Peru Photo Tour: Visiting Machu Picchu for the first time!

On the fourth day of the Peru Photo Tour, we got up and headed to the train station. Everyone was really excited to make our way towards the most anticipated stop of the trip, Machu Picchu!

When we got on the train, we were thrilled to see that we would have awesome views from all angles, even with windows above us. As we traveled from the mountain region into the cloud forest, we could see the vast changes in the weather and surrounding foliage. The 2 hour train ride did not seem like transportation at all, it seemed like a theme park ride with never ending sites.

As soon as we got to the station, we gave our luggage to hotel workers who met us by the train, and we headed straight for the "Lost City of the Incas".  We took a bus ride up to the highest drop-off point, and then walked the remaining way up the mountain. At the top, we were rewarded with the site we all came to see! We did not have perfect blue skies, but we did have a clear view of the ruins, and interesting clouds in the background. I was using my Canon R5 camera with both the RF 15-35mm lens and the RF 24-105 f/4 lens.

They limit the number of people who can visit Machu Picchu, which made it easier to get nice photos like this without a ton of tourists in the shot.

We all walked around the upper portion of Machu Picchu, taking photos and just taking it all in.

You can tell that I was happy to be there!

It was also nice to have my girlfriend, Laura, there with me to experience this moment. 

We started walking down into the ruins, but before we all dispersed, I got everyone together for a group photo.

As we walked through the ancient city, I gave people ideas of different places to shoot from to get some unique perspectives.

The mixed cloud cover and sunlight created some interesting scenes for us to photograph. It was fun to watch the ever changing light on the mountains around us. 

Machu Picchu is located in the cloud forest of Peru, and we had mostly cloud cover on our visit. Because of that, we did not have blue skies to photograph, but we had nice even light on the ruins.

We even had Llama sitings on the rock walls.

All of the guests had a great time. Here is Denise getting some photos for her collection.

The next morning we made a second trip up to Machu Picchu. This time we walked up to a higher location to see if we could get more photos of the site. This time we had some blue skies in the distance but a lot more low clouds rolling through the ruins. We had no clear views on the second day, but we enjoyed watching the different patterns of the clouds.

This last shot was taken as we descended back down to where the bus would take us down the mountain. I stopped and took this photo because I liked the patterns of the clouds and thought it created a dramatic background to this scene. It was also my farewell shot of this iconic location until my next visit.

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• Subscribe to the Jeff Cable Photography Blog by clicking HERE!

• You can now purchase Jeff Cable Photography images from my new fine art site at: https://fineart.jeffcable.com/

• If you are interested in purchasing ANY equipment, please click here to go to B&H Photo, as I get a referral from them if you enter this way. It does not change the cost to you in any way, but it helps me keep this blog up and running.

• Check out my upcoming photo tours to amazing places around the world. I have photo tours to Africa, Costa Rica, Asia and more. 

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One Olympic Games ends and the next one begins!

I know that many of you follow the blog waiting for my posts from the Olympics, and now that they are over hopefully you will continue to follow along on my other photographic endeavors. 

But guess what? There is another Olympics coming up in a year and a half! I have only been home from Paris for about a month and the credentialing process has already begun for the Winter Olympics in Milan. 

A couple of days ago I received an email from the US Olympic Committee notifying me that it was time to submit my media credential information for the next Games. Honestly, I am still tired from the last one, but excited to start the process for Olympics number nine!

As always, I will keep you all informed on the road to Milan and all the planning that goes into it. 

More fun to come!

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• Subscribe to the Jeff Cable Photography Blog by clicking HERE!

• You can now purchase Jeff Cable Photography images from my new fine art site at: https://fineart.jeffcable.com/

• If you are interested in purchasing ANY equipment, please click here to go to B&H Photo, as I get a referral from them if you enter this way. It does not change the cost to you in any way, but it helps me keep this blog up and running.

• Check out my upcoming photo tours to amazing places around the world. I have photo tours to Africa, Costa Rica, Asia and more. 

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Visiting the Sacred Valley and seeing the colors of Peru!

As I mentioned in the first Peru blog post, those images were just the tip of the iceberg, with the best coming in upcoming posts. After a full day in the city of Lima (at sea level), we flew to the city of Cusco, landing at the airport which sits at 11,000 foot altitude. We could feel the difference in altitude almost immediately when getting off the plane. But the first thing we did, was get on a bus and head down 4,000 feet to our hotel. This was our base for the next 3 nights, and gave us a chance to get acclimated to the height. This made a huge difference for the rest of the trip. Many people on the photo tour were worried about the altitude and even brought altitude sickness pills, but none of those were needed.

Upon arrival at the Sacred Valley, our first stop was a viewing spot looking over the fertile land. 

We then drove out to visit the circular terraces of Moray, which was created by the Incas around the year 1500. It is thought that the circular patterns were a way for the Incas to test farming in different soils and temperatures, as the temperatures vary from one level to another. 

We walked around the entire area and I used this as a photography lesson for those who wanted to try something different. We saw this snow capped mountain in the background, so I focused on the nearby cactus to show the difference in temperature and terrain from the Moray to the mountain tops of the Andes.  

This is a wide shot showing the circular patterns and the snow-covered mountain top in the distance.

Our next stop was a visit to an area where locals were making the famous Peruvian rugs and clothing out of the Alpaca wool. 

They showed us how they boil natural plants to dye the wool.

Those natural dyes provide amazing colors.

Once the yarn was dried, the local women would start the process of creating the rugs and clothing.  

This women was selling the end products. I really loved the colors of her outfit and the surrounding colors of the products, not to mention the light coming in behind me. This photo really shows off the colors of this country.

