Tico Makes use of Photography as a Device To Defend 5% of The World’s Biodiversity in Costa Rica ⋆ The Costa Rica Information

Brief Introduction: From the sounds of howler monkeys within the timber of Guanacaste to the school rooms of the Technological Institute of Costa Rica, Lior Berman Fernández’s life has been marked by a deep reference to nature. This proficient photographer, who as soon as dreamed of changing into a biologist, has present in his lens the proper device to channel his love for biodiversity and conservation. Berman has traveled a path that has led him to merge his analytical self-discipline with capturing the essence of Costa Rica: from its pristine seashores to its spectacular 5% of the world’s organic range. In this interview, we uncover how his rural upbringing, his eye for element, and his dedication to the surroundings outline his artwork and his present mission alongside biologists and communities, which has led him to worldwide levels.

The air of Guanacaste, Costa Rica, laden with the reminiscence of the seasons and the scent of the timber within the space, is Lior’s true studio. Before changing into a global photographer, his mornings didn’t start with the clicking of a digicam, however with the howling of monkeys visiting his rural dwelling close to Cañas.

“I remember always feeling very connected to nature. I remember that my childhood weekends were spent exploring pastures and pristine beaches with my parents,” he stated.

His recollections are additionally strongly marked by the seasons, between the wet season and the dry season. “Not only did I love the area where we lived, but also the wildlife that surrounded us.”

That early connection planted a seed that, though it took an expert detour, by no means died.

As a baby, he dreamed of changing into a biologist, which is the place his love of nature comes from.

He has at all times been a biologist at coronary heart, and regardless of taking a special skilled path, he’s now making an attempt to recapture his dream by way of images, which is a conservation difficulty that biologists are concerned in.

The various path led him to coach as an industrial design engineer, a self-discipline that nurtures his detailed and analytical strategy, however it’s the land the place he grew up that is still his fundamental muse.

Lior studied on the Technological Institute of Costa Rica, graduating in 2016.

This technical basis was not a detour, however somewhat preparation. His preliminary expertise centered primarily on internet design, a discipline that calls for precision and clear imaginative and prescient.

The engineer turned a bridge, making use of the self-discipline and a focus to element discovered in design to seize, with scientific and inventive precision, the delicate Costa Rican ecosystem.

When requested how he would describe himself, the Costa Rican photographer’s reply revealed the precision he applies to his pictures.

“I would describe myself as disciplined, quite analytical, and very curious. I am very consistent, I pay a lot of attention to detail, and I am very organized,” he defined.

However, the photographer acknowledges that these virtues include their counterpart. Among his flaws are being self-demanding and a perfectionist. Despite this inner demand, he maintains an important anchor in his interactions, “at the same time, I try to keep my feet on the ground and be quite friendly with everyone around me.”

His childhood cast his love for the land, and it’s the tangible actuality of Costa Rica that fuels his artwork at present.

“I am inspired by its biodiversity. The fact that Costa Rica is home to 5% of the world’s diversity, on at least 1% of the planet’s surface, is quite impressive to me,” he stated. But his admiration doesn’t cease on the figures; he additionally admires the tradition of the individuals, their kindness, their heat and, in his opinion, the friendship that may be felt within the nation, which is spectacular.

Berman highlighted how this connection interprets into on a regular basis life, mentioning delicacies wealthy in recent produce, environmental training in faculties, and day by day coexistence between communities, farmers, and wildlife. “I believe it is a living network of environmental protection. The fact that 25% of the territory is under some category of protection is a reflection of that collective consciousness. I am very inspired by how we Ticos live in such close proximity to nature on a daily basis.”

The official begin of Lior Berman’s images profession is as distinctive as his life, starting in compelled exile throughout the pandemic. “When I finished my studies at the Technological Institute of Costa Rica, I had the opportunity to do an internship in Japan, so I bought my first camera, hoping to take photos in Japan,” he stated. However, destiny intervened. Two weeks later, the pandemic started, and everybody was despatched dwelling.

Forced to return from Cartago to his native Guanacaste, the reunion with the character of his childhood was the catalyst. “When I returned to this place and saw so much of the nature that was part of my childhood and remembered those moments, I realized, why not start using this camera to document that journey, those moments of being locked up during the pandemic?”

What started as a private report turned a terrific ardour that was refined over time and with inspiration from different photographers.

