Photo and Article by Henry Lo (www.travelnphoto.com)
Widely known as the “City in the Sky”, the famous Machu Picchu in Peru is one of the once-in-a-lifetime bucket list destinations for many travelers. The most popular way to get to Machu Picchu is to travel via Aguas Calientes from Cusco, followed by a bus ride to the destination. Cusco altitude is about 3400m, for that reason travelers may experience a mild form of altitude sickness.

Unless you are planning to trek the 4-day Inca Trail, otherwise Aguas Calientes is a town you must visit to get to Machu Picchu. Since the airport nearest to Aguas Calientes is located at Cusco, it makes Cusco the perfect starting point. The total traveling time from Cusco to Aguas Calientes is about 5 hours, so a day trip to Machu Picchu is a bit rush. You have to depart at 5am and get back to Cusco at 9pm. So if time allowed, you can spend a night in Aguas Calientes and visit Machu Picchu the next morning. The good thing about this is that if you go early enough, you can avoid the crowd and have better morning sunlight for photography. Due to my rushed itinerary this time, I could only afford to make a day trip to Machu Picchu, and thus much thought had to be put into photography.

The Inca Empire started sometime in the 12th century and had a short history of about 300 years till it was conquered by the Spanish. To block the invasion of the Spanish, the Incas had no choice but to destroy part of the thoughtfully built Incan road network. Although this act could not stop the fall of the Incan Empire, but it helped keep Machu Picchu intact until today, attracting millions of tourists to come while making possible the Inca civilization to shine in today’s modern society.

There are two main challenges when photographing on Machu Picchu. First is the growing number of visitors. Although the government has imposed a daily limit on the number of visitors, nearly all the major spots on Machu Picchu are still crowded with tourists. It won’t be a big problem if you are photographing the landscape only, as most of the scenic spots are located among the peaks with lots of vertical space. As long as you stand close to the edge of the terraces, you can manage to avoid the crowd in your framing. However, for portrait photo taking, it’s a bit trickier. Shooting with a mid-range lens will sacrifice the iconic background. A wide-angle lens is preferred but it would include the crowd in the composition, unless you wait really patiently. Based on my observation, visitors shooting with their smartphones show a herd behavior on shooting location, as the majority of smartphones are incorporated with a 28mm lens which restricts their location to shoot. So try using a lens other than 28mm to avoid fighting for the same location with the majority.

Also keep in mind that there is crowd control measure within the site. Visitors can only go in one direction but not the other way round, so you cannot go back to take a photo again. Although you can re-enter the site after exiting, it won’t be an enjoyable task due to the long route, steps and high altitude.

The second challenge is that there isn’t any toilet within the site and you can hardly find a sheltered location. Normally it takes about 3-4 hours to finish the sight seeing, that means you will be exposed under the sun for 3-4 hours. The highland climate is dry, be prepared with sun protection and bring enough water to prevent sunstroke.

Frankly speaking, photographing Machu Picchu is not that difficult technically, as you will be shooting under a bright sun meaning an easy setting on ISO and shutter speed. Tripod is not allowed within the site. A full frame camera paired with an ultra wide-angle lens is all it takes to capture the entire Machu Picchu like the photo above. In case you use an APS-C camera and don’t have a wide-angle lens, more time and effort will have to be spent on the framing. I took some really nice shots with 35mm focal length though.

I really mean it when I said it’s not difficult to photograph on Machu Picchu. Even llamas here are super friendly (maybe it’s because they are so used to strangers). When you take photos of them, not only that they don’t walk away, they even pose for you. To photograph this kind of animal with long nose and neck, I prefer a small aperture so that both the face and the body can be captured in clarity.

To me, having the chance to see the Seven Wonders of the World in person and take a photo makes my life complete (although there will always be new discovery that will make you regret if not going later on). For those who really want to enjoy photography to its fullest, I strongly suggest you to spend more time in Cusco, as there are plenty of photographic topics ranging from hilly landscape, chapels to the lovely people, lifestyle and night scene of the little town. Seize your chance and capture them all.

Machu Picchu
Transportation: Take train from Cusco to Aguas Calientes, followed by bus (about 10 mins) to get to Machu Picchu
Entry Fee: Adult USD$68