Zillah's Adventures in South America

Zillah

So I just got back from a three month backpacking trip around South America. It wasn't a photography trip but my (now battered) D70s came with me and I thought a thread with a few of my favourite shots might be fun. I'm not really looking for C&C or anything but if you do have any thoughts feel free.

So we started in Rio, Brazil and then bussed to Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador. In all I took about 3000 shots, but with limited storage I ruthlessly deleted failed/bad shots as I went along. If anyone has any questions about travelling with a dSLR feel free to ask, I managed to keep mine in one piece.

Every one of these was shot on my trusty Sigma 17-70mm 2.8. Which was frustrating at times because 70mm isn't really exactly telephoto, and when you're taking photos of monkeys in trees you really want a 300mm. That said the 17mm is great for landscapes and just general shooting. If you like any photo in particular there's a good chance it's just one in a small collection if you'd like to see more.

(Final Note: Images are linked straight from Deviant Art, click the image for a bigger version)

The legendary Salt Flats of the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia. Located at about 3500m above sea level the air is thin and the sunlight is very bright and very strange:
1)



2)



3)



4)



5)


I suppose I'll just lump the animal shots together. Some were taken in the pampas of northern Bolivia, others were taken in the Colca Canyon (Peru). The beetle shot was the one good thing to come out of a visit to a shitty equator park in Quito.


6)



7)



8) (It's a baby Alpaca)



9)



10) (He claims the smoke gets the spider stoned and therefore safe to put on our faces)



11)



12) (Yours truly [drunk])



13)


These ones are from the Laguna Verde and surrounding area:

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At this point I discover there is a 15 image limit per post. Be right back.

Zillah

16)


And finally I'll just link a few random shots that have nothing really to do with each other:


17) (Mancora Beach in northern Peru)


18) (Train Cemetery in Bolivia)


19) (Spontaneous fun on the Colca Canyon trip)


20) (New Year's Eve Harbour Party in Chile)


21) (Field of Lamas in the ultra-high Bolivian countryside)


There's obviously loads more but I think that's enough spamming for now.

AnimalRights

Very nice....
They'd be nicer if they were all the same size and a decent size too!
Favs would be pics 7-12.

Zillah

AnimalRights wrote: »

decent size too!

Click them to get to Deviant Art, then click for a larger image. If that's not enough there's a option "Download" on the left where you can download the full source image.

AnimalRights

Most people don't press links...
I was referring to your presentation as a tip.
For instance the Photo hosting site I use* let's me use a standard size (800) which I just copy and paste over to here and every pic is the same size.
Pics in your 2nd post are very good too, quite a decent photographer you are.













*www.pix.ie

Zillah

Hmm, I suppose the previews are quite small. Right now it's either that or 900 pixels on the long side which seems a bit too big when I've got 21 shots crammed into one thread. I'll have a think on it. Thank you

coolcon

Fantastic photos! I love 3, 4, 6, 9 and 18 (couldn't just pick one favourite).

Creamy Goodness

great photos, lovely colour in the sky.

i'm jealous i haven't had an oppurtunity to take my camera out of ireland yet

PonderStibbons

They're all great - 'travel' photos can often be boring and that's not the case here. I like the pictures of the salt flats in particular.

kjt

Some great shots, it sounds like an amazing trip. I love #3, really creative and awesome shot all round. The link isn't going to the right photo. For anybody else, here it is.

Sweet shot!!!!

af_thefragile

Lovely pics!

South America is such a serene place. I definitely plan on visiting there someday. Especially Bolivia and Patagonia. Those places have some amazing natural beauty and wonders!

ThenComesDudley

first few shot are great, i like number 4, nice clouds!

Fajitas!

They are absolutely rockin'!

Really nicely done. Hope you enjoyed yourself over there too!

Any other images you put up here would be appreciated, would love to see them

Zillah

kjt wrote: »

The link isn't going to the right photo. For anybody else, here it is.

