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I have been interviewed by week of life in order to be included in their remote places part of the website.
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First part is here.
Here is the second part:
4) One thing is for sure: you have good light at your disposal during work, as the sun is the best source of light for photographers. How does the climate in Costa Rica suit your needs?
For sure the light here can be really good, but I’ll define it more like powerfully—strong and moving really quickly. Basically we have two seasons, rainy (people in tourism call it the “Green season”) and dry, I have to be precise and state that I’m talking about the pacific coast where I’m living and mainly working. The Caribbean has a different climate. So the green season has a lot of clouds, mist, and rain with a violent sun behind, so we have a beautiful diffuse light, slightly colored at the end of the afternoon; or those clouds can give the opposite effect with some really dramatic storm light with a direct sun passing black clouds, giving intense contrast. The summer (dry season) is a constant blue sky with a punishing hard sun half of the day, but beautiful mornings and sunsets. The main inconvenience is that all year long the sun is setting from 5:15 to 6:15, and lowering in the sky really quickly. The perfect Blue hour (perfect for a real estate shot) just stays for 10 to 15 minutes, so you have to be ready. I sometime miss those long European evenings that have twilight for 2 hours.
5) Since the European Union was established, there have been increasingly more debates on politics in Europe. The situation is similar in the United States. What is the situation in a place such as Costa Rica? Is anyone preoccupied with politics at all?
Well, Costa Rica just passed through a presidential election campaign, and they elected their first female president, so there was a lot of talk about national politics, but honestly as a non-voting resident, I just stayed on the surface of the talks; I’m more interested in local activism.
6) Where did you learn about the Week of Life project and what do you think about it?
I learned about it through a post on reddit.com, I browsed the website and quickly found the concept really interesting. Not long after that I registered and made my first week.
It is, as a viewer, a great way to travel through time and space; giving me the possibility to spend one week in the life of a a Tcheque photographer, a Chinese student or a designer in Samoa. From my computer screen in Costa Rica I have all these people sharing their life, their everyday life, in a beautiful way. I love it.
As a photographer or participant to the project, it gave me a subject to concentrate on for a full week, to express one day in 9 images, a morning in 3 photos. that’s an interesting challenge, it is also, as a human being, a good way to reflect on what my life is, what am I doing with it, how am I spending my days… my time… my life.
7) What would you say about awareness in your country – newspapers, magazines and information in general? What do the media focus on?
Costa Rica is a small country, so the local magazines offer a rather small output. One magazine is quite interesting, there is also, in my opinion, one interesting newspaper, doing a good job on national news: la Nacion (www.nacion.com). Sadly a lot of people here are buying cheap (in every way) tabloids full of sensational stories, graphic photographs and almost naked “models”. I get most of my news on the internet.
8 ) What would you say about Costa Rica to attract the attention of people who would like to visit this country and know nothing about it?
The classic thing would be to say that the country constitutionally abolished its army permanently in 1949, it has had 60 years of uninterrupted democracy. Maybe more important to people wanting to visit the country—Costa Rica is ranked 3rd in the world, and 1st among the Americas, in terms of the 2010 Environmental Performance Index, it plans to be the first carbon neutral country by 2021, and According to the New Economics Foundation, Costa Rica ranks first in the Happy Planet Index. It is
is the “greenest” country in the world. That says a lot about it. Another important stat is that while the country has only about 0.25% of the world’s landmass, it contains 5% of the world’s biodiversity. Around 25% of the country’s land area is in protected national parks and protected areas, the largest percentage of protected areas in the world. Everything is not perfect here of course, but it is the best I have found around the world.
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The whole interview is here.
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Bidrop.com is happy to say that we’re working on our new website: www.weddingbybidrop.com.
Weddingbybidrop.com will be the website dedicated to wedding photography and video in Costa Rica. We also shoot Honeymoon and vows renewal.
