The main purpose of my trip to Peru was to shoot a series of videos about the some of the many sights in that great country. I have teased out a few clips in the last few weeks on my Facebook Page as I took the time to do all the editing needed to get full videos up.
Today is the day. Video number one is of Machu Picchu — what else could I choose for the first video?
One of the things that made this trip to Manchu Picchu, my second though definitely not my last, really special was my guide, Darwin Camacho. He is not merely a tour guide; he is a professor specializing in the history of the site and has written a book on the topic. He’s also been featured in publications as august as the LA Times.
He was an absolute joy to spend two days with. If you ever book a trip down to Peru with Cox&Kings, make sure you ask for him. Heck, I don’t even know if that is possible (probably should have asked them before writing that), but he’ll make the entire time at Machu Picchu worthwhile.
Being my guide when I am working can be a bit of a thankless task, especially when I am shooting video and/or time lapse. There is a lot of running around looking for the right shots and angles and not nearly enough of what a guide likes to do, which is to impart their knowledge of the location.
Darwin was perfect.
He took me to the exact spots I needed. He let me do my work without trying to talk to me too much. And in some of the downtimes, I videotaped him talking about Machu Picchu… and here is his video. Dedicated entirely to him, because this is the place he loves more than any place on earth.
This trip was sponsored by Cox & Kings and Prom Peru, but the opinions (and photos and videos) are my own.
This is a brilliant video Michael. Thank you! It really shows Machu Picchu off to its best. So glad you liked Darwin and you could work together on this. We’ll make sure we pass that on to him. Looking forward to seeing more. Katie – Cox & Kings
Great job with the video, and it looks like you had beautiful weather to work with!
To be honest, despite the emphasis you’re putting on the guide, I enjoyed the video simply for the visuals.
One suggestion for next time, if you know you’re going to do time lapse videos with a tripod, don’t mix in handheld footage. Visually, I found the transition to the guide talking to be a disruption because the footage is shaky versus the timelapse stuff.
Great video. Machu Picchu is still one of my all time favorite destinations. I visited in 2005 and would love to return one day.
I love the video! I haven’t been to Machu Picchu yet, so I love reading posts about it. Great job!
Hope you get a chance to go soon, Katherine. It is such a wonderful place in a wonderful country.
Thanks for sharing this video Michael! Machu Picchu is such a beautiful and spiritual place and I think you captured that very well with your video. Looking forward to more of your videos.
Nice video! Did you stay up there until it got dark? How did you find your way back down that massive hill?! 🙂
The Peru Tourism people got me special permission to stay after they kicked everyone out, so that I could do the time lapse of the sunset. I actually didn’t stay until dark, I stayed till the sun went down over the mountains, then started the hour long hike back to town (the buses had stopped running, since it was after hours). Thank goodness it was downhill.
Rock on 🙂 It’s certainly one of the modern wonders of the world and video is always the best way to capture it for a modern audience. Thanks for sharing!
great job! can’t wait to see more videos! I just loved his insight. its amazing how they worshiped and cared about the basic things in life, like water and the land we live in – now-a-days we care about cars and clothes, possesions and our jobs and status… this video more then anything has inspired me to go to muchu picchu
Thanks!
Brilliant video! The time lapse shots are fantastic and you have such an amazing job of showing Machu Picchu from an uncommon of angles which adds so much to the experience! As to Darwin, you’re right! It would be wonderful to have the opportunity to spend days listening to him detail of the site, it’s previous inhabitants and their belief system.
Very, very impressed with how quickly you’ve learned to edit, stylize, and ultimately make your videos very much your own, Mr. Hodson. Excellent job here.
This video is brilliant Michael. Not only is it visually stunning, it filled in many of the blanks in my knowledge about Macchu Picchu. This is definitely one of the places that is on my bucket list.
Thank you for bringing it to life for me.
Loved this, Can’t wait to finally get on that side of the world…. in another year and a half. Lol I’ll just have to keep watching this video and pretending I am there.
Well, when you get there, I look forward to your posts.