Although Berman had no formal coaching in images, his background gave him an surprising benefit. “Having studied design gave me a very important foundation in visual composition, color theory, and other topics related to art,” he added.

Interestingly, the digicam was at all times shut by. His grandfather was a photographer and at all times took a digicam with him on household journeys to take photos of the entire household.

He obtained his first digicam as a present when he was 10 years outdated, “I took it on family trips to take pictures of everything we saw.”

It was the pandemic, the time out there, and the sources obtained that lastly allowed Lior, 5 years in the past, to take images with the skilled seriousness it deserved.

Talking with the proficient Costa Rican, we requested him what number of images he has taken all through his skilled profession. In his response, he emphasised that he has taken greater than 1,000,000 images. “I’m about to look at the files, and that’s about the number, However, of that million photographs, I would say that perhaps 1% are really good, usable photographs that are now part of my portfolio. But that’s the world of photography. The truth is that it takes a lot of trying and making mistakes, and some will be successful, some won’t, but you have to be very persistent.”

Among his favourite pictures, one stood out: an ocelot crossing a fallen tree in the course of the dry forest. It is known as Night Hunter. “The reason why this is my favorite photograph is because it took a lot of effort, about three months, to identify the walking routes of this animal and learn that it is a nocturnal feline that is very difficult to see, especially in the area where I grew up. Knowing that I managed to take a photograph of these animal behaviors was extremely important to me.”

He added that the truth that the {photograph} was additionally taken with a digicam lure reveals him that his technical degree has improved drastically, “and this also shows me that the skills I have developed as a photographer over the years have increased considerably and that I must continue to make a lot of effort and keep working to be able to take more photographs of this quality.”

The first official contest Lior Berman received was the Sagicor contest in Costa Rica, particularly for an insurance coverage firm that was searching for nature pictures that represented the nation. He received first place within the wildlife and nature images class.

After that, he was additionally a finalist representing Costa Rica within the Sony Photography Awards in 2024 with {a photograph} of El Chalten in Argentina, saying he was “very proud to have represented my country in this prestigious contest.”

And now, with the {photograph} of the Neotropical Roadrunner, I had the consideration of being a finalist within the Wildlife Photographer of the Year (WPY) competitors, which, for my part, is a very powerful wildlife images competitors on the planet. Apart from that, I’ve additionally been revealed in National Geographic journal twice, and though that’s not a contest, it is usually a part of my portfolio, which I’m fairly proud to have achieved.”

As Lior talked about, he’s now competing within the WPY Nuveen People’s Choice Award 2026 competitors with an enchanting picture, a shot of an elusive red-bellied floor cuckoo. The fowl snatches a cicada within the depths of the rainforest in Costa Rica. Silent and sharp-eyed, it follows columns of military ants.

The fowl doesn’t need to feed on the ants, however on the bugs and small creatures that flee from the swarm. When it catches the cicada, there’s a flash of motion: sharp beak hanging, tail sweeping. A purple glow flashes from its feathers, momentarily illuminating the forest flooring. (According to the competition textual content).

This secretive predator isn’t seen and even much less usually photographed.

You, pricey reader, can vote for Lior’s glorious work

Lior Berman’s profession has come to fruition by placing Costa Rica’s identify in some of the essential showcases on the planet of nature images: the Natural History Museum in London. or Berman, this achievement transcends private recognition.

“Achieving this is very important because, in most cases, photographs of Costa Rica that have made it to these competitions have been taken by foreign photographers,” he stated. His success, he says, is a seed of hope for different Costa Rican photographers: “Yes, it can be done, and we Costa Ricans ourselves can demonstrate the natural wealth of our country on an international level.”

Being surrounded by the world’s finest photographers validates his years of effort and reaffirms his dedication to conservation.

The contest picture is known as A Fleeting Moment, wherein Lior, by way of affected person searching, captured the red-bellied cuckoo.

Berman defined that working with this species, documented by Canopy San Luis, required days of ready. “After waiting around six to eight hours, the bird magically decided to come out in a place where it was quite exposed, and by pure luck we saw it hunting.”

This second encapsulates the essence of wildlife, because it takes hours or days of ready to see if one thing occurs, and when every thing aligns, a powerful second happens.

The technical problem was appreciable. Capturing the second beneath the dense cover of the tropical rainforest, with low mild and cloudy climate, required skilled dealing with of photographic parameters to freeze the motion with out introducing annoying digital noise. The second captured illustrates the opportunistic symbiotic relationship: the cuckoo benefiting from the truth that the leafcutter ants scare away different bugs in order that it will probably hunt.