For 7 years Toh Gouttenoire has been shooting (in photography and video) for Bidrop.com and other company more than 100 weddings in Costa Rica, mainly sunset beach photography in Guanacaste, but also, weddings in Arenal, Jaco, Manuel Antonio, Playa del Coco, Montezuma, Malpais, Playa Langosta, Playa Flamingo, playa potrero, puerto viejo, Limon, playa Tamarindo…
WeddingbyBidrop.com is working with high end customers as Hacienda Pinilla, JW Marriott Guanacaste, Los Sueños Marriott, Paradisus playa conchal, Capitan Suizo, Hotel resort Diria, , Los Altos de Eros, Four Seasons Papagayo, Villa Caletas, Sugar Beach, Bahia del Sol, Flamingo beach resort…
Please visit our wedding photography website and contact us with any inquiries.
www.weddingbybidrop.com at work
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I love Villa Allegre in Playa langosta, it’s really a “like at home” bed and breakfast, but straight on the beach…
I had great time in this intimate wedding, it was really emotional and fun at the same time…
Keep love growing…
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Here is the mail I receive from Abby after uploading the photos:
Here’s a testimonial for you to post…feel free to use however you please – we would love to help support you however we can!Dear Toh,Justin & I want to tell you how happy we are with BiDrop and the photos of our wedding on Playa Langosta. When we were looking for a photographer, we wanted someone talented and artistic, but still affordable. Searching for a photographer across international borders was initially intimidating, but once we found you we knew we had found the right person. Your website immediately caught my eye. Your photos showed that you are creative and talented, and after contacting you the first time, I knew you would be easy to work with as well. On top of it all, your price was the best that I found, making you the total package! When we finally met in person, Justin and I both immediately felt comfortable in trusting you to capture the essence of our wedding…us. Throughout our special day, your energy and creativity allowed us to not have to worry about the photos and focus on the important thing, our love for one another. Our day couldn’t have gone any better; afterwards we were so excited to see our memories on film. We had high hopes for our photos, but once we saw them, we couldn’t believe how well you captured the emotion of our day. We can’t thank you enough for helping us to make sure the memories of our wedding will last a lifetime. We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend you as a photographer for anyone looking for the best!!!Sincerely,Abby & Justin Hugill
Thanks a lot Abby I was really touched…
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Photography by Toh Gouttenoire www.weddingbybidrop.com
Wedding photography in Costa Rica
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An original Canadian wedding at the Hotel Barcelo, playa Langosta, Guanacaste, Costa Rica.
When I say original, think big boot on the sand and black suit under the tropical sun…
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Wedding photography in Costa Rica: www.weddingbybidrop.com
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An intense wedding, full of emotions at the Playa Tamarindo Diria Resort.
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Wedding photography in Costa Rica: www.weddingbybidrop.com
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An excellent family atmosphere in this Italiano Canadian wedding. The ceremony and reception was at the Pacifico Beach club in playa del coco, Guanacaste. Bidrop.com has also made the wedding video.
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Contact us for your wedding photography and video in Costa Rica.
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A really relax wedding, with a nice family atmosphere in a beautiful place: “La Laguna del cocodrilo” in Playa Tamarindo.
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Here is a video slideshow made for Reem and Scott. They got married at the Sugar beach Hotel, in guanacaste, Costa Rica. Bidrop.com has been really happy to do the wedding photography and videography of this intense moment. We had a crazy stormlike weather, who add a lot the event… an intense ceremony with a mix of culture was really interesting, a great meal and a big party followed…
It’s a new way to present my slideshows, that I had to the more classic (full screen, fade out fade in only transitions) on request to my customer, it has a way more dynamic editing and is really appreciate by the young couples. It’s the one I’ll put online, so the newly wedded can share it easily through youtube or using the higher quality provided by smugmug.
- Costa Rica wedding photography and video -
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Week of life is an interesting website I discovered 2 months ago on the my preferred news agregator page: reddit.com. Here is how they present their project:
“Week of Life is a unique internet medium for all citizens of the globe. Everyone is invited to take part in the largest documentary project of all time! A photo archive of humanity! Show how you live and see how others live.”
The concept is simple every participant has for one week (7 days starting any days you want) to upload 9 photos per day, resuming or showing the whole day. The result giving a general idea of what your life could look like.
I decided to give it a try, the result is here, I didn’t try to make individual shots great photos but to document a whole day, as lame as some days are… Anyway, the editors liked it and included me in the editor’s choice, with quite a nice presentation:
Costa Rica was recently declared the greenest and the happiest country of the world. When looking at Gouttenoire Toh’s week of life, one no longer wonders why. His sunlight-filled set breathes incredible peace and ease and in our pre-Christmas rush it charges us with new energy. In addition, Gouttenoire Toh is also a great photographer, whose photographs highlight the magical power of Costa Rica.
I’m now working on a new week…
