September Sunsets in Tamarindo, Costa Rica –

Chasing sunsets has become a tad bit difficult with the rainy season grey gloom that has set in. Add in a week of no surf, and my gills are starting to dry up! Too much time to work and not enough time to play has also allowed oh-so-pesky self-doubt to creep in.  Usually seeing other photographers’ beautiful work inspires me, but self-doubt has me questioning, “Am I good enough?” High level comparison, i.e. looking from the outside in, can be such a downward spiral of doubt.

In the midst of getting caught up in my own head, last night I just I just so happened to tune into one of my favorite podcasts, the Jess Lively show, and of course one of the topics discussed in that specific episode was the comparison game. Just the slap in the face I needed. I sure needed that reminder that it is OK to admire (and not compare) because we all are different and our paths are different. As the guest on Jess’ show said, put one foot in front of the other, because the next moment is going to happen no matter what. As long as what you do comes from your heart center, and what you believe in, it is going to be the right path. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

One foot in front of the other, inhale, and just do me. 

P.S. despite the rainy season grey gloom, when Mother Nature decided to put on a show this week, she REALLY put on a show. Enjoy the showstoppers from this week.

TGIW

Sunset in Tamarindo Costa Rica –

Mensagem de Amor <- -> Love Letter. Funny thing is if you had asked me before a couple of night ago why I love watching and photographing sunsets so much, my response would have been simple and sweet – – “Because they are just so darn beautiful.” But a couple of days ago it hit me & it hit me hard. Hit me hard as in I had goosebumps and started to tear up.

Sunsets are love letters. Sunsets are Mother Nature’s love letters to us, or in Portuguese, mensagens de amor. Ok, I may be a hopeless romantic, but it doesn’t matter how beautiful or stressful a day we may have had, Mother Nature writes us a love letter every night as she says goodbye. And she writes another one as she wakes us up in the morning. Seriously, how beautiful and how blessed are we to always be greeted and said goodbye to in such a magical way?

Enjoy the sunsets from the past week – – I’m off to the New York City area for the next 10 days so hopefully I will be able to capture some sunsets on the East Coast of the US, like the one below taken from the airplane last night!

TGIF

Tamarindo Sunsets Week of August 12th –

Hip-hip-hooray! The new website for Samba to the Sea Photography launched this week – – how about a virtual high five?! On top of that, this past week the sunsets in Tamarindo have been INSANE. Insane as in one day it was fire orange, the next magenta pink, and another shades of pastels. I would like to think that Mother Nature is congratulating me on my labor of love new website. 🙂 🙂 🙂 If you have a spare second this weekend, please, oh-pretty please go check out the new site, sambatotheseaphotography.com Now, let’s get to the really goody stuff – sunsets from this past week!

The sky lit up not only over the Pacific Ocean last night, but also to the North and East. It started in the North with pastel shades of pink, then bounced to the East with huge magenta thunderhead clouds, and then the grand finally lit up the whole ocean in a in fire orange. In all my excitement of the beauty unfolding in front, to the side, and behind me, I decided to slow my camera shutter down and get a little motion blur sunset action. This sunset certainly has made my top sunset list.

Tuesday was fire orange, Wednesday was a layer cake of magenta and blue. The month of August is certainly in the lead right now, racking up beautiful sunset after jaw dropping sunset after AMAZING sunset.

90% of the year in Tamarindo, Costa Rica, you can see the sun pass over the horizon. Last night wasn’t one of those nights – – I arrived at the beach and looked out to the vast Pacific Ocean to find a gray haze instead of the usual afternoon ‪#‎goldenhour‬ sky. Fortunately, this beautiful sunset just so happened to pop up in my Facebook newsfeed yesterday – – it lit up Tamarindo’s Sky exactly three years ago! This shot was also made into one of my favorite Samba to the Sea Designs postcards, “Take me to the sea.”

My version of playing Pokemon Go is chasing clouds – in this case, I believe I caught the holy grail of Pokemons, ‪#‎Pikachu‬ . Well, at least in my imagination I caught a Pikachu and that is all that matters! ‪#‎pokemonchaser‬

TGIF

Sunsets in Tamarindo, Costa Rica –

Yes, it’s Monday and yes, the TGIF weekly sunset blog post was supposed to be posted on FRIDAY not MONDAY. I promise I have a good excuse – a good excuse as in for the past two weeks I hunkered down and have been building a brand new website for Samba to the Sea Photography. I barely left my house AND only surfed three times in the past two weeks (whatttt?!). The site is almost, almost ready and I am so excited to unveil it to you – BUT ’til then, enjoy the sunsets in Tamarindo from last week – – I did manage to venture out of the house every afternoon to watch sunset thanks to my sunset alarm clock, my Chihuahua Gidget.

