North America, Photography, Travel

A Post For My Father – Templo Mayor, Mexico City

This post was supposed to turn out quite differently. Templo Mayor is a special post.

Before leaving on our trip, the one thing my father asked me to do for him was to visit the Tenochtitlan ruins in Mexico City at Templo Mayor. One of his life long dreams is to finally visit the Aztec capital that has consumed his imagination for so many years.

I can totally do that for you, Pops.

And I was more than happy to do it as well. Ever since I was a little kid, the book Aztec has been sitting in my father’s library – and more than one copy too since it is one of his favorite books and he will give copies to anyone who even remotely glances at it on his shelf. He was so involved that I became interested as well. Hell, I even think about going back to school to get my Masters in Anthropology/Archaeology with a focus on Latin American Indigenous Cultures.

So while I was shooting away at this very important location, it appears as though out of all my shoots, my memory card decided to crap out on this one. So while I normally do posts in large format, this one will be normal because I had to screenshot the corrupted files in Lightroom to get anything.

So after 14 hours of trying to recover corrupted files, this one is for you dad (sorry it isn’t perfect but neither am I – so I guess this fits?):

P.S. There are no pics of the actual ruins because they are nazis that won’t let you take pictures outside – only video and I had to pay extra after arguing that my camera does video as well.

Templo Mayor Artifact

Skull from Templo Mayor, Mexico

Artifact Templo Mayor

Artifact Tenochtitlan

Aztec Mask, Templo Mayor

Creepy statue, Templo Mayor

Skull and sacrifice weapon from the Aztecs
A skull found next to the sacrificial weapon they used to saw people apart with.

36 thoughts on “A Post For My Father – Templo Mayor, Mexico City”

  1. These are incredible already. I’m so sorry that your files went corrupt. Do you know what happen? was it just a bad card or did the software got mess up? I would have been so upset too if this happen to me. Last week I drop my slr on the hotel floor in LA. My UV Filter lens crack and I can’t take it off. I was so sad for few days because all the photos I took has blurry in the middle due to the uv crack. I came home and use Photoshop and made all of the pictures looks vintage and no one even ask about the flaws. haha But sometime things happen and I was about to cry, because for a second I thought my lens broke too. Anyways, I’m sure you dad will still be happy with just that one shot.

  2. Erica, these are amazing. I am in love with these photos!

    Your stop at the Aztec ruins must have been breathtaking. Keep on having fun – you and Shaun both!

  3. 😉 You make a father very proud. I had no idea you realized that I was giving away copies of Aztec. I still have about 3 or 4 copies laying around. Pictures were not even necessary. Just the fact you went there for me brings tears to my eyss.

  4. Erica, the photos are amazing! I’m glad you managed to save some of the files and post these for the world to see! It all looks wonderful. I particularly like the one that could be some kind of demented extra in Finding Nemo – I wonder what it is?! (It has one big bulging eye and a set of teeth under it…it looks kinda fish-shaped to me!)

    I think you deserve a strong margarita or two after this tech-mishap ordeal 😉

  5. This is a really sweet post 🙂

    Glad you could recover some of the photos – memory card errors are so frustrating! I had one die on me three weeks in to my first overseas trip ever – and I hadn’t backed anything up!! Luckily I was able to recover the pictures but that initial feeling is awful.

  6. The photos look great, you did an excellent job recovering them.
    I loved this post and the message from your father was very touching too.

  7. @Sarah: I’m not really sure to be honest. It *should* have worked but didn’t. I think I would have flipped out if I dropped my camera. Good thing you are a Photoshop Pro!

  8. @Joe: Thank you! It is a shame that they don’t really want to excavate more since the entire downtown is built upon the ruins.

  9. @Dad: I saw you give one away (not to mention owning more than 1 copy is suspicious!)! Thank you for giving me the opportunity to do this for you!

  10. @Tom: Thank you. These shots are screenshots of the picture but I’m glad I was able to walk away with something. The Finding Nemo thing – I wasn’t quite sure what it was since my Spanish is still rusty and everything was in Spanish. Went out for beers that night and I’ve since been in good spirits.

  11. @Megan: I’m just glad it was only one set of pictures and not all of them! I wish I was able to do large format pics, but I’m still happy with what I was able to pull.

  12. @Mary B.: Thanks! My dad is super proud of us traveling the world. I feel so lucky to have him supporting us and being our cheerleader.

  13. cool pix, very moody! I especially like the skull…i like skulls. It is also cool that you got to fulfill a wish of your pop’s, I’m sure that means a lot to him.

  14. I wouldn’t worry to much Erica, as the posted shots are just fine. I suppose the only thing we all need large images for is for printing, but if there not going to be printed then the look just fine on the post, and I’m sure your dad is happy.

    It’s a dammed shame about the card. Had you tested it before? If it had anything really important on it, there are other possibilities of getting the data off, but they do cost.

  15. @Josh: Skulls are a lot of fun. There were quite a few of them and while I would have loved to take a picture of them all, somehow I felt bad that I was exploiting human remains lol.

  16. @Jason: Thanks! I just think I’ve become addicted to large format lol! I had taken videos off it before but never had photos on them. Videos come off fine… It is just is weird.

  17. Awww, what a bummer about your camera! That kind of thing always happens at the shittiest time possible.

    These photos still look really awesome, though – you really captured the creepiness factor with some of those masks. 😛

  18. It’s sweet of you that you kept your promise and went to visit this place because your father asked you to do so! I can understand losing files is frustrating (on a different note, I lost all my data including thesis 2 weeks before graduating. Enough said…) but I am also sure he wasn’t looking for the perfect photo. So he will be happy with this, and happy that you actually visited this place he loves.
    By the way the photos look great anyway, and a bit creepy too 🙂

  19. Awww cute post. Glad you were able to do something for your father. I love all the pics they look great. I wanna make it there one day. Cant on this one trip!

  20. @Giulia: You win on data loss for sure.

    I think I wanted to make something extra awesome for him and I feel as though I was only able to get some mediocre things going. He is happy though.

  21. Wow I am impressed by your recovery skills.

    I’ve been to a few places that you couldn’t take photos and it turns out that National Geographic owns the rights – it really sucks.

  22. Yikes, didn’t you have an extra memory card? It suck when out of the blue you are not allowed to take pics , and even worse that you had to pay for video. I did not know what Ayngelina said in her comment…ridiculous!

  23. @Ayngelina: Less recovery, more screenshots! I’m wondering if that is the case at the ruins… how the hell can they own what you see?!?!?

  24. @Federico: I did have an extra memory card. I think these cards don’t like pictures on them but don’t mind video. It is REALLY WEIRD.

  25. Some great photos! It’s really sweet that you wrote a post for your dad and I love his comment as well…

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