J. ANNE

I woke up this morning with the last thing that I ever wanted to have happen.  I woke up with the shoulda, woulda, coulda’s.  I spent last week in Costa Rica on the trip of a lifetime!  I was there to shoot Megan and David’s insanely beautiful destination wedding, and if I get anything across in this post, it is that their wedding was divine.  I will forever remember their wedding day and all of their beautiful friends and family witnessing the first day of their marriage.  I do not have any shoulda, woulda, coulda’s in regards to the wedding itself.  It is gorgeous, and I will show it to you all very soon.

My regrets come the day after the wedding.  It was Saturday, and it was a day to relax and have a personal day in Costa Rica.  The days prior were spent photographing catamaran tours to private beaches and tropical excursions… rough gig, I know (sarcasm, and a smiley face!)  So, anyway, Saturday was a day that we could explore, relax, do whatever our hearts desired.  My plan was to relax in the morning, which I did a wonderful job of, and then go explore in the afternoon.  I headed to a small town called CoCo Beach with my new friend Rob, and my second-shooter/friend Janelle.  I knew in my heart of hearts that I wanted to ask the taxi driver to stop along the road as we drove because what I really wanted to do was grab some photos of real Costa Rican culture outside of our resort.  On our trip to CoCo Beach we saw a man corralling two huge white ox in the road.  It was a once in a lifetime moment to photograph, and I allowed our driver to go right on by without asking to stop to photograph this amazing sight!  I kept telling myself that there would be plenty to photograph when we got to our location, and that I was going to stop along the road on the way back to the resort.  Well, there definitely were gorgeous things to photograph in CoCo Beach, but the moment we decided to venture off away from the hustle and bustle of the small touristy town… the sky opened, the clouds ruptured, and a downpour of rain dropped on our heads.  And it didn’t stop for the rest of the day.  Alas, in true ‘pura vida’ spirit we continued exploring, stopped for pina coladas and a Costa Rican meal, and didn’t let the rain stop our adventure.  But without protection for my camera… it stayed tucked inside of my bag, safe and sound.

Do I have beautiful photographs of Costa Rica?  Yes.  Is my spirit full from a wonderful trip of a lifetime?  Yes.  But am I slightly bummed that it rained on my photo parade.  Yes.  And, that’s okay.  It just means that I’ll have to go back again… and when I do… those beautiful white oxen better be ready for me!

xo.