Oh crap, how'd I do that? Thanks, link fixed now.

af_thefragile wrote: »

Lovely pics!

South America is such a serene place. I definitely plan on visiting there someday. Especially Bolivia and Patagonia. Those places have some amazing natural beauty and wonders!

Bolivia is definitely my favourite. I didn't get a chance to do Patagonia which I regret, suppose that's for next time ^_^

PonderStibbins wrote:

They're all great - 'travel' photos can often be boring and that's not the case here. I like the pictures of the salt flats in particular.

Oh trust me, there are hundreds of photos along the lines of "and this is me standing in front of this famous place" and "this is me and my friend making a funny pose in front of this other famous place".

Fajitas! wrote: »

They are absolutely rockin'!

Really nicely done. Hope you enjoyed yourself over there too!

Any other images you put up here would be appreciated, would love to see them

Oh I enjoyed myself, had an amazing time. Although it's still great to be home. I'm still sorting through them but this is most of my favourites, others are either not so good or too similar to these, but there are more to come.

Big general thank you for the kind words.

Overblood

Deadly photos zillah, saving up myself for a rtw trip and I am very hungry for practical info!

Did you bring a laptop with you? Did you take any urban shots? Did you bring your camera into any towns cities etc?

Zillah

Overblood wrote: »

Did you bring a laptop with you?

Nope. Didn't get to process them until I got home but storage is no issue. Bring a USB stick or a portable hard drive to drastically increase your storage or you can always put them online or get a photography store to burn them to DVD.

Did you take any urban shots?

No not really. A few, but urban photos for the sake of it don't really appeal to me. I took a few toursit snaps but nothing very interesting.

Did you bring your camera into any towns cities etc?

Of course. Just don't wave it around like a fat American shouting "Rob me!" Depends on your street smarts but it's usually quite easy to tell whether the area you are in is gringo-with-a-big-camera-friendly or a let's-not-make-myself-a-target area. Of course in plenty of places the line blurs, so just keep a jacket slung over the camera when you're not using it, or keep a scarf wrapped around it, don't hang around the same area too long, simple stuff like that.

sNarah

Zillah, great shots, make me feel like sunny! It's nice to have someone "proving" on here that, YES you can travel with a 'fancypansy' camera and enjoy your photography whilst at destination so much more!

Thx for sharing!

fluffyVW

Wow!!! They're just excellent!!! Love them all!!! Also I've added you on DeviantArt and I will be sure to take a good look through you're gallery in future!!!

Hope you enjoyed the trip!!!

daycent

Cool shots! Sounds like a great trip, a photographers paradise. I'm very very jealous:D

ericl

1, 3, 7, 9, 17, 18.

Are my favorites.

Great Photos.

LeoB

3, 5 and 14 for me. Great stuff. Just looking at programmes on National Geographic and South America certainly has an unspoilt feel to it. Boards outing would be nice, sponsored by A.I.B or BoI:P:) Would'nt it be just great. €100 all in and enough threads to keep us going for years:D Time to wake up

oshead

Fantastic stuff Zillah. Fair play for having the balls to go out and do it. I've been wanting to go on a trip like that to the South Americas for a long time. I got married and have a family now. I wouldn't change it for the world. But for any of you young guy's and gal's, if you're gonna do something like this... do it now. :pac: and don't forget your camera

Dave OS

Dades

Nice one Zillah.

I'd wondered where you'd disappeared to - and why you were mellowed out when you came back!

The shots of the flats Bolivia are cracking.
Also love the train cemetery shot.

I was in the Colca Canyon on the day of 9/11 (World Trade Center attack) - we watched the news in the Irish bar in Chivay. :eek:

Panhour

Was in South America last year, your shots are great! Brings back great memories! I shot mostly all slide film, Its a nightmare to get through all of them when you back!

Pigwidgeon

amazing set, love pretty much all of them! :pac: