Exploring Cusco through the lens
The Best Places to take Photos in Cusco: A complete Guide
¿Are you planning to travel to Perú and take the best photos of yourself?. The best way is with local tour guides who have an expertise in photography. They will provide you the best ideas and tips for you to get the desire portrait photo. However if you decide to travel alone, down below you can read an important information to succeed doing your own photography traveling in the Cusco region.
Plaza de Armas of Cusco
History and Architecture:
Cusco was founded in March 23th in 1534 by the Spanish conquistadors, however it celebrates its anniversary in June 24th (Winter solstice & Sun Festival). Cusco is quite old as its main square. Recent excavations revealed the construction of channels and sewer system to drain the water absorbing humidity due the existence of deltas, streams, springs, ponds and mud prior to the Inca settlement. In doing so the city of Cusco had to be dried out and when the Inca goverment-pretty much around the end of the XIII century-settled in downtown. So building aqueducts for this purpose was a priority.
The Andean people developed a technology to built terraces, aqueducts, irrigation systems, granaries, magnificent temples and residential constructions -made of nice and simple stonework- designed for the elite people who ruled the Empire.These days the Inca legacy has survived to the time and anyone can see the remains of these constructions just by walking around the city, or eating, drinking or dancing in several private properties around downtown displaying the aforementioned fine stonework.
Cusco became the capital of the Inca Empire with Pachacutec the Inca King who achieved successfully to fight and expelled the Wari people, -an ethnicity who occupied Cusco before the 15th century-.Pachacutec rebuilt Cusco following astronomical alignments and his own residential spot was placed in one side of the main square of Cusco -the section that is called today Portal de Panes in one of the sides of Plaza de Armas-. With the Spanish influences many Inca residencial areas served as solid foundations to built the new Spanish buildings. The other sections and sides of these square were intended to built the Cathedral church in 1550. The Jesuits did the same by building another church perpendicular the the first one.
The best hours for photographs:
Every photographer knows the golden light at Sunset is the best time (between 5:00 and 5:30 pm) during the winter season which happens from June until late July, as the motion of the earth rotates, the axis and the light changes, in doing so it will be slightly different in the Summer season from December to March (5:30 pm until 18:20 pm). ¡Remember! that Perú and Cusco is close to the equator (13º South from the line) and there is no a dramatic season change as it happens in the very North or South hemispheres.
Capturing astronomical alignments:
I suggest early in the morning near the winter solstices. During the winter solstice or close to this events, the shadows produced by the Sun are too long and the effects on the pictures output more dramatic features to your photos; however for just regular portrait pictures it should be at Sunset for a smooth golden light.
Additionally you might try pictures at night I am sure you will capture a lot of magical scenery specially if the full is rising through the east perhaps through the Jesuits church or near the roofs close to Triunfo street. You must know that the moon rises every month through different spots and just every 29.5 years appears in the same spots. So if you are looking to take a picture of the moon coming from an specific angle, you will have to wait for a long 29.5 years which it does not make sense when you are traveling. In order to make sure of exact angle and time where the Moon will rise through, you might take a look online the astro-calendar web stellarium to have more accurate information.
Tips for Photography:
Write a short plan of the pictures you are trying to capture. ¿Are you looking for Portrait pictures? ¿Urban pictures? ¿Astronomical events?. So once you have your main idea you can draw a map in a piece of paper or in your app to follow a route where you are trying to take those photos. If you decide to take pictures during the winter solstice, make sure you carry a jacket, gloves and a hut because early in the morning before or during the rising of the Sun or later after the Sunset Cusco is cold, but not too bad as Europe during the winter and that's because the fact of being just 13º down from the equator line.
*About the lens you should use: I guess it depends on the type of photography that your a intending to achieve, however let me remind you the different basic kinds: Eye-fish (4mm-14mm) for abstract and creative pictures,wide angle (14mm-35mm) for landscape and architecture, etc.
Panoramic View of Sacsaywaman:
A great panoramic view can be taken from the hill called suchuna (a green diorite intrusive outcrop). Although you can not take a tripod there-because this is prohibited officially by the government-, so will able to take pictures perhaps adjusting you camera to faster shutter or exposure time to avoid trepidation.
