Wonder in a World of Clouds
Rightfully named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, Machu Picchu does exactly that — it inspires wonder. How was this massive structure and its extremely long staircase constructed so long ago and so high in the mountains? The pictures are great, but they simply don’t do justice to this beautiful sanctuary. I cannot recommend a visit enough.
During my trip to Peru, we visited this Wonder early in the morning and climbed Machu Picchu Mountain, just south of the ancient city. When the historic sanctuary opens in the morning, certain areas of the site are roped off to allow for views and photographs uninterrupted by visitors. Many of my shots were taken before entry into the actual city was allowed. There are a few different routes you can purchase that allow various types of access to the city and surrounding areas. We decided on Route 1, which allows you to explore the outer perimeter of the city as well as climb the stone stairs of Machu Picchu Mountain. I’m so happy with our choice because this route provided such amazing views of the entire city! I feel the other routes may have been interesting for a closer visit to the city but would have limited photo opportunities due to being too close.
The sanctuary opens at 6 a.m., but the path up the mountain is roped off until 7. For that first hour, we were allowed along a short route that offered a nicely elevated view of the city without any other tourists. Once the mountain path opened, we began our ascent up the 1,600 large stone steps — up into the clouds, step after step. Along the path, you’re often enclosed in jungle plants and trees, with occasional breaks of openness that act as lookout areas. With each lookout came a new photo of the city, allowing experimentation with different angles and lighting — which would have been great practice if I hadn’t still been using autofocus at the time! Still, it was a valuable learning opportunity, experimenting with angle changes and being subject to the elements. The weather was a bit overcast, and we were literally climbing through clouds. It was a great experience to see how weather can affect a shot, even when using autofocus.
Along with the views of the city, the mountain path provided great opportunities to photograph some wonderful exotic plant life! Several beautiful and unique flowers were photographed along the way and can be seen in my portfolio. The ancient city was beautiful — don’t get me wrong — but I absolutely loved finding and photographing the flowers along the path. If I’m being honest, even at different elevations and angles, the city looked virtually the same every time we stopped at an overlook. Machu Picchu truly inspires awe and is breathtaking to see in person, but with my limited photography knowledge at the time, my shots quickly began to feel repetitive. I was hoping to spot some wildlife as well, but the only animal we saw was a stray dog that climbed the entire mountain. He passed us about halfway up and was already at the top when we arrived! I managed to get a nice photo of him at the summit, looking out over the edge. I cannot stress this enough: Machu Picchu is amazing — please visit it if you have the chance.
This experience helped me begin to narrow my photography style toward a more focused niche. I had a suspicion wildlife would be a big focus of mine, but I was surprised to discover how much I enjoyed the nature aspect as well. That’s the thing — you may think you know what you do and don’t like, but until you go out and try, you can’t be certain. I’m writing this with a few extra trips and experiences under my belt, so I’m trying not to let newer experiences cloud how I felt during this one. Regardless, all of these moments have helped me hone my skills, style, and sense of what works best for me. I also enjoy landscape photography, and I think the shots I took of Machu Picchu from the mountains fit that category well.
The photos of Machu Picchu, as well as the plants, are unedited. At the time of shooting and posting them on Instagram, I didn’t have any editing software or knowledge of how to edit. I’ve since tried my hand at editing some of the photos mentioned, but didn’t feel the changes made enough of a difference to share. I’m always trying to learn new skills and advance my photography and editing knowledge. I really like the raw, unedited flower photos and, given my current skills, felt that editing didn’t add anything to them. I have similar feelings about my editing abilities regarding the actual photos of Machu Picchu itself. Perhaps I’ll revisit them down the road with new knowledge and skills that can add some pizazz! This excursion only furthered my excitement to see what the future holds and what I’ll be able to capture through my lens.
Until the next one - Barrett
