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Post by minoltaman on Aug 6, 2008 7:54:16 GMT -5
My wife and I made a trip to Peru, 30 June to 9 July 2008. A fascinating country with many incredible sights, nice people, interesting, and sometimes brutal, history. Machu Picchu, the Lost City of the Inca, is a must-see place, hands down. It's massive and situated high in the mountains. However the city of Cusco, 11,000ft about sea level is also a world renowned city of Spanish colonial architecture and cobble stone streets and alleys. There are many Inca ruins dotting the Sacred Valley around Cusco and Machu Picchu. The Andina and Quechua people, while mostly surviving on the booming tourist industry, are very warm and happy to greet you and are genuinely happy that you've come to visit their anscestral land. I was the only nut shooting film in a sea of digi-shooters all over Peru. I think I saw one other guy in Cusco with a Nikon F5. I shot 396 total pictures all on Kodak 200 Color Plus film with a Nikon F100. Yes, I did lug a full sized tripod with me too. If you ever have the chance to go to Peru, I hope you take it! It was our best trip ever. Machu Picchu  Andinas at the ruins of Ollantaytambo  Mount Chicon, 5,600 meters  Compania de Jesus, Cusco, built in 16th Century  Quechua girls in Cusco  Parque del Amor (Love Park), Lima  |
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Post by nikonbob on Aug 6, 2008 8:26:11 GMT -5
Looks like you had an enjoyable vacation to an interesting place I have only been able to read about. The ruins look incredible and the people colourful. Any difficulties considering the altitude?
Bob
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Post by GeneW on Aug 6, 2008 11:07:48 GMT -5
Tommy, great shots as always. Love the bright colours. The bottom one with the parasail in the bg is stunning. What great alignment and timing! Looks like it was a memorable trip!
Gene
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Post by Peter S. on Aug 6, 2008 12:16:47 GMT -5
Hi Tommy,
Thank You for showing these images! It is a dream of mine to once visit both the Inka trail, i.e. Machu Picchu and the upper Amazonas valley and then take a personal look on the place of "Touching the void" in the Cordillera Huayhuash. I think I will do this as my first encounter when retiring. Er, in about 15..20 years from now... But no need to hurry with both. ;-)
Best regards
Peter
PS: I think a two month period is more suited for that than just two weeks...
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Post by minoltaman on Aug 6, 2008 12:42:21 GMT -5
Thank you Nikonbob and GeneW!
Bob, we had problems with the altitude the minute we walked off the plane in Cusco. Flying from sea level in Lima to 11,000 ft in Cusco is pretty much the reason why....no time to acclimate. Then a few hours after arriving we were scheduled for a city tour of Cusco and the Sacsayhuaman ruins, which we did and it was fantastic but we were feeling the altitude!
When we returned to our hotel we requested an oxygen tank and coca tea which helped but then we got headaches. I'd say the first 24 hours was pretty tough but we just dealt with it.
The next day we felt much better and our appetites returned but througout the 4 days in Cusco and Machu Picchu we never felt 100%, maybe 80%. We bought "soriche" (altitude sickness) pills in the Farmacia and they helped us all the way. I found out later that there is a drug called Diamox that can be prescribed which will pretty much take care of altitude sickness. A couple on our tour took them and they said they felt pretty good but not 100%.
All in all nothing could diminish the experience we had in Peru. We met alot of people from all over the world and saw some amazing sights.
GeneW thank you for the compliment, I appreciate it!! That was actually the first picture I took in Peru! Our first stop on our tour of Lima was Love Park. We got off the bus and were admiring the Pacific view and all the parasailers when I turned to the right and saw this photo op developing. All I did was zoom in focus and fire the shutter. I was happy it came out the way I had envisioned it. Now, Peru's winter months are from June to September (daytime around 65-68F, night 45-52F) and during the winter in Lima a mist descends upon the city and hovers over it like a blanket. A few times blue sky did appear but in my shot there the mist was thick. I know it appears like a washed out sky but it's really not.
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Post by minoltaman on Aug 6, 2008 13:16:31 GMT -5
Hi Tommy, Thank You for showing these images! It is a dream of mine to once visit both the Inka trail, i.e. Machu Picchu and the upper Amazonas valley and then take a personal look on the place of "Touching the void" in the Cordillera Huayhuash. I think I will do this as my first encounter when retiring. Er, in about 15..20 years from now... But no need to hurry with both. ;-) Best regards Peter PS: I think a two month period is more suited for that than just two weeks... Hello Peter! "Touching the Void" was one of my favorite films! I couldn't remember the name of the mountain where those two climbers experienced their disaster but when I saw Mount Chicon (pictured above) I immediately thought of that documentary film. I learned from our tour guide that the actual mountain they tried to climb was named Siula Grande. I wish we had more time in Peru. 8.5 days is just too short! Hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu takes 4 days and you must have a guide with you when you hike the trail. The government also has a limit of the amount of people who can hike the trail, so there is a waiting list. For my wife and I, we took the Vistadome train from Ollantaytambo to Machu Picchu.....nice and relaxing. It was a 1.5hr ride. Also, the Peruvian government and UNESCO (Machu Picchu is a UNESCO World Heritage Site) are thinking of possibly limiting the number of visitors to Machu Picchu! The huge increase in tourists over the past few years has actually put a strain on the ruins at MP. Apparently, they say, it is sinking from all the weight of 700,000 tourists per year. Originally MP had a sophisticated system of water drainage created by the Inca but when Hiram Bingham discovered MP in 1911 and the MP Park was created soon after, they didn't bother to open up all the drains. There are only 2 drains in all of MP so the ground holds alot of water....and the weight of close to 1 million visitors a year is jeopardizing the integrity of the structures.......personally, I don't know what to think. To me, these gigantic stones and well made foundations will never fall. So, why wait 15 years Peter? You should go soon. I can already imagine the amazing photos you will take in Peru with your Minolta and Velvia 50! Thank you for writing. |
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Post by Michael Fraley on Aug 6, 2008 21:51:09 GMT -5
Great pictures, Tommy, and I enjoyed reading about your trip. I didn't realize there is altitude sickness when at those heights. I liked hearing that you took film pictures. Did you take any precautions with your film when going through customs? Thanks for posting this.. good reading.
