First trip with dSLR: Peru (Cusco, Machu Picchu, Aguas Calientes)

So this was my first trip ever taking a camera with me, with the intentions of getting some great photos as opposed to taking shots for a photo album.

I will be posting all of these images untouched, so that I might hopefully get some advice on composition and settings. Since there are so many photos, I will post 8 at a time with explanations of each. The EXIF should be in each photo, so check that for aperture and etc. please - I am still very much a beginner, and just learning how to properly operate the camera, let alone create great photos

2 Views from hotel (Amaru Hostel, Cusco)
24-105L

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These are all from the train ride from Cusco to Aguas Calientes (town at the foot of Machu Picchu). p.s. I am VERY glad I took the Vistadome train, instead of the others, since the vistadome appeared to be the only one that you could open the windows to avoid glare!

These were also all taken with the 24-105L, and most of them were also using a CP Filter.

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These are from Machu Picchu, mostly between 6am and 8am either with 24-105 or sig10-20

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Wow... quite some collection of pics... I wasn't too fond of the first set--the distortion in the buildings bothered me--almost seemed a fish-eye effect. However your next sets are very nice. The scenery you captured is beautiful and you've done it very nicely. Thanks

There are some amazing pictures in this series. I happen to like the wide angle shots of the buildings.

Nice !! The lack of people at Machu Picchu is great for your shots? Where were all the tourista's?

Nice pictures. There are some super photos in this series...

squashed wrote in post #4199549
Nice !! The lack of people at Machu Picchu is great for your shots? Where were all the tourista's?

this was not easy! involved lots of patience and creative shots. At times I felt like a contortionist, trying to bend around to get people out of shots. There are still lots of people around during these shots, many were taken as they walked behind obstructions and etc. It was not as easy as more people came.

It also helped that we were among the first 100 people that showed up. It's amazing how many people are there by 11am. It looks like a multicolored ant-hill. I got there around 6:15.

Thanks for the comments and feedback so far. One of the things I noticed was that I had my ISO set to 1600 for most of the first day in cusco - which was obviously a mistake (my biggest one on the trip probably). Also, I was taking most shots with my CP so that the sky looked neon-light blue. After coming back and reviewing most of my photos, I realized that the dark-blue came out much better. I guess I will go for a deep blue sky when using a CP from now on.

Also, I hesitate to take too much credit for the shots taken at Machu Picchu... from what I hear it's extremely difficult to take a bad shot there

few more at Machu Picchu:

#1

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and I'll finish it off with a nice lunch: "Cuy" (translated: Guinea Pig)

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oh yes, before I forget - here are some great murals in Cusco. I merged them together in CS3. So that's pretty much it for this trip.

(click thumbs for large versions)

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and how was lunch?? I wouldn't be too excited about eating it myself... though if that's all there was...

some difficult exposures considering the light but the composition was really nice....overall, a great bunch of shots.

a GND would be nice to add to your bag to help compensate for some of the bright skies.

thanks for sharing,
Jim