TGIM

Tamarindo, Costa Rica –

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…for epic Costa Rican sunsets! This past month has been beyond gorgeous, with stunning sunsets and refreshing temperatures. I find it so interesting that “high season” in Tamarindo is from December-April as the tourists really miss the magic of Mother Nature during rainy season! Sure, you may get rained on during the rainy season months, but like Señor Bob Marley said, “Some people feel the rain, others just get wet.” With the rain, the magic happens – kinda like these magical sunset taken during my daily afternoon walks with Gidget.

TGIW

P.S. Yes, I know it’s Saturday, but I kinda got carried away yesterday with my website redesign for my photography site. The new design is looking great, but so much more to do!

Tamarindo, Costa Rica –

Today was like any other morning. I woke up early, walked Gidget, got ready to go surf, and headed down to the beach. A couple minutes after heading out my front door, I realized the leash to my surfboard was not on my board, so I turned around and headed back to my place to grab it. Leash in hand, I continued my normal morning surf routine, locking up my bike at Witch’s Rock Surf Camp and was about to say good morning to their front desk staff as I was passing by when one of my surf friends came running past me, soaking wet, with a look of shock on his face. He ran up to the front desk, telling them to call for help. I figured he had gotten cut by his surfboard, so I continued my routine and headed to the beach. 30 feet away from me, I saw the surfer laying on the sand as the staff at Witch’s Rock rushed to his help. Nope, not a surfboard gash, but one of the crocodiles thats habitat is the Tamarindo Estuary had attacked him. I was minutes away from getting in the water very close to where I saw the man laying on the beach, and my home surf break is right in front of the Tamarindo Estuary. Heck, I even PADDLED ACROSS the estuary RIGHT where this man was to surf another break YESTERDAY. AND ironically enough, I am participating in @jasminestar ‘s Instagram challenge this week, and today’s challenge is to post a photo of our favorite foods. Well, I almost was crocodile food this morning. To say the least, I am counting my blessings this morning. Sending prayers and healing energy to this man.

TGIF

Welcome Back to Tamarindo Sunset-

Welcome back to Palm-adise. 💗🌴🌅 I always enjoy my daily sunset beach walks, but Wednesday’s sunset was extra special. Gidget and I practically had the beach all to ourselves as we walked to the point in Tamarindo – there was this beautiful offshore breeze kissing my face and the temperature was just so refreshing. Once we rejoined the rest of the beach goers on the main beach, I headed to one of my secret sunset viewing spots and this magic unfolded.

On top of that, the temperature since returning to Costa Rica has been beyond BEAUTIFUL. Beautiful as in I no longer break into a sweat upon taking one step outside like the intense heat that enveloped March and April. And what about the waves? The past three mornings I have been cruising on my longboard, dancing on the soft peelers rolling through Tamarindo. So, so, so grateful to be ALIVE.

Enjoy the stunner sunsets from this past couple of days in Tamarindo AND Savannah! Lucky you – two sunset locations for the price of one! 😉

TGIF

Beautiful Sunsets in Savannah, Georgia-

Oh Savannah, you are just so magical. 💗💗💗 As a photographer, I feel like a kid in a candy store here in Savannah and I feel ever so fortunate to start building my photography business here in the beautiful low country. One of the highlights of being a photographer are my scouting jaunts; everywhere I turn in Savannah there is something so beautiful and fun to photograph, like secret gardens, candy colored houses, marsh sunsets, beautiful squares, and the majestic live oaks. Seriously Savannah, I just can’t get enough of your dreamy live oak trees dripping with Spanish moss!!

On top of this awesome scouting while wandering around Savannah this past week, the sunsets have been on point. Really, really giving Tamarindo a run for her money. Seriously, sometimes I think these sunset clouds chase me as much as I chase them! Enjoy these beautiful sunsets in Savannah, Georgia from the past week!

XOXO,

Kristen

Sunset in Savannah Georgia –

Here we are! Gidget and I made it to Savannah on Sunday and so far we only have chased ONE sunset so far. UNO! But, that sunset was a cracker holy moly!!!! A cracker as in the Instagram account @VisitSavannah (with over 37,000 followers) re-posted my photo within a couple minutes of my post on my Instagram @sambatothesea. So far the photo has received over 1,300 likes and counting. How do you like them apples??? Savannah certainly is giving Tamarindo a run for her money in the sunset department!

