
A standard tour keeps moving. A photo tour waits for the shot.
CAN YOU USE FLASH?
Sometimes
Never on nesting turtles or at nests. On night walks your guide decides.
WHERE AND WHEN
Eight places photo guides go back to
1–3 of 8
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BEST MONTHS, BY SUBJECT
- Quetzals
- Mar to Jun
- Scarlet macaws
- Jan to Mar
- Hummingbirds
- All year
- Toucans
- All year
- Humpback whales
- Aug to Oct, Dec to Mar
- Nesting turtles
- Jul to Oct
- Frogs
- May to Nov
From eBird checklists and nesting records. Not a promise.
Month-by-month calendarPHOTOGRAPHY BASICS
What photo guides tell every client
Reference for before your trip. Pick a topic.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Smaller groups, usually four people or fewer, more time at each animal, and a guide who sets you up for light and background. A regular tour finds the animals and keeps moving.
A 100-400 mm or 150-600 mm zoom covers most birds and mammals. Add a 90 to 105 mm macro for frogs and snakes, and a wide lens in a housing for sharks. Each animal's field guide lists lenses by level.
There is no bad month. December to April brings clear skies, nesting birds and macaws in flight. May to November brings soft light and peak frog season. The calendar on this page shows each animal at its best place.
Never on nesting turtles or at nests and roosts. On night walks a short, diffused flash is common for frogs and snakes, but your guide decides.
Yes. Many guides carry a spotting scope you can shoot through, and phones work well at hummingbird feeders and on night walks. Ask for a guide with a scope when you book.
No. A good photo guide raises your chances by knowing where the animals are this week and where to stand, but wildlife decides. Every animal page shows its odds so you can plan.
Still have a question?Ask us →
WHO WROTE THIS
Lior, founder of Lyferr
Wildlife photographer and guide who grew up in Guanacaste, and a finalist in the Sony World Photography Awards and Wildlife Photographer of the Year. Lior has spent years photographing wildlife across Costa Rica and guiding other photographers. This guide is what he tells friends before they go.
- Sony World Photography Awards finalist
- Wildlife Photographer of the Year finalist
- Born in Guanacaste
Fact-checked by founder Lior Berman Fernandez · Data: eBird checklists via GBIF and published studies, linked on each animal page
Keep exploring
More Costa Rica wildlife
Most trips combine two or three of these. Each guide covers where, when and the local guides who know them.
Sloths
Both species, town by town
Where to see them →Monkeys
All 4 species, town by town
Where to see them →Sea turtles
Nesting season, month by month
Where to see them →Whales
Two humpback seasons a year
Where to see them →Birds
Over 900 species, 10 hotspots
Where to see them →Hummingbirds
50+ species and how to shoot them
Where to see them →Toucans
Six species and the toco myth
Where to see them →Frogs
Night walks and poison frogs
Where to see them →
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