“Uniformity Stretched Green”

“Yellow Hell”

“Don’t Step On The Foam”

“Fire Sky”

“Flower Hole”

Machu Picchu!  April, 2007 as photographed with a 1958 Kodak Retinette (and processed by local print development shops).

I got there at about 7am and it rained for half the day.

…did my best to keep tourists (like myself) out of these pics.

The view from the cliff above.

The view from the cliff above, too.

You can see the Inca trail on the left cutting right down the mountain.

That’s the cliff from where I took “the pic from above” and “the pic from above, too”

I’d love to see an artist’s rendition of what Machu Picchu looked like in its heyday.

I’m sure you can imagine but just to confirm: these stones are HUGE.

This is Don Cucho.  He was my Incan/Marxist/Trotskyist tour guide.  This photo shows him preparing some San Pedro for our consumption. …I’ll leave it to the reader to look up San Pedro for her/himself.

After the rain the air was crisp and cool.

There was no way for me to capture how surreal and blue the sky looked.

Don Cucho taught me that Machu Picchu was reserved for a nobility consisting of intellectuals and scientists.  Much of the site was constructed with steps like these for gardening purposes.  Basically: the crops on the lower steps benefited from the runoff nutrients of the crops above and yielded a higher quality crop as a result.

This stone was carved to mimic the shape of the mountain in the background.

Don Cucho chillin’ on San Pedro.  By this point I was chillin’ on San Pedro too.  : )

Like I said: it rained for half the day.  The task was to bust out the camera quick enough so that the lens wouldn’t get water drops on it.  I’m incredibly thankful these pics came out alright.

The view from one of the steps.

Just a shot from another angle.

The stones have shifted with time.  Many have also been subject to erosion.

A quick shot in the rain.

I took this one early on in the day to show how high up we were.

What the structures looked like with roofs.

See the guy on the right? That’s Sam. On the left is his beautiful fiance Jeannie. …and of course, that’s me in the center standing behind the lens.

Sam is my website designer. More importantly, he has been my dear friend since day one at Rutgers University (fourteen years ago). He’s the person who I will forever credit for making me an exponentially better photographer. Let the record show that: in just one conversation he gave me the critique I needed to shift gears from being an enthusiastic hobbyist to becoming a professional photographer.

Amongst other lessons, Sam taught me to: get it right the first time (so as to reduce labor/time on editing), don’t blow out the colors, implement rule of thirds, shoot in manual and RAW/jpg, carry tons of batteries, have a backup camera, create a workspace/work flow, don’t over saturate, etc.

This in turn inspired the purchase and thorough reading of a couple of dozen books on photography and the maintenance of standards I once thought were unachievable.

Sam, I’ve told you this over the phone, by email, and in person.

I now had to testify in public. : )

Love, me.

p.s.  I’m more than happy to forward Sam’s contact information for anyone who needs a website designed.

There’s a trazillion ways to get in touch and keep in touch these days…

Email: ric@behindthelens.net
Phone/text (yep, still a big fan of phones): 720.207.8313
Website: http://www.behindthelens.net
Gallery: http://gallery.behindthelens.net
(for prints, downloads, and a ton of other merchandise).
Blog: http://blog.behindthelens.net
Facebook: Behind the Lens Productions
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ricurrutia

All photos: Ric Urrutia, www.behindthelens.net

downtown Denver.

somewhere in Grand Junction, CO there is an office with a big green nose strategically positioned to make an entire wall look like a face. it had to be photographed.

on the way back from Grand Junction.

Approaching the market in Jucuapa, El Salvador, depto de Usulutan. Jucuapa is the small town I grew up in from when I was 2 months old until four years old. It’s about 30 minutes from San Miguel, the second largest city in El Salvador.

Inside the market. I won’t front. I was like a homing pigeon returning to its nest in this pic. As a kid I always loved the light, colors and structure inside the main building so I had to capture it as an adult. I think if you put Jucuapa’s market next to any Whole Foods it would put Whole Foods out of business in a heart beat. The food in Jucuapa’s market is just as fresh, just as tasty (and usually tastier), within the economic means of most of the community, and it’s the spot for gossip on your neighbors. In short: it carries a feeling of community you can’t put a price on.

