Beth: "Well Ben, these pictures don't exactly show the whole truth. There is a lot that can be done on a computer to enhance the beauty of Costa Rica. You see, with the pictures of the beaches, I kind of erased a few people to make it look more exotic. Sometimes people can take away from the true beauty of the land. I also added some blue to the waters and skies. I made the banana flower more pink, and the grasses and trees greener."
Ben: "Don't you think that this is a little wrong. It portrays Costa Rica in a whole new way. Maybe it isn't as remote and exotic as some would think. It makes me think that many advertistments could be doctored. How do we know what is real and what is enhanced to make it look better?"
This is the question that we would like to address. How do we know what to believe and what not to believe? This is very hard to answer because it is so easy to change the reality of pictures to make them fulfill people's fantasies. When looking at any advertisements, one should always keep in his/her mind this question: What could this picture be hiding, and what is it trying to represent?
As for our pictures, we were trying to represent this beautiful, mysterious, vivid paradise that people would love to travel to for a unique experience. If something looks to good to be true, then it just might be. So, what is Costa Rica really like? It is in reality a very beautiful place to explore, but many others feel that way as well. This means that there are people on the beaches, and the water might not be as blue as portrayed by tour agencies. We still consider Costa Rica to be a paradise, yet we warn you, the tourist, to think twice about the pictures on travel brochures and advertisements that you might come across. Even though we did not make any major alterations with our photographs, keep in mind it is in the realm of possibilities.