Spring Break: Photography

I got back from spring break 2010 late on Saturday night after spending the week in Peru and Panama.  I had the most amazing time, despite the fact that my childhood dream of visiting the Incan city of Machu Picchu had been dashed by torrential rains that closed the cite.  We didn’t let this get us down, though, and embarked upon a 3 day trek through the Andes, visiting many Inca sites and Quechua villages along the way.

I’m currently taking a photography class, and dragged my film SLR camera along to capture parts of my journey.  I’m excited to develop my film and see how amazing the glacial mountains look on old fashioned black and white celluloid.  Hopefully some of the photos will count towards a critique I have due in a couple of weeks, but even if they don’t I will not be disappointed.  I’ll be glad to have a tangible record of my trip, and I’m looking forward (for once) to spending hours in the dark room perfect the prints.

I also took along my digital point and shoot camera, which turned out some pretty decent pictures.  I was traveling with my family, and each of us were taking pictures at every turn, so by the end I started relying on them to take the photos.  My parents are still in the Amazon, but will be returning this weekend, and I can’t wait for them to send me their photos.  I know my Dad in particular took lots of pictures of Quechua children, who, in my humble opinion, are some of the most beautiful kids I’ve ever seen.  With their bright rosy cheeks, dark tan skin, big chocolate eyes, and strikingly colorful outfits, the photos are sure to be breathtaking.

I was glad to talk about photography in class today, and it seemed to relate well to my interests at the moment.  I’ll embed some photos here, and add some more once my parents send their photos along.  Maybe I’ll even scan some of my film prints to see how that translates onto the web.  There’s nothing like holding it you hands, though, so I might save them for my personal collection.