In the afternoon, we headed to an amazing restaurant for lunch. Not only was the food amazing, but this restaurant has a large herd of llamas on the premises and are even let inside certain areas.

We all had a blast photographing these animals against these amazing backdrops.

Another classic Peruvian photo!

After lunch we made our way to the Salt Mines of Maras. In this location, there are more than 4,500 salt wells in varying terraces, each owned by local families in the region. All the salt is taken from the wells to the top of the mountain by hand. You can see the one lady hauling a bag of salt from her well.

You can also see many bags of salt in this photo. ready to be carried up to the top. These salt mines have been in existence for more than 1,000 years! And yes, I purchased some of the unique salt from here and use it every morning in my eggs. 

Our last stop in the Sacred Valley was a home which has feeders and viewing areas for the local hummingbirds. 

As you know, I spend a lot of time down in Costa Rica and have photographed many hummingbirds...

...but I REALLY wanted a photo of the Sword-billed hummingbird with it's long bill. It is the only bird that has a beak longer than its body. It was late in the day and we only saw a couple, but I managed to get this shot at ISO 6400 (using the Canon R6 Mark II and RF 100-500mm lens). I hope to get better photos on the next photo tour in 2025. And I hope that you can join me down there! You can find all the new photo tour info here.

Next blog post - Machu Picchu!

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• Subscribe to the Jeff Cable Photography Blog by clicking HERE!

• You can now purchase Jeff Cable Photography images from my new fine art site at: https://fineart.jeffcable.com/

• If you are interested in purchasing ANY equipment, please click here to go to B&H Photo, as I get a referral from them if you enter this way. It does not change the cost to you in any way, but it helps me keep this blog up and running.

• Check out my upcoming photo tours to amazing places around the world. I have photo tours to Africa, Costa Rica, Asia and more. 

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Want to hear my stories from the Summer Olympics in Paris?

You have seen all the images, and maybe even been subjected to some photos of me at work at the Games, but you have probably not heard any of the stories behind the photos of the Paris Olympics. This is the first time that I will be doing a LIVE presentation via Zoom to share my experiences with you all.

I will be doing the Zoom interview this Thursday at 11am PST. It is FREE and I will be happy to answer any questions that you might have.

Come join me on the SlickPic Zoom call at:

https://www.slickpic.com/blog/photos-stories-from-the-paris-olympics-with-u-s-team-photographer-jeff-cable/

I look forward to seeing you all there!

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• Subscribe to the Jeff Cable Photography Blog by clicking HERE!

• You can now purchase Jeff Cable Photography images from my new fine art site at: https://fineart.jeffcable.com/

• If you are interested in purchasing ANY equipment, please click here to go to B&H Photo, as I get a referral from them if you enter this way. It does not change the cost to you in any way, but it helps me keep this blog up and running.

• Check out my upcoming photo tours to amazing places around the world. I have photo tours to Africa, Costa Rica, Asia and more. 

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Just before the Olympics, I led my first photo tour to Peru!

A couple of weeks before I left for the Summer Olympics in Paris, I lead my first photo tour to Peru. This was a test trip which included family and friends so that I could test things out and see if this was a tour I wanted to include for the future. I was partnering with a new tour company in Peru (well...new to me) and I wanted to see how everything went before taking groups to this new location. Without getting ahead of myself here, I can tell you that everyone LOVED the trip and I am adding a trip back to Peru next year. You can find that information here.

We all flew into the city of Lima, where we spent the first couple of days. We had a great time walking around town and seeing the colorful sites.

We had overcast weather which made it easier to get photos like these without any harsh shadows. For this trip, I took my Canon R5 and Canon R6 MII cameras. All of the photos in this blog posts were taken with the Canon RF 24-105mm lens.

It was a quiet morning with very few people on the streets.

We all enjoyed the artwork on the buildings.

I saw this mural which was sandwiched between a door and a window, and thought it would make for a good photo. I saw this man walking towards the building and waited for him to come into the frame and took a bunch of photos. I liked his purposeful stride in this photo.

Dan, our guide showed us some really pretty murals and I thought they would make a nice backdrop for portraits, so I took photos of everyone. Here is a photo of my brother and his wife, Kath.

We visited a couple of the local markets, which I always love to photograph. 

I can not say enough about the people of Peru. 

They are incredibly friendly... 

... and very photogenic.

Here is our group in the streets of Lima. The guinea pigs of tour number one!

We walked through this one tunnel and I saw Sara taking a photo. I decided that she added an extra element to the other "people" in the frame. 

Towards the end of the day, we went to the coast and photographed some of the local fishermen.

One-by-one the boats would come in with their fish.

This man was cleaning and sorting the local catch of the day.

We all walked around and photographed the people at work.

This cat was walking amongst the boats (probably looking for some leftover fish). I loved the way that it's eyes stood out in front of the colorful background.

I saw this man painting his boat and really liked that moment. 

And all of this was during our first day on the trip, and we had SO much more to come, including the Cusco Valley, Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, Puerto Maldonado and more. Those blog posts are coming soon.

As I said before, the Peru 2025 trip is now officially live on my photo tour page, as well as a long awaited trip to the islands of Galapagos. Check those out on the tour page!

__________________________________________________________

• Subscribe to the Jeff Cable Photography Blog by clicking HERE!

• You can now purchase Jeff Cable Photography images from my new fine art site at: https://fineart.jeffcable.com/

• If you are interested in purchasing ANY equipment, please click here to go to B&H Photo, as I get a referral from them if you enter this way. It does not change the cost to you in any way, but it helps me keep this blog up and running.

• Check out my upcoming photo tours to amazing places around the world. I have photo tours to Africa, Costa Rica, Asia and more. 

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