Notice that the aphelion event is ¡quite interesting!, because at this season where the earth gets the furthest distance from the Sun, ¡so the presence of clouds are zero!, it means that you have a great chance to capture the snow-capped mountain clear of any type of cloud and the aforementioned composition. I took a wonderful picture in the late afternoon near the aphelion (July 4th) during the full moon from the second platform watching the direction of Cusco eastward, just looking for the direction of White Christ and the snow capped mountain called Ausangate, so I could take a picture of four elements in my composition: The amazing stonework of Sacsaywaman, the white Christ, the full moon and the snow capped mountain.
Qoricancha (Temple of the Sun).
A combination of Inca and Colonial architecture:
Qorikancha was one of the most important temple of the Inca elite people, the term refers to sheets of gold that covered the upper sections of the enclose wall. Today Qorikancha and the church of Santo Domingo are mixed together, a good example of andean spirituality and catholic religion amalgamation. From outside the church is remarkable with a rounded-dark Inca temple seen clearly from the Avenida El Sol and the streets close by. Indoors is impressive as well because one can see several temples for different deities such as The Sun, Moon, Venus, The lightning bold-thunder, Rainbow and the Stars. The temple of the moon is not clearly recognizable because several re-sketch-ups made the Dominican order, an effort to built the Monastery of Santo Domingo. The courtyard itself keeps pretty much its original space since Inca time.
Schedules and Fees:
Qorikancha is open from 9 am until 17:30 pm from Monday to Saturday and on Sundays is open in the afternoon from 14:00 pm. Make sure the christian calendar makes some exceptions during some holidays around the year, so you might ask your travel agent or tour guide if there is no exceptions for this schedule.
The courtyard for sure has a beautiful background with arches the tower of the church as well as flowers surrounding an octagonal fountain at the center of this place.
You
can try photos getting the gardens of the Sun watching the "Avenida El Sol"
avenue, look at the garden outdoors and you will see some terraces with some staircases descending, so this is the other spot where can try interesting views. Another perspective you can get from outside near the school of "Las Mercedes", ¡its up to you!.
Colonial Aqueduct of Sapantiana
Perhaps the most instagrammable photo is taken at the neighborhood of Sapantiana. First of all the street"Siete borreguitos" (seven little lambs) is attractive for many, because the colorful street displaying a sharp angle corner. This unexpected angle allows the observer to watch two simultaneous stairs that converge one another in one corner. Those two stairs are full of geraniums flowers hanging from pots scattered along the white walls of these passages.
Aqueduct History:
Sapantiana is becoming famous recently since the 2021 because the government with the Ministry of Culture has repaired some sections of the retaining walls that protect a stream that runs water from springs located in the Park of Sacsaywaman and the mountains around. The water descends into the city through an old aqueduct whose old colonial bridge made of stone displays an iconic scenery surrounded by nature and following staircases where the water goes through like a little cascade.
How to get there:
From the main plaza of Cusco city you should look for Triunfo or Cordoba de Tucuman street, you can get Choquechaca street. Once you are there, you just need to ascend the street until to get an outcrop of limestone which became a very spiritual spot during Inca time, actually it formed one of the 328 wacas (shrines) which were basically aqueducts, spring, caves and sacred chambers located around an imaginary group of lines that radiated like the spokes of a wheel from a center located in Plaza de Armas of Cusco-.
Tips for Photography:
I guess you should skip to take a tripod with you for your comfort, unless you desire to capture a serious photo. Basically there two places to take the iconic picture:
The first one is walking through the canal of water directly into the staircases running water, this picture can allow you to capture the
bridge and the staircases and for this iconic photography you will need a person to take a picture of yourself and perhaps avoiding you to step over the water and slide. Better if you wear comfortable running shoes for this purpose.
The second picture should be taken from above near the outcrop, in order to do that you will need to ascend a little more by the other side where perhaps you will see a swing for children.
The third place can be taken from the bar above of the latter which is attached to a little hostel. The best time for photos (in the winter season) is between
15:00 until 16:00 pm because the site is surrounded by hills that
cover the Sunlight and creates big shades. However in the summer
season you might begin later like 16:00 pm. ¿How about the very
morning?. See in the following link: The golden light vs morning photography at Sapantiana aqueduct.
Barrio de San Blas:
Colorful Streets:
Most photographers who visit the region of Cusco capture pictures through jungle trips, visiting Sacred Valley or doing City tours which are not too popular that's why if you want an expertise to guide you through the cultural information as well as photography itself you will need to contact specialized tour operators on line. If you do your tours on your own I can suggest one more place called the neighborhood of San Blas which is one the ancient neighborhoods of Cusco during the Inca period.