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Post by renaldo on Aug 7, 2008 10:08:28 GMT -5
Without doubt, it will be a most memorable excursion. And you can relive it via the great photos. Thanks for sharing!
Did you tape over the Nikon name on the F100 with the word Minolta...ha, ha? Or it does seem to me that you mentioned quite awhile ago that you switched!?!?
The F100 is a great camera. I will be using it and my Nikkor 80-400 this coming week taking pics of the girls' softball tournament. These are older girls and this is a yearly event here in my area that is international. I will take my Nikon F4s as a backup.
Another question, please. No men in that country, or were they shy to be photographed, or did your camera merely guide itself toward the fairer of our genders???
At any rate...great work and I envy the trip!
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Post by minoltaman on Aug 8, 2008 10:42:30 GMT -5
Great pictures, Tommy, and I enjoyed reading about your trip. I didn't realize there is altitude sickness when at those heights. I liked hearing that you took film pictures. Did you take any precautions with your film when going through customs? Thanks for posting this.. good reading. Hello Michael! Thanks for writing. The altitude sickness was definitely difficult. We underestimated it but even through a rough day and night we still had a fantastic experience and we later joked about it. As for taking film through the airport security check.....they now have signs right at security that say something like "this scanner will not harm any film rated below 800 ISO". So Newark to Miami and then from Miami to Lima I let the film go through the carry-on scanners. In Peru flying from Lima to Cusco, Cusco back to Lima, and Lima to JFK, I asked each time for a hand inspection of the films. The Peruvian security people obliged without hesitation. I think I would've been ok letting the film go through but I didn't want to take any chances with these pictures. It's best to ask for hand inspections of film, IMO. Most likely on a simple roundtrip the film won't be affected one iota. |
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Post by minoltaman on Aug 8, 2008 11:05:24 GMT -5
Without doubt, it will be a most memorable excursion. And you can relive it via the great photos. Thanks for sharing! Did you tape over the Nikon name on the F100 with the word Minolta...ha, ha? Or it does seem to me that you mentioned quite awhile ago that you switched!?!? The F100 is a great camera. I will be using it and my Nikkor 80-400 this coming week taking pics of the girls' softball tournament. These are older girls and this is a yearly event here in my area that is international. I will take my Nikon F4s as a backup. Another question, please. No men in that country, or were they shy to be photographed, or did your camera merely guide itself toward the fairer of our genders??? At any rate...great work and I envy the trip! Thank you Renaldo!! There's nothing like film, film forever!! It's great having these great film prints.....nothing like well-exposed glossy film prints either. The F100 is hands down the best camera ever....at least for me it is. It's the feel of the camera and it's many functions.....my favorite being the ability to change focus points.....this is an awesome feature that I love.....so useful on the run in the field. Good luck with your photo shoot. Man, 400mm must be awesome to shoot with, that zoom must've cost $$$$, especially a Nikkor.....bu you can stay far away enough from getting hit by a ball yet zoom in for great action shots. Do you shoot in that situation on the continuous focus setting? What film do you plan on using? Make sure you post some shots here, love to see them. Yes, there are men in Peru!! LOL! It's just the girls were so colorful and sweet.....the fairer gender and just more fun to shoot!! Here's some of the males: Schoolboy in Cusco  Siesta in Cusco  |
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Post by renaldo on Aug 8, 2008 12:21:57 GMT -5
Tommy...
Yes...unless you were being 'selective'...LOL...the dress of the women are much more colorful and pretty than the run-of-the-mill mens' clothes.
Having used my cameras for so long, they have become an extension of my mind. Thus most of my subjects in street photography are of the fairer gender.
It is supposed to be a nice week here with temps in the 70's(F). So should work out great for the tournament.
My wife reminded me last night that I was saying this year, I would be totally a 'viewer' and into-the-game spectator rather than be more interested in taking photos. Well...I guess I can do that for a couple or so games, but the camera still has to be with me...hey...I might just take a pic that I can sell to a newspaper or...wow...Sports Illustrated magazine.
Yes...for the most part, I do use continuous focus!!! It is a fantastic feature...especially for we older and physically slower photogs. For any type of 'fast moving' action I use a 400 speed film. And only shoot print film nowadays.
The Nikon 80-400VR lens is a great one. A little on the heavy side, but an optimum focal range. I often use it with a monopod...and of course, you turn off the VR then. But even with my arthritic and shaky hands, I have gotten quite acceptable shots with the VR on and hand holding.
I keep my Manfrotto Monopod in the car at all times. It is just so much more versatile than a tripod.
Bought the 80-400 about 5 years ago, and if my memory is any where accurate...I paid about
$1300 for it new.
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