May have been pretty rainy but it gave you some absolutely incredible shot. Those clouds are fantastic and lend a great deal of mystery and atmosphere to the image. I have mixed emotions about the two people in red on the right. I think people add a sense of size, but the red keeps bringing my eye back to them rather than the beauty of the landscape.

I applaud your commitment to getting this shot in the rain. Had to have been a little tricky trying to keep your gear dry.   Posted: 03/13/2020 10:42:03

You did great to get this shot. The rainy day probably reduced the number of tourists clogging up the landscape.
My Group 32 is a monochrome group, so I am always looking out for likely conversions to monochrome. In this case, I think the subject matter is preserved, and the prominence of those bright red jackets is reduced. I did nothing but desaturate the color. One could play with brightness, contrast, and sharpening.   Posted: 03/14/2020 23:40:24

Congratulations on a simply stunning image Nock. As you know, Machu Picchu and the Sydney Opera House have something in common, tourists. Absolutely impossible to get a photo of either one, without an army of people in the shot. So you must go with what you get. Same for weather conditions. My one question is what if you took the "red" out of the image. Those two people would still be there for scale but their bright coats would disappear, as would all those others further into the image. And there is nothing else that is red to worry about. Oh, one other question, what color was your coat?   Posted: 03/16/2020 06:49:27

I agree with Ian, it is almost impossible to take a good picture of Machu Picchu, as it is always full of tourists. You were lucky having in the rain only a few of them and they had also nice red cloths. The clouds give the athmosphere, yet I had a more or less sunny day when I was there and in sunshine it is also nice.
Years ago I invented (but never made it) a hat somehow combined with an umbrella that could protect your head and your camera in rainy days but also leaving free both your hands. Once I will make it!   Posted: 03/17/2020 05:12:28

Great capture. The cloud added a lot of interesting elements to the iconic image. For Machu Picchu, I like cloudy or even rainy sky for the picture instead of sunny day. The two tourists on the image are great also. Without the two tourists, the image may look little boring, but too many people on the image is not good either.   Posted: 03/20/2020 17:39:06

Nock, Very nice - although I have never been there I can imagine all the people there and you got this as a city in the clouds - stunning. The two on the right give perspective and add to the photo.   Posted: 03/22/2020 15:53:13