Chichen Itza

Well the main reason we went here was to shoot Shanae & Josh's groomal photos. We woke up at 5am to walk over from where we were staying to the ruins & were let in and taken to the main temple where we climbed to the top (terrifying for me who is deathly afraid of heights). If any of you know much about this temple you know that they no longer allow you to climb it because it is one of the seven wonders of the world.. well shhhh.. DON'T TELL! We waited for the sun to rise and then quickly started shooting so we could finish before the place opened to the public. Tourists seeing a girl there in a wedding dress would be a BIG NO-NO.

I must admit that I felt extremely rushed & wished I could have spent more time there, but it was a once in a lifetime opportunity & I am so grateful to Shanae, Josh & her parents Kevin & Tammy who gave me this chance. It was an unforgettable adventure!

Here are a couple photos from their session & then the rest are of the ruins when we actually visited the day prior. If you'd like to see more photos from their shoot check my photography blog. (Should have them up asap!)

The cenote at Chichen Itza

If you look REAL close you can see Tyler & I standing in front of the main temple.

This is the observatory, I thought this looked way cool!

I love this shot because this kid was so cute & it really shows Kevin's personality. His name was Miguel and as our friend Abel, (who is practically family to the Flannerys & also works as a guide at Chichen Itza) was telling us all about the temple , Miguel was trying to interrupt and sell us things- he was so persistent! Kevin started teasing him of course trying to make him smile which was obviously easily achieved as this picture portrays.

This photo reminds me of the movie Road to Eldorado, if you've seen it you know what I mean!

There were people EVERYWHERE selling things. I had to take a picture of this guy because he had hand carved everything you see plus more that wouldn't fit in the photo & he is sitting there carving more. Everything was so detailed and intricate it was simply amazing.

Sorry for the sudden LARGE images. Here is the whole group posing for a pic together at Chichen Itza.

Kevin, Tammy, Josh, Shanae, Emily, Kellie, Me & Tyler

Tyler and I just before entering the ruins- it was HOT!

While we were walking over to the ruins we spotted some cool animals. There were iguanas everywhere though it was kinda crazy. This guy was sunbathing on a rock & was HUGE so I had to snap a pic.

Because of the humidity, it took my camera a little while to quit fogging up so this image of the peacock is kinda foggy. But it was cool to see this wild peacock & even cooler that he showed us his beautiful feathers!

Thought I'd throw this last pic into the mix.. it was taken in Akumel but I think it's beautiful!

Since Tyler got to express his gratitude to the Flannerys in the last post, I thought I would just conclude this by saying thanks again to them & that I am so grateful that they trusted in me & chose me to be their photographer. It was a once in a lifetime adventure & I feel so lucky. I am so thankful for the friendships I've made because of this trip & I had the time of my life! You guys are like family to us now! Counting the days until we can go back--THANK YOU!!