For the photographer, essentially the most important factor this {photograph} demonstrates about Costa Rica’s distinctive range is that there are species that rely solely on main forests; it is a species of fowl that relies upon completely on a wholesome ecosystem.

Leafcutter ants are additionally ants that should journey lengthy distances by way of the nation’s main forests. “Without them, it would be impossible for these species to exist. It also demonstrates how there is a connection between different animal species, even though ants and birds are so different. And especially the cuckoo, I think it shows the whole world the need to protect these primary forests, the need to protect those spaces that are still untouched by human intervention, since there are many species in our country that are their only home, and if we destroy them, then these species may also disappear.”

Lior hopes that by way of this {photograph}, individuals will perceive that there are a lot of species in Costa Rica past essentially the most iconic ones. “For example, until recently, there were no records of this bird, but in the last 15 or 20 years, there has been much more study and conservation efforts to protect it.”

Undoubtedly, for the Costa Rican, it is extremely highly effective to affect the world’s basic environmental consciousness, “so that people understand that not only are efforts to reforest or reintroduce animals in certain areas important, but also that there are many animals that depend entirely on primary forests, which must be pristine and well protected, since many of these species without that home could simply become extinct.”

From Lior Berman’s standpoint, the trail to the proper picture in wildlife images can usually be fraught with frustration.

“I’ve had moments when I’ve gotten lost in the mountains, when I’ve had to figure out how to get out on my own. I got caught in a pretty heavy downpour, alone with a dead cell phone and no signal,” he stated. Added to this are the fruitless journeys to a different nation, spending a whole week looking for an animal species that by no means reveals up in the long run.

For Berman, these episodes of despair are essentially the most priceless classes. “The biggest lesson I’ve learned from these moments is that you have to be very patient, you have to know how to enjoy the moment, you have to live in the now.”

In his opinion, the consequence or objective of taking {a photograph} on the finish of the day is one thing that doesn’t at all times occur, “but if you enjoy the process and if you enjoy the moment, it will always be a rewarding experience. The real reward is simply being outside, enjoying nature.”

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Lior’s imaginative and prescient is predicated on integrating the three strains he has been growing in a extra structured means: conservation, entrepreneurship, and sustainable financial influence.

Lior is at the moment pursuing a grasp’s diploma in enterprise administration with an emphasis on sustainability, a deliberate effort to attach biodiversity with accountable enterprise fashions. His initiatives give attention to two fundamental fronts: Specialized ecotourism, centered on initiatives that be sure that the pure expertise is just not solely stunning and contemplative, however will also be measured by way of influence and direct profit to native communities. And the second entrance is know-how and knowledge, involving initiatives associated to know-how and knowledge utilized to sustainability, in search of to make use of this info to facilitate higher environmental and productive selections.

As for his artwork, his objective is to proceed bringing Costa Rica’s identify to worldwide platforms, growing long-term initiatives to doc key species and, essentially, demonstrating that conservation may be an financial driver for rural communities. “These projects still need to be consolidated on a larger scale. International alliances must be strengthened and actively built in the spaces where conservation policies are designed.”

Reflecting on the trail he has traveled, Lior Berman gives important steerage for these beginning out in nature images, a discipline he himself has conquered with effort and persistence.

His fundamental recommendation for a younger photographer could be, in his phrases, to speculate lots of time, effort, and persistence in any such images. “Look for stories or narratives that can be used in your areas, which reach more people, connect with them through your photographs. I think that would be the most important thing I could tell you, and never give up.”

At the identical time, he encourages originality and steady studying, reminding us that speedy outcomes are an phantasm. “Try to take different photos, look at content on social media about photographers who inspire you… there is always a different story to tell,” he stated.

Finally, his message to Costa Rica’s followers resonates with the identical ardour he feels for his homeland. “We live in a country with one of the highest rates of biodiversity. We are so used to seeing wildlife around us that we often don’t know how to appreciate it.”

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Berman emphasised the have to be grateful and actively take part in conservation efforts, find out about these efforts, and do our half.

In this fashion, Lior Berman has established himself not solely as a global photographer, but additionally as an envoy for Costa Rica’s pure and cultural heritage.

If you wish to be taught extra, you may comply with him on social media: Instagram @photolior.

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