Brett Bodkins Photography

[brettbodkinsphotography]

Nikon 50mm f1.4 AIS Lens Review

A few visual reasons why you should try to find the Nikon 50mm f1.4 AIS Lens for your Nikon film cameras and DSLR's. I haven't found the opportunity to try t...

A video review I made about the Nikon 50mm f1.4 Ai-s lens! I include a bunch of photos taken with it and maybe you’ll fall in love like I have! 

[brettbodkinsphotography]

View of a mountain from Huaraz Peru!

A view of a mountain at dusk from Huaraz Peru!

A shot of a mountain at dusk from my recent trip to Huaraz Peru! One of my favorites from the trip.  Hope you enjoy! 

[brettbodkinsphotography]

A photo trip to Huaraz Peru. Laguna 69, Laguna Paron, Pastoruri Glacier and Chavin!

www.brettbodkinsphotography.com This video shot by my wife ended up as a collaboration between us both. I contributed some still photographs and a few video ...

               This video shot by my wife ended up as a collaboration between us both.  I contributed some still photographs and a few video clips.  We couldn’t edit it as well as we wanted to because our computers couldn’t handle the task.  The videos were all shot in 4k (though it doesn’t look like it here) and hope to eventually do a better edit.  Hope you enjoy the video and go to www.brettbodkinsphotography if you’d like to see more of my work!

Did you ever get the chance to go somewhere so amazing that you’ll never be the same? My wife and I got the chance to do just that with the main goal to take awesome photos. After lots of planning and growing anticipation the day had finally come! We were going someplace truly “once in a lifetime”!

Flying over the Andes mountain range is something you’ll never forget. In many places, the elevations are nearly double those found in the Rocky Mountains.  Huaraz Peru sits at around 10,000 feet in elevation nestled between the snow-capped Cordillera Blanca and the Cordillera Negra mountain ranges.  The views of the mountains in the background make a pleasant atmosphere for this cool little city!  The city is busy year-round as a popular destination for trekkers, mountain climbers, mountain bikers, snowboarders, and more! The surrounding mountains regularly reach altitudes of 15,000 feet, so taking an extra day or two to acclimate is probably necessary and you’ll probably find some cool hangouts and meet some cool people!  The area is home to the world’s highest tropical glacier field with none more famous than Pastoruri glacier!

Pastoruri glacier was a great acclimatization hike after a day or two of rest.  The landscape changes many times during the two-hour drive to the drop off point.  The altitude tops off at about 17,000 feet but the 1-hour hike is fairly easy and the views near the top are very rewarding!  You can even take a horse halfway up the mountain if you’re not feeling your best!

With glaciers come glacier lakes and Paron Lake is a good choice during acclimation due to the limited hiking necessary and the beautiful turquoise water! Operators will drop you off right beside the lake however you will probably still exhaust yourself by the time the day is done.  There is an overlook to hike to and waterfalls nearby as well as free roaming cattle to keep things interesting.  The views are simply stunning!

Our next destination was Laguna 69! The hike is a much harder three-hour hike reaching altitudes of about 15,000 feet, but the bright blue waters make it all worthwhile!  Staying more than a few minutes and you will probably see and hear the ice breaking off and falling into the water, a sad reminder of the steady retreat of the glaciers in this part of the world.  The hike down is much easier than the hike up and so it affords you the chance to take in and appreciate the beautiful scenery! Having run out of water halfway through the trip we decided to fill our water bottle with water from the stream here.  If there’s anywhere left in the world safe to drink the water, it would be here.  We didn’t get sick and we haven’t died yet a month later, so it was probably okay!

Our final destination during our trip to Huaraz was to Chavin de Huantar, a ruins site constructed around 1200 B.C. by the Chavin (a pre-Incan people). It was an elaborate site with much carved stone that gives an indication of the amazing stonework that would show up later with the Incan civilization (including their masterpiece Machu Picchu)! You’ve probably all seen the famous stone faces the site is famous for (even if you didn’t know where they come from). We even got to explore a tunnel system built underneath the main temple complex that was constructed complete with natural light and elaborate ductwork for air ventilation.  The site has left intact only one of the carved stone heads in its original location on the outside of the wall.  The rest are being protected in various museums including the one in the city of Chavin itself which is where we would finish the day.  

Back in Huaraz for our last day in town, there are plenty of great places to eat, drink, and meet other people.  There are many international foods available and local craft beers to try as well as Peru’s pisco sours.  There were many things that we did not get to do, but a week is just too short to do it all (especially if you’re not already acclimated upon arrival).  The shortest multi-day trek is the Santa Cruz trek and it takes four days to complete.  You will need more than a week if you plan on doing this trek in addition to any of the things we did during our trip.  A good excuse for me to go back again!  Hope you enjoyed sharing in this experience and feel free to contact me for more info!

[brettbodkinsphotography]

Brett Bodkins Landscape Photography Slideshow

Been wanting to make one of these for a long time but clearly video editing is not my strong suit. I finally decided to make it happen and will try for a bet...

Finally got around to making a photo slideshow of some of my work.  It could have been done better but I’m pretty happy to at least have something! Check it out hope you enjoy!