The outstanding architecture of this place is the Colonial Spanish style, actually many visitors who know Toledo in Spain, they find out a lot of similarities with this colorful neighborhood. If you want to capture pictures of the building and roofs of Cusco, you might want to get the higher lookout point of San Blas which allows you to enjoy the view of all Cusco downtown and the Sunset.
Walking through Cusco downtown is quite colorful specially if you walk by San Blas because you will encounter a lot of galleries where artisans and artists gather to make a lot of paintings, tattoos, canvasses, sculptures, woodcarving and so on. You just need to take pictures of the small plaza of San Blas which is attached to the church, in one side of this construction you will notice a fountain running water like a cascade connected to two staircases in both sides, and at the center of the square another stonework colonial fountain is found. You will encounter a lot of similarity with old towns places like Toledo in Spain with the blue Arabian balconies and doorways.
Best Spots to take pictures:
As mentioned earlier with might wish to take pictures with the fountains and the church in one side of your background pictures. You will also want to see Cusco from above and capture images of the orange top roofs of downtown that perhaps reminds you Rome, so in order to do that you should ascend to the lookout point where you will notice from time to time green diorite rock sticking out from the ground, that's a good indicator that you are approaching to this place. The easier way would be looking for the streets Pasñapakana and kiskapata -see it in your google maps to find out easily this spot-.
Events and Festivals:
Two major Events and Festivals takes place in the neighborhood of San Blas every year, the first one begins in January 20th with a lot of fireworks and finishes in February 5th. The second one occurs during the Corpus Christi which happens at the end of May or at the beginning of June, everything depends on the full moon since the Christian calendar and catholic religion is based on moon calendar. In both festival the presence of patron San Blas taken in processions outdoors by the streets of nearby are accompanied by musicians, dancers-wearing wear iconic and sarcastic masks and dresses-follow old traditions and customs.
Humantay Lagoon
How to get there:
The main entrance to lagoon Humantay is via Limatambo which links the highway toward Lima -the capital of Perú-. Once you get Limatambo, a downhill is descending like a serpent. The highway is full of bends and villages untill you arrive at the "turn off" near the site called Mollepata where you have to follow a new road ascending through imposing mountains. This route will take you to Soraypampa -It takes approximately 3 hours to get there from the city of Cusco-which is the end of the road and the beginning spot for hiking the trail upward the famous turquoise lagoon of Humantay displaying a beautiful snow-capped mountain behind that deserves a photo. The trail takes no more than two hours, even though it might turn out to be a little less, it will depend on your rhythm.
Best Time to Visit:
From the end of April until November is mostly blue sky. From December to March the clouds and rainy season are more abundant. As you know the presence of humidity makes landscapes more colourful, so if you are looking for landscapes full of flowers blooming and hummingbirds sucking from there, so the end of April is the perfect time, because is also the end of the rainy season and everything turned out to be green and colorful rather than slightly yellow as it happens during the dry season-from May to September; however due the existence of a lot of snow capped mountains and micro climates nearby, the presence of humidity makes this place quite green most of the year . ¡Remember! that the Sunny days and blue sky are more intense close to aphelion, so the celestial ceiling is more clear of clouds during this time in synchronicity with a gradually descending of temperatures following the rythm of nature.
Tips for Photography at the Lagoon:
Make an effort to carry with you a basic light tripod that avoid you to cause trepidation when you are taking a serious photo. Make sure also that you are wearing the proper hiking boots and perhaps a windbreaker as well as a light rain jacket specially if you are visiting this place close to the rainy season. At times the weather in Cusco region is unpredictable, even though the probabilities are in your favor, just in case make sure that you are prepare for any dramatic change of the weather. Furthermore perhaps if you want to protect your knees when coming back descending the mountain you might wish to use walking sticks to absorbed at least between 15% until 20% of your weight against gravity.
Rainbow Mountain (Vinicunca)
Preparation For The Walk:
First of all the visitors interested in this tour should be acclimatized at least three days in Cusco -located at 11000 feet or similar altitudes- since the hike to Vinicunca will be through mountains higher than Cusco reaching elevations above 4000 feet-. Secondly you should wear special cloth layers for hiking through cold temperatures, at times by means of dramatic weather changes such as snow and rain. Everything depends on the weather and the season you are visiting this region. Make sure you are drinking plenty of water -at least withing 7-9 glasses every day-and you are eliminating the liquids from your body, otherwise you are retaining water in your systems and that's dangerous if you continue with these conditions.
