{"id":2445,"date":"2019-01-07T03:53:42","date_gmt":"2019-01-07T03:53:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/expedia.blog.au.local\/how-to-take-the-best-photographs-of-chichen-itza\/"},"modified":"2022-08-08T23:28:06","modified_gmt":"2022-08-08T23:28:06","slug":"how-to-take-the-best-photographs-of-chichen-itza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com.au\/stories\/how-to-take-the-best-photographs-of-chichen-itza\/","title":{"rendered":"How to take the best photographs of Chichen Itza"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s dark outside the four-wheel drive, Mexico’s highways are quiet at 4am, there’s just us and a few passing cars on the road for the two and a bit hour drive. The sky hasn’t started to lighten as we hop out of the car, stretch our legs and slowly walk into the park.<\/p>\n

Passing through the empty entrance gates and closed ticket counters, we feel our way over gravel and the occasional tree root, the glow of a phone lighting the way. Suddenly we stop, and our guides make it even darker \u2013 we’re told to close our eyes, put our hands on each other\u2019s shoulders and slowly shuffle forwards.<\/p>\n

Once we\u2019re in position, we open our eyes, and the mighty form of the pyramid of Kukulcan, Chichen Itza\u2019s famous stepped pyramid, looms in front of us. It rises out of the darkness, up into the sky. Piercing through the clouds, reaching towards the full moon, the 24 metre high pyramid and the surrounding ruins make up one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. The Bushman Photography Chichen Itza sunrise tour<\/a> is a tour like no other.<\/p>\n

Normally, visitors to this mysterious ancient civilisation view the pyramid with the company of thousands of others. From standard opening hours until closing, there are crowds of people lining up to buy tickets, take tours, walk through the ruins and in particular take a photo in front of the mighty Kukulcan pyramid.<\/p>\n

\"\"However, with Bushman Photography\u2019s<\/a> private sunrise tour, just a lucky handful of people are here to see the ruins. We have the place to ourselves. No one else is in sight. We walk past a few groundskeepers quietly sweeping and setting up for the day on our way in but that\u2019s it. In front of the pyramid, we have the entire forecourt to ourselves, so we set up our cameras for long exposures and test out the pyramid\u2019s otherworldly acoustics \u2013\u00a0if you stand right at a certain spot, and clap your hands, you\u2019ll hear the sound echo back through the pyramid.<\/p>\n

Our private guide takes us through a brief history of the region and the mysteries, like the acoustics that you\u2019ll find here. In the dark, it\u2019s even more mysterious \u2013\u00a0and marvelous. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and we soak up every second. Okay, we spend a few minutes posing for photos in front of the pyramid \u2013\u00a0we take eerie silhouette shots, selfies and happy shots. And then the serious photography begins.<\/p>\n

Bushman tours are run by photographer Mario Dib, and here’s why they’re the far superior way to see this rare sight:<\/p>\n