Peru
I used to think photography was easy. After all, how hard could it be to just point a camera and shoot? It’s not like painting oil on canvas, right?
But it was here, in Peru, along the Inca Trail and at Machu Picchu, that I was proven wrong.
I decided to borrow a Nikon D3000 when several friends of mine and I decided to check off the four-day Inca Trail. I didn’t think that it’d be that much more difficult taking photos on a fancy DSLR than it was on an iPhone. I didn’t know the first thing about composition, exposure, focal length, etc., and to my everlasting regret, it shows.
One of the few half-decent photos I took. This was taken at the summit of Dead Woman's Pass, which, at an elevation of 4,215 meters (approx. 13,828 feet), is the highest point of the hike. The second day of the four-day hike is the most physically demanding, and the climb to Dead Woman’s pass is why.
Almost every single photo I took in Peru, was awful. Ancient ruins came out blurry. Wildlife (almost exclusively llamas) were out of focus and shot from behind. Incorrect focal lengths meant that images got cut off.
Was something wrong with the camera? Surely it would have been better to take photos on my iPhone 5. Why would anyone in their right mind drop hundreds of bucks on a camera that’s “worse” than what can be produced on a phone?
It wasn’t the camera. It wasn’t the lighting. The fault for such sh*tty photos, was entirely on me. On a guided trail, I couldn’t really review photos or ask the group to stop so I could reshoot. At the end of each day, I was too tired and dirty to want to do anything but sleep.
My apologies to the squeamish, but cuy (guinea pig) is a Quechuan delicacy. Found at many restaurants in Cusco, it tastes a bit like chicken and pork combined.
Back in Lima, I finally had the chance to evaluate my photos, and it was then that I decided to study the craft more so that this would never happen again.
The Inca trail itself was insane in both good and bad ways. At almost every step, one is treated to spectacular views of the Andes. At this latitude of the cordillera, the mountains are lush and green before their higher altitude colors blend into glacier-topped tundra. This is in contrast to their Patagonian cousins to the south.
For those up for a physical challenge, I would absolutely recommend the Inca Trail. It blends history, nature, and hiking in ways that few places offer. Honestly, the real stars of the trail are the porters. They barely top 5ft and carry much more weight than any of us hikers did, and did it all in t—shirts and flip flops. I even witnessed a group of about five porters carry an *ahem - let’s just say “portly” American woman, to Machu Picchu after she had given up on the hike. Apart from heli rescue, the only way off the trail is to make it all the way to the ruins after you pass the point of no return. The porters carried her in shifts of about five minutes each, and the woman’s husband chased them in tow while getting blasted by her incessant tirade.
The trail affords hikers several opportunities to stop at smaller ruins, empty of crowds. Sites like Wiñay Wayna and Phuyupatamarca, were my favorites. Although Machu Picchu is indeed a wonder, it is very crowded. But at each smaller ruin, you take a break and essentially have the site all to your group. Our guide also gave detailed explanations as to the history and significance of each site.
At the end, anyone can take the train to Machu Picchu, but those who’ve hiked there – who’ve learned about the history with a Quechuan guide, who’ve suffered many meters of elevation gain and decline, and who’ve slept each night in a smelly tent only to get woken up at 5 a.m. each morning (2 a.m. on the last night)– have more than earned it.