Posted February 20, 2020
Over the recent two years we have tested various mobile phone cameras, to learn which is best for panoramas, which is best for general photographs, and which is best for macro photos of flowers and insects. iPhone Xs is excellent for general photos and panoramas (even though we have a Nikon D5 and a Canon EOS 1D X Mark II and a 61 megapixel Sony Alpha a7R IV mirrorless full frame). Google Pixel 3XL and Google Pixel 3 are excellent for macro photos.
Courtesy of a donation by Scott Forsythe, we were able to acquire a Google Pixel 3XL that we could loan to one of our plant-and-animal scouts. Our “scouts” are individuals in various parts of Guatemala who search for, find, and photograph the rare endangered flora and fauna that we are recording throughout Guatemala (especially in Peten and Alta Verapaz, and now we have added Izabal).
It is not realistic for a plant scout in a remote mountain area to carry a regular camera. A mobile telephone is far more practical.
These larvae were photographed on Feb. 19, 2020 by Norma Estefany Cho Cu, a helpful Pokomchi Mayan plant-and-animal-scout in southern Alta Verapaz. She, her husband, and her father have worked with FLAAR Mesoamerica in recent years.
Costa Rica's economy is literally based on eco-tourism, especially aviturismo (birders coming for bird watching). Tourism provides thousands of families with jobs in Costa Rica. We (FLAAR, USA and FLAAR Mesoamerica, Guatemala) would like to show the world the photogenic beauty (and biological importance) of the fauna and flora of Guatemala.
Naturally this will take serious funding from an appropriate source, but until then, we continue doing what we can to find, photograph, and publish the rarely seen aspects of flora of Guatemala, especially larvae (caterpillars).
Finca El Tirol, Caserio Chilocom, Municipio Santa Cruz Verapaz, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, Central America.
If additional funding becomes available, it should be possible to photograph a significant percentage of the moths, butterflies and especially their larvae, of this seldom-studied area of Neotropical Guatemala.
If a benefactor provided funds for 50 more of these phone-cameras, and funds for 12 months to cover the deserved pay for these flora and fauna scouts, we could harvest photos of Izabal, Peten, and Alta Verapaz that would WOW the WORLD (and could contribute to programs to help prevent the chopping down of these fragile forest ecosystems).
