My Way Is The Highway

The Story of Lord Smoking Frog and the Star Wars of Uaxactun

 

This blog post is part of of our trip to Guatemala and Honduras in Dec 2012 amidst the evocative Mayan ruins in a lush jungle, a quaint lazy colonial town and a tropical Caribbean beach. Other articles in this series: Tikal Sunrise and Sunset Spots for Photographers | Astronomical Observatory of Uaxactun |Smoking Frog of Uaxactun | Following Frederick Catherwood | The Mayan Ruins of Copán |The Modern Town of Copán |

 

“Don’t they all look the same to you? Do you have to got to each one of them? Isn’t seeing one like seeing them all?” My friend, who I will not name, asked.

I stared at him in disbelief. Upon being inquired, I was excitedly showing him all the Mayan pyramids and temples I was planning to visit during our trip to Guatemala.  I searched for a suitable answer but all I could remember is a story I had heard when I was a kid. A man confessed to a English professor that he had never read Shakespeare’s work. The professor, aghast, promptly responded. “Dear sir! That in itself is your punishment!”

Uaxactun, Guatemala: Best Day Trip from Tikal National Park

 

“We have a change in plan.” Our guide, Roxy declared. I have been welcomed by guides in other countries with a variety of opening gamut but never with the one I hate the most. 

“Executive orders.” She explained, accompanied with a you-don’t-argue-with-Guatemalan-authority shrug “The President of Guatemala is holding a 13 b’ak’tun ceremony at Central Plaza in Tikal. As is usually case in this region, the park officials are behind schedule. Tikal is closed for public today. Instead let me take you to the oldest known Mayan observatory at Uaxactun.” She pronounced it as wah-shak-tun.

Sunrise and Sunsets Spots for Photographers @ Tikal, Guatemala

The much touted sunrise spot is probably better at sunset for photographers. View from the top of Temple IV @ Tikal.

 

This blog post is part of of our trip to Guatemala and Honduras in Dec 2012 amidst the evocative Mayan ruins in a lush jungle, a quaint lazy colonial town and a tropical Caribbean beach. Other articles in this series: Tikal Sunrise and Sunset Spots for Photographers | Astronomical Observatory of Uaxactun |Smoking Frog of Uaxactun | Following Frederick Catherwood | The Mayan Ruins of Copán |The Modern Town of Copán |

 

Sitting on top of Temple IV in Tikal National Park, I was cursing myself. I probably should have the “Mr. Green Jeans” chapter in Bryan Peterson’s Understanding Exposure one more time. That particular chapter deals at length with handling compositions that are monopolized by the green color.  I could have used that advice. Did he say expose the greens at 2/3rd?  or was it –2/3? For the love of photography, I could not remember.