Well this post is overdue, but I’m finally catching up and can’t wait to share my Guatemalan adventure with all of you. It all started with a serendipitous moment that led me to meet Laura Grier from Beautiful Day Photography. If you know Laura, it comes as no surprise, that upon meeting for the first time, she immediately convinced me to travel down to Guatemala with her and two other photographers to embark on a wild 10-day adventure photography workshop. If you’re looking to hone in on your photography skills, have a case of incurable wanderlust or just want to hang out with cool people, I highly recommend one of her Wanderlust Workshops.
Needless to say, I was in for a wild ride. This life changing experience started out in Tikal and Yaxha where we explored Mayan civilization ruins for three full days. We even woke up at 3:30 in the MORNING to hike through the jungle of Tikal in pitch blackness to climb to the highest pyramid for sunrise where we watched the jungle come alive as howler monkeys, tucans and other native animals woke up to the sun. After hiking, filming a ridiculous work out video spoof that you can watch here, fishing and photographing as many pyramids as we could visit, we headed off to Antigua.
This gem of a city is now one of my favorite places that I’ve ever visited. Surrounded by volcanoes, Antigua is a magical city adorned with cobblestone streets and colorful buildings. We stayed at the famous Hotel Cirilo, which is constructed out of 16th century church ruins, and a peaceful spot to call home for two days. While there, we played around with several lighting techniques. The photos below of Sarah by the pool at Hotel Cirilo were created in a collaboration shoot between myself, Laura Grier, Sarah Natasha Horowitz and Ronda Gregorio. While in Antigua, we assisted Laura on a NOVICA/National Geographic catalog shoot with Laura Godoy, former Miss Guatemala, who is quite possibly the sweetest person ever, and I filmed a little behind the scenes video!
We then wandered around the city and magically stumbled into La Procesional that happens every Sunday during Lent in the city. Basically, people come out and create “las carpetas” or carpet masterpieces out of flowers, sawdust, and other materials on the cobblestone street. Then there is a grand procession in honor of the Resurrection where a massive wooden float is carried by hundreds of men in purple garments. Thousands of people line the streets and watch as the men carry the float down the streets and over the gorgeous carpets. It was an amazing feat and cultural phenomenon to get to witness and photograph.
We then set off on a dangerous quest to Lake Atitlán, where we drove up and down the windy volcanic mountains of Guatemala. But it was absolutely worth the risky drive because this gorgeous 13-mile wide lake is surrounded by three volcanoes and 12 indigenous villages. We were instantly transported into a land of remarkable culture and breathtaking views. While we were there, we actually had the chance to visit the artisans that made the scarves and jewelry that we had photographed the day prior for NOVICA. Check out a full video of the story here. The only way to meet these impressive artisans was by boat, hiking up a large mountain and finally jumping in a tuk tuk. But again, totally worth the journey to be able to meet Cecilia and her 95-year-old grandmother. It was amazing to get a glimpse of their lives for the day and even make tortillas with them!!!
The next day, on our “day off”, we had the wonderful joy of taking photos for a family of Mayan descendants in their traditional clothing. They welcomed us into their home and taught us about their impressive culture. At one point during the photo shoot, I noticed chickens walking around the area and asked if we could use one of them for the photo. Well, we didn’t just use one of the chickens, Maria (the mother and wife) went around back and brought out the grandest rooster you’ve ever seen. He made it into several photos. Now, a priceless moment happened 5 hours later when we came back to gift framed presents to the family as a thank you for letting us photograph them. When we arrived, we quickly discovered that Maria was out back again, but this time she was killing the same rooster that we had photographed for dinner!!! So it was a hilarious moment when she unwrapped the gifts to find the photo of him.
All silliness aside, it was one of those days that reminded me why I love what I do. This amazing family had never had a professional portrait taken of them before, and it was incredible to be able to give them that present. When we shared the gifts with them, José (the father and husband) blew me away by exclaiming that it’s moments like these that give him faith that there is a god, otherwise why would random strangers do something so nice for other strangers. It literally brought me to tears. He then went on to say that the photos will give them great status in their community and remind his children of why their culture and traditional clothing is so important as it’s something that is dying off in their area due to costs and American culture. I feel really blessed to have met them and honored to have taken their first professional photographs.
We were sad to leave Lake Atitlán and all the wonderful people we had met, but we knew that we were off to the final leg of our journey in Guatemala City for the grand finale, el bodorrio or the big wedding! However, on our road trip back, we spotted a colorful cemetery and of course, had to jump out of our glam van to capture the gorgeous location. Did I mention that I love traveling around with a bunch of photographers for this very reason?
After a few successful pitstops, we were back in Guatemala City and ready for the big wedding! Ricardo (also known as Momia or Mash) and Monica are quite possibly the most charasmatic, welcoming and friendly couple you could ever meet. Their 17-hour day (yes! we were shooting the full day!) was positively gorgeous and filled with lots of Guatemalan coffee, dancing, food, laughter and even their own customized Gallo beer labels. Check out their full wedding here.
We packed so much into the whole trip and yet somehow the adrenaline of each new exciting activity kept us going the whole time. Every place that we visited and every person that I met was absolutely amazing. The whole experience made me fall in love with Guatemala and I recommend it to everyone who is looking to visit, but make sure you have your camera when you go!
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