Two hummingbirds fly through the Costa Rica forest.

Two hummingbirds fly through the Costa Rica forest.

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Photography

Daniel Shea Lenses The Winged Gardeners Keeping Our Planet Alive

11.24.2025

Photographs by Daniel Shea

From bees and bats to hummingbirds and butterflies, pollinators sustain entire ecosystems.

For this story, shot for Atmos Volume 12: Pollinate, photographer Daniel Shea and Costa Rica tour guide Dylan Monge drew inspiration from the quiet labor of the pollinators who sustain our world—hummingbirds, bats, butterflies, bees, and beyond. The images were taken in two distinct locations to reflect this diversity: La Fortuna, a lush rainforest at the base of a volcano, and Cerro Buena Vista, home to a cloud forest and wetland ecosystem above the forest line called a páramo. Through these photographs, Shea and Monge hope to tell a story of resilience, interdependence, and highlight the fragile future of creatures who silently keep our world alive.

Special thanks Dylan Monge

This story first appeared in Atmos Volume 12: Pollinate with the headline, “Winged Gardeners.”

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