Some people are prescribed DIAMOX before to arrive at higher altitudes but be-careful about side-effects. The best way to acclimatize in higher elevations is the natural way drinking water and some infusions such as Coca tea or Muña tea (Andean Meant). Try to sleep as much as you can, because it helps a lot with the process of acclimatization. Finally you should make sure that you are not suffering of hypertension, it might be dangerous if you combine this affection with the consumption of salt, chocolate, coffee, etc. Finally you might wish to use walking sticks, so consult your tour guide or tour operator if you need them in relationships to your physical strengths and conditions.
Schedules and Best Time for Pictures:
Since Vinicunca takes about three hours to get there and the starting point for the hiking, most of the travel operators pick up the tourists quite early in the morning (around 4 or 5am in the morning) and there is an extra time for having breakfast before the starting point and another two hours to get the iconic rainbow mountain spot, so you might get there around 10 am in the morning. I do not yet of visitors setting a tent close by to take pictures early in the morning or late in the afternoon because the place lacks of lodges and comfort, ¡so this is how it is!. However you might change this tour for that one called Palcoyoc which takes only thirty minutes to get the main point to take similar landscapes with a lot of outstanding rock formations and interesting geological features on the background scenery.
Recommended Gear:
See Salkantay above to repeat to carry with you similar gear.
The Sal Mines of Maras and Greenhouse of Moray
Unique features of the Salt Mines:
Something that is unique at Maras is the way the ancient societies and culture of Cusco used this spot for extracting a pinkish healthy salt quite high in Iron, Magnesium, Potassium, and for sure Sodium Chloride. Once you get there you will see more than 4000 pans over a sort of platforms or terraces. In fact every pan with about 10 centimeter depth serves to collect the water abundant in dissolved salt which comes from two sources, two springs that comes from the underground.
Those deposits of salt were formed back in time in geological times during the Cretaceous period (120 millions years ago) when the sea made a rift through the region of Venezuela Perú and Bolivia-the Amazonian region-. Furthermore we know by means of sciences that our planet witnessed a lot of geological events that had the tectonic plates from the pacific ocean collided against the continent causing the elevation of the mountains, therefore the regression of sea water into its original place. So when you see these salt pans and you consume the product it means you are consuming paleo-salt from geological times, ¡That's the remarkable aspect! about the salt mines.
Moray became famous after the 80's, actually there are some pictures displaying the communities living close by organizing "bullfights" at the bottom of the biggest concentric group of Terraces. The last thirty year goverments around the world has adopted a lot changes and effort to preserve the cultural heritages, so Moray -an ancient construction- has been restored to give it back its importance. Since then activities such the aforementioned "bullfights" were forbidden to protect it from erosion and subsidence. The idea of Moray used as an amphitheater emerged with the European influence; however these days-above all based on the studies such as John Earls-we know that Moray had another purpose related to Agriculture and the adaptation of plants. This idea of Moray as a sort of "green house" would resemble the micro climates of the ancient Perú.
Recommended Photographic Spots:
The best pictures are taken obviously from above for that reason you might wish to go around the whole complex pretty much keeping the higher level, that's why you should take the second route on the left that takes no more than 40 minutes keeping in mind the stops and time you will need to capture your desirable photos. If you want to use drones you should be careful since you will need special permission by the government that usually takes so much time and a lot of bureaucracy. As for the lens-telephoto or wide angle would be perfect unless you are looking for a portrait photo, in that case you will need someone to help you shooting the picture or holding your portable reflectors or blurs for the Sun light.
Best time to visit the Salt mines of Maras:
Taking pictures in the Salt Mines of Maras is better in the dry season, because it needs the Sun light and therefore the evaporation to recrystillize the salt minerals, that's the key for the Salt production, since the rainy season there are some many clouds and therefore minimal water evaporation. "The more humidity the slower the formation process of salt layers". So the best photos you can get during the dry season.
Tips to Capture the Best Photo:
I guess is better to take a picture having someone near the Salt pans, because it will give you the sense of size, symmetry and proportion of every Salt pan. In the late afternoon you will be able to capture the famous golden light but in this case with a sense of sadness in the composition; however if you take early in the very morning, you might have too much shade. I guess around 9 am is ¡ok! until 10 am, because by noon there will be too much light and your photos might tend to be burned.
