Recommended Digital SLR or advanced “point and shoot” camera with the ability to shoot in “manual” mode and with a wide angle to telephoto range zoom. Plenty of batteries for your camera and flash. Don’t forget to bring your chargers! A card reader so you can download images. Individual lenses, fixed focal length, or zoom, that give you wide-angle and telephoto possibilities. A good range would be 24mm to 400mm. 500mm and more would be great! A macro lens or close-up filter. If you love macro photography there are great opportunities in Costa Rica. Tripod. Please make sure it is made to support the weight of your camera model. Flimsy tripods are useless! Rain cover for your camera and camera bag. (Check out Fotosharp and Think Tank Photo covers for example). I often carry a small umbrella as well. A lens hood for each lens. This helps keep stray light out as well as rain off the front glass. A polarizing filter for each lens diameter. I think all models use “circular polarizers” now but check your lens/camera manual to be sure! (You can also buy a filter for your largest lens diameter and buy “step-down” rings that allow that filter to attach to smaller lens sizes.) Your Camera’s manual. A digitial version saves weight and space. Cable release, or wireless trigger-for tripod work. Plenty of storage cards and batteries. I would bring enough cards to shoot about 1000 images a day just in case. More if you shoot multiple frames per second often. Small portable hard drive to store your images on.( 500 GB) Small hand towel to keep in camera bag. Lens cleaning solution and cloth. Jeweler’s screwdrivers (pack in checked luggage!) Dust blower and your preferred way of cleaning your camera sensor. Lap Top Computer (with surge protector) or iPad etc., with your photo manipulation software ie: Photoshop, Lightroom. We will spend time viewing images to make sure we’re all getting results we’re happy with! We’ll work on post-processing when time allows as well. Optional 2 or 3 stop graduated neutral density filter with holder and lens mount for each lens size.Second camera body as back up Dedicated flash unit. This is a flash separate from your camera. The “built-in” flashes in the camera are very limited. Project-a-flash/ flash extender Small softbox or umbrella for dedicated flash. Off-camera flash cord or wireless trigger such as Pocket Wizards. ( I love to do portraits/wildflowers with off-camera flash and a small umbrella!) Photoflex Litedisc gold/white reflector. 12 inch or 22 inch. 1.4 X or 2X Tele-extender (Makes a 200mm a 280mm/400mm for example) Binoculars/ spotting scope