This is the house I grew up in until I was four. It’s less than three blocks from the market.

For those of you who didn’t know, my mom and Ken got engaged recently! : ) Here they are, both looking lovely in my studio. Their love is very youthful and romantic and I love seeing them together.

Cavem Moetavation. I dunno what to call this guy. I know him as an MC, a DJ, a conga player, a reggae singer, food activist, teacher…just all around talent. The video below is of this cat performing.

This is what you get when you drop righteous hip hop rhymes about environmental sustainability and green jobs. Cavem is using his rhymes to compete in a contest to promote environmental and food consciousness. Vote for him by clicking here!

DUDE! INDIE RAWK!!!

IN A GARAGE!!!

From Philadelphia: Hermit Thrushes!!! I hate to admit it cuz indie rock shows remind me of many an awkward/insecure college night out but…these guys were pretty good.

I thought the drummer was particularly good and i wanted to talk to him but…

…there was just something about how that orange jump suit fit him that made him slightly unapproachable. …like i wouldn’t be able to maintain eye contact.

But for real, check out The Giragge when you’re in Grand Junction. it looks like the guy who owns (the garage) is gettin’ all types of undiscovered acts cutting through there. i heard Denver’s Pirate Signal had recently been there as well.

‘Merica! The stock show was in Denver last week.

tractors rolled through downtown.

I think the red tractor is by far more gangsta than the green tractor.

PONY! If I was out jogging I’d also wanna jog next to cute cowgirls on cute ponies, hell yeah. PONY!

More partners.

howdy city slicker.

this is now a very common sight in Denver. Dispensaries are all over the place. the Westword, Denver’s alternative weekly, has literally 12 (TWELVE!!!) pages filled with advertising for medicinal marijuana. it’s out, it’s official. the people in Denver have voted time and again to ease restrictions on marijuana and now the government has acknowledged its medicinal value. crazy world. …what next?

next we’ll discover that the coca leaf has every vitamin under the sun along with the calories that could help ease famine. i can tell you from experience: chewing a wad of coca leaves is comparable to the amount of energy you’d get from having one cup of coffee per hour MINUS all the nasty side effects of caffeine. it’s quite the perfect plant. it’s problem? it’s eradication is justified by the fact that it takes massive quantities of coca leaves to make cocaine.

…and then someone will discover that one acre of hemp produces as much paper as four acres of old growth forest.

me.

PLEASE! HAS ANYONE SEEN THIS DUCK?!

A thing grows in Denver.

metal.

steel.

Three of my favorite Denver bands all on the stage…one after the other.

Literally the first pic of the night. Onda.

Scary how tight these guys were. I’d really like for our band to perform with them. Onda.

Every one of their musicians: tight. If I wasn’t behind the lens, I’d be dancing. Onda.

…and then came Quilombo. Boulder-based reggae and cumbia.

I had my doubts at first cuz these guys were missing their amazing flute player. But this boy on sax held that sh*t DOWN! Hell yeah! Quilombo.

I just like this pic. Quilombo.

Juan, Quilombo.

But the night belonged to Mono Verde. It was their CD release party.

These cats work hard. Mono Verde.

Mono Verde.

Elvis of Mono Verde.

Roberto, Mono Verde.

Aneudy, Mono Verde.

Next time the Behind the Lens blog recommends as kick ass show…my advice: GO! : )

Some times I’ll have the time to write long narratives, other times (like right now) I’ll have to let the pictures speak for themselves.  The gist of it is this: I don’t have any rules for posting on this blog.  Some times I’ll just post a picture cuz I think it’s a good picture and that’s it.  After all, one of the most liberating questions an artist can ask her/himself is: “why not?”

For those of you who have enjoyed my previous blogs: as time progresses I’ll be speaking more and more in my own voice.  Please subscribe or stay tuned. : )

Union Station at night, Denver

Iraq Veterans Against the War, Denver during the Democratic National Convention

Hanging a billboard over I-70 in Denver. One of the coolest jobs I’ve ever had.

Just pretty.

El Salvador: I grew up in a town named Jucuapa and a lot of my family lived in San Miguel. El Salvador’s buses are very colorful.

In one of Denver’s many parks.

On a flight to Arizona.

One of Denver’s many alleys.