Best Time of the Year for Visit:
Unlike the Salt mines, Moray can be visited the whole year. The whole dusty road that leads to this attraction, recently has been paved by the government. If you decided to visit Moray during the rainy season, so you will encounter an amazing colorful landscape on the ground that will have an appearance like a tapestry seen from above, that's because the farmers take advantage of this season to seed several crops such as wheat, barley, corn, potatoes, quinoa and broad and fava beans every year.
Ollantaytambo the gateway to Machupicchu
The archaeological Site of Ollantaytambo and Panoramic Views:
The most outstanding panoramic views can be seen from the temple of the ten windows, or the temple of the Sun. You might try to capture the scenery from the granaries-which is located in front of the Sun Temple- in the mountain called Pinkuylluna. The latter takes no more than 30 minutes to get there ascending a steep mountain -which is less challenging than the mountain Huaynapicchu-.
Narrow Streets and Photographic Details:
If you like street, urban photography and old sites this is the right place for you to captures pictures since the town of Ollantaytambo offers you narrow streets with ancient aqueducts that still running water as it would be happening in the XVI century. Ollantaytambo is the entrance to Machupicchu and connect by means of different valley through the Amazonian cloud forests. Ollantaytambo displays the ancient original Inca design and urban plan.
Tips for the Tour:
Ollantaytambo is located at the Sacred Valley and it will not take more than 1:45 minutes from Cusco by car. If you visit Ollantaytambo in the afternoon you might need an extra layer beside your T-shirt or a windbreaker because it tends to be quite windy. So you might wish to use your sun glasses for protection from the wind rather than the Sun light itself.
The Artist's Lens in Cusco: Essential Spots for Photographers & Filmmakers:
One of the favorite places that Paramount pictures selected in order to film the movie of science fiction "Transformers the raising of the beasts" -in 2021 and 2020- were:
Market of San Pedro:
Displaying these narrow and iconic streets near the main plaza of Cusco: San Pedro, Union street, Santa Clara, the main plaza of Cusco, Santo Domingo (near Qorikancha, the Inca temple of Sun) and so on. You might want to visit the neighborhood of San Blas as well as Sapantiana to capture iconic pictures of Cusco (See down below details)...
The plateau of Maras near the Sacred Valley.
These scenery are quite outstanding because you can take a look of the eastern mountain range of the Andes above all Urubamba with Pumawanca, Chicon or Ollantaytambo with Verónica a beautiful snow capped mountain showing her imposing and majesty from the plateau.
Abra de Malaga and Machupicchu
When you take the train to Machupicchu -from the town of Ollantaytambo-, you go parallel to the Urubamba river and a road that links the highway upward the pass Verónica -the snow capped mountain-. This place was one of the top locations selected by Paramount pictures to shoot scenes for the Movie. El Abra de Malaga stands for "mountain pass". As you ascend through this imposing and massive mountain, the highway turns out to be a serpent reaching 14225 feet. Trying to take clear pictures in this section is challenging because is usually foggy specially if you get therey near the rainy season -officially from January to the end of March-; however do not trust the weather forecast since near the cloud forest is unpredictable.This is also a favorite place for bird watchers because many species are friendly to appear contrasting small archeological sites that served as granaries before the XVI century.
Going to Machupicchu by "El Abra de Malaga" is longer rather than going by the rail road, that's because the train needs only one hour and forty five minutes to get Aguas Calientes -the town where a thirty minute bus must be taken to reach the site of Machupicchu-.
Other Routes: Off the beaten path
Bird watching in the Morro Union
Another amazing site to watch diversity of hummingbirds is the Morro Union located in the province of Paucartambo in the region of Cusco. Usually the outing is part of Manu Tour; however you can organize a private full day tour to this look out point attraction with local travel agencies .
Choquequirao
The other side of Machupicchu is quite ¡interesting!, you will encounter several town, villages, impressive mountains and archeaological sites. Choquequirao word which means "craddle of gold" attracted many adventurers, treasure hunters, historians, bilogists and other scholars for many centuries
If you are interested to book a tour in Cusco-with experts and licensed tour operators that facilitates your photos through the aforementioned spots-, so you can reserve a tour now and pay later with Get Your Guide and look for offers
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