By Katie Scarvey
kscarvey@salisburypost.com
hen she knew she was going to South America for two weeks with her family this summer, Kayla Tucker just knew she had to get a new camera.
She’d already lined up a photography internship with the Salisbury Post, and she was eager to go to Peru because she knew there would be “tons of photo opportunities” everywhere she turned.
Kayla was vacationing with her parents, brother, grandmother, grandfather and aunt and uncle.
Kayla’s experience in Peru exceeded her expectations.
“Peru is beautiful to photograph,” Kayla says. “I was speechless.
“They say that pictures tell a thousand words, but these told millions.”
Kayla enjoyed the diversity of the images she was able to capture in Peru.
“It’s not just country roads and cornfields. There are mountains, museums, little girls in the market…”
And lots of history, as evidenced in a photograph of an ancient aqueduct built by the Incas to irrigate their crops.
One of her favorite pictures from Peru is one of her with Frankie — an alpaca and “a little fluffball of happiness.”
“He was one of those friendly alpacas,” Kayla says. “He followed me around; he was so darned adorable.
“I’ve Been to Lazy 5, but it’s different to be able to go up and hug the alpacas — they were OK with it. They would walk right up to you. It was cool that you could touch them and feel their fur, their coats.”
Kayla particularly relished photographing Machu Picchu, a 15th-century Inca site located 7,970 feet above sea level, often referred to as “The Lost City of the Incas.”
“It was just magical,” she said. “Photographing it was just a pleasure.”
One of her favorite photos is of Winu Picchu, a part of Macchu Pichu that only allows 200 visitors a day. Winu Pichu, at the entrance of Machu Picchu, is the oldest part of the ruins, Kayla explains. She was drawn to the history of it, as well as the color palette of blues, browns and greens it presented (you can see this photo online).
“Everywhere you turn at Macchu Picchu, there’s the perfect picture. I don’t think you could get a bad picture there.
“Every time I look at a photo from there, it’s like heaven. I hope that’s what heaven looks like.”