Puno Cathedral Basilica Menor

As we go into the weekend, how about a photo of some religious architecture?  I took this photo during our trip to Peru.  This is the Puno Cathedral Basilica Menor in Puno, Peru down on Lake Titicaca.  This church was built in 1757 in an Andean Baroque architectural style.  I love the architecture in these old churches, which is why I’ve visited more churches around the world then most religious people.  I’m no world record holder or anything, but my total number of churches visited is pretty high.  

To view a larger version, click HERE

Peru Star Trails

This is my first ever attempt of photographing star trails.  As you probably know, I take hundreds (thousands, if I’m honest) photos on all our trips.  I don’t process them immediately after the trip.  I get bored of processing to many photos in a row from one spot.  So I jump around.  I’ll process 5 photos from NYC, then some from Florida, then some from Pittsburgh, etc…  You get the idea.  Anyway, that means sometimes is takes me a few years to process all the photos from a trip.  Why did I mention all that?

Well, back during our 2015 Peru trip, Michael and I went out one night to photograph the Milky Way.  The moon cycle and weather was perfect for star photography.  Plus that part of the world is great for Astrophotography.  I took a bunch of photos of the stars, Milky Way and the sky.  While I was there, I took a series of photos to create this star trail picture.  But the photos sat on my computer for almost 2 years before I processed them last night.  So my first attempt at star trails took 2 years to complete.   I hope you enjoy it. 

By the way, the structures in the foreground are ancient Incan building (thousands of years old). 

Have a great day. 

To view a larger version, click here:  https://500px.com/photo/199183387/star-trail-by-brook-ward?ctx_page=1&from=user&user_id=3695440

Puno Cathedral

Every city and town in Peru had at least one big church.  The larger cities had at least one big cathedral as well.  Most of the churches and cathedrals are positioned in the main square of each town.

In true Peru style, the city of Puno had an old, beautiful cathedral in the main town square.  The Cathedral Basilica of St. Charles Borromeo (also known as Puno Cathedral) is an Andean Baroque cathedral built in 1757. 

The cathedral was always locked up until mass.  So I tried my best not to interrupt the service, but capture some photos at the same time.  I loved the inside of this facility, the shadows created by the lighting and the colors.  I hope you like it as well.

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Milky Way From Peru

During our trip to Peru, I had a chance to take some photos of the night sky.  Luckily, the timing was right….meaning the moon cycle was perfect and it wasn’t cloudy.  On top of that, the Milky Way is about 70% bigger in the southern hemisphere….but don’t ask me why. 

This photo shows you about 30% of the Milky Way that was visible that night.  You could see the entire arch (like a full rainbow).  It was an amazing sight.   Sorry I couldn’t get the entire Milky Way in my shot.  It was just way to big.

By the way, the orange glow at the bottom is the city of Puno Peru in the distance, which created light pollution in my photo. 

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Cuzco - Puno Border

Crossing from the Cuzco province (basically the same thing as a state) to the Puno province means passing this spot in the Andes Mountains.  This was the highest elevation we experienced in Peru at a little over 14,100 feet.  I can tell you that it was a little hard to breath.  Not terrible, but you could feel it. 

Anyway, we stopped at this spot for a few minutes to look at the roadside vendors and take in the view of this amazing mountain range.  My picture doesn’t do justice to this beautiful spot.  Sorry I can’t give you a picture to match the real world experience of standing there.  Regardless, I hope you enjoy it.

Note:  Don't forget to look at the video below to see how beautiful this site was via a different media format.

To purchase a print or view the entire gallery, click the photo above.

Sorry about the wind noise on the video.