But in true Costa Rica beautiful sunset fashion, Mother Nature put on a show last Saturday for my very last sunset before my trip to the US. Added benefit was I was photographing a family session while the sky started to light up, so I had some awesome people to play with during sunset. Shaka signs, running up and down the beach, playing the waves, and some jumping in the air – the life of a photographer can be so rough sometimes!

Enjoy the sunsets from Savannah and Costa Rica AND have a great July 4th weekend! God Bless America!

TGIF    

Sunset in Tamarindo, Costa Rica –

Dear Summer, I am coming for ya! Countdown to peach cobblers and dreamy Spanish moss in t-minus two days ???✌?️ (Meanwhile, this is what “winter” looks like in Costa Rica, taken on the Summer Solstice ‪#‎lovewhereyoulive‬).

In addition to packing and getting all my to-do lists checked off before my trip, I have been photographing up a storm. Two weddings, one helluva birthday party, one lifestyle group session AND two more family sessions to go. Pretty please rain hold off until I leave! To top all that off, Tamarindo had a scheduled power outage yesterday for power line maintenance; no power = no photo editing! When life gives you lemons, squeeze them in your hair and go surf!

TGIF

Sunset Surf in Tamarindo, Costa Rica –

Y’all can thank my Chihuahua, aka the sunset alarm clock, for nagging me to go on our sunset walk the other afternoon. Even though it had just poured outside and was still drizzling, Gidget and I wandered down to the beach to encounter the sunset showing off once again in Tamarindo. And it appears that this week I have been taking a lot of photos of surfers at sunset – check ’em out below! Oh, and the swell finally filled in this past week, only for me to receiving a proper pounding by a couple of set waves. At least I got a great workout paddling my behind off! The power of Mother Nature is just so humbling and beautiful at the same time.

TGIF

Wonder-lusting in paradise

Ankle Snappers = Pray For Surf

Last call for waves.

Tamarindo Sunset Photos –

The downside of rainy season are the rain outs at sunset. This past week the afternoon storms have been rolling in right before sunset and consequnelty overtaking the sky with gray clouds. Womp Womp. But no need to fear a sunset-less Friday TGIF post from yours truly as I have a plethora of Tamarindo sunset photos in my image libray! Enjoy the mix of sunsets in Tamarindo from this past week AND from the past couple of months!

TGIF

So many palms, not enough time ????

Her heart was made of liquid sunsets -Virginia Wolf

Never stop looking up: Light into darkness <3

Seahabilitation

Ka-Boom

Costa Rican Sunsets –

Holy moly how May just flew on by! Between photographing with some pretty awesome clients this month, chasing sunsets, and surfing some beautiful waves, May seemed to be a blur. Thankfully with the beginning of rainy season, the temperature finally has dropped to the comfortable mid-80’s. I don’t start dripping in sweat the moment I step foot outside and I finally can use a blanket at night to sleep with. It’s the little things I tell ya! This week was especially delightfully, with a full on downpour rain that lasted for over an hour. Can you tell that I love rainy season in Costa Rica??? Especially since rainy season = dramatic Costa Rican sunsets! This week you are in for a double treat – a sunrise from Miami Beach in honor of Memorial Day AND a couple more shots from sunset in Nosara. Enjoy ’em!

TGIF

Sunset in Nosara Costa Rica –

ROADTRIP!!!!!  This past weekend I had the pleasure to road trip down to Nosara, about two hours from Tamarindo, to photograph a wedding on the beach in Playa Pelada. The added bonus of traveling to Nosara was that I got to surf some great waves in Playa Guiones. How awesome is that? I got to surf awesome waves at dawn and then photograph a beautiful wedding on the beach at sunset, all in the same day. Work hard, play harder! Oh, and of course I was able to photograph a gorgeous sunset in Nosara, thanks to my awesome friend Eddie who put me up for a couple of days before the wedding. It’s good to have friends that live in awesome places. 🙂

Pura Vida,
Kristen

P.S. Happy Memorial Day weekend! A special thanks to the men and women, past and present, who protect America!

TGIF

Sunset in Costa Rica –

What a week of sunsets it has been here in Tamarindo, Costa Rica! I love finding those moments during sunset – they happen oh-so-quick and the results are oh-so-magical. Like the sun making it’s descent in the sky out of the clouds or a surfer making a cut back on a wave with insane sun rays in the background OR a stand up paddle boarding taking a glimpse at a gorgeous sunset. Yes, this week has been that good for this photographer! Have an amazing weekend!!!

TGIF

Pura Vida,
Kristen