p.1 #1 · Advise: Wedding in Tulum, Mexico in JUNE!
Hi all!
I'm shooting my brother's wedding in JUNE in Tulum, Mexico (just south of Cancun). I expect it will be very HOT (~85 degF in the day) and very HUMID!! I also hear that area can be windy. The wedding will be outdoors at 6pm. I'm sure it will be memorable, if for nothing else than the conditions!
Any advice on:
Lighting --
Equipment I might be forgetting or not needing --
What to expect weatherwise (sudden storms?) --
Any travel advice to that area?? --
I plan to bring: Canon 5D, 20D, 24-70mm f/2.8L for general, 100mm f/2 for portraits, 16mm f/2.8 Zenitar MF for wides, and maybe a 70-200 f/4L if I might need long zoom for any interesting wildlife. Plus tripod, monopod (for hiking), two flashes, 32" disc diffusor/reflector, lotsa memory (and laptop for backup), and a wife to assist!!
p.1 #2 · Advise: Wedding in Tulum, Mexico in JUNE!
Sounds like you're covered. I'd scout out some indoor, some outdoor locations the first day I got there. That way you're covered if a storm blows in. If it's windy, use it to your advantage with the veil/train and such. Have fun and stay sober!
p.1 #3 · Advise: Wedding in Tulum, Mexico in JUNE!
My wife and I stayed in Playa Del Carmen which is about 20 miles north of Tulum.
We went in November...and I just about passed out when we were walking through the ruins. It was very humid....did i say that it was very humid. Cant imagine what june will be like.
Here is something you need to keep in mind. Every time I came out of the hotel room...all my gear would end up with condensation on it. I couldnt take a picture for about 15 minutes due to the lens fogging up. Cant imagine what it was doing inside the camera.
Real nice area...but hot. And on a personal note...if you drink pepsi or diet pepsi...you are SOL....all they have down there is Coke products.
p.1 #5 · Advise: Wedding in Tulum, Mexico in JUNE!
Thanks for the replies. Maybe I'll have to blow dry my camera to heat of the front element before I go outside so humidity doesn't stick to it! (cold surfaces promote water condensation). I like the idea of "using the wind to my advantage" - thanks!
OT: I'm planning on drinking a ton of the included bottled water (and a little pool-side beer and wine!). I'm not partial to Pepsi or Coke, but I can't wait to try Coke made with REAL sugar cane instead of that terrible corn syrup they use here in the US . Corn syrup has been linked to obesity and other diseases common in the US but not abroad; the brain doesn't recognize corn syrup as sugar, so you keep on eating it.
The road to Coba heads inland right around Tulum, both are longer day trips in though. Couple hours in, lunch, visit, couple hours back.
Wear a sunhat. Have fun with it.... Steve
-- Yeah, we'll definetely be site-seeing the Mayan ruins near Tulum and probably Coba too during our 7-day stay. I just hope we can get there at sunrise or sunset for some nice silhouettes instead of the pounding mid-day sun!
We plan to scuba dive too, so I'm working on a home-made underwater housing for the 20D. Don't think I'll bring the camera on the jet ski, though!
I will definetely wear a sun hat, just like I did in the Philippines in July '07! Talk about HOT!
p.1 #8 · Advise: Wedding in Tulum, Mexico in JUNE!
My only advice is INSURANCE. Customs or others checking your bags may need a extra lens to go with the camera they got from the last bag.
Last time there I made out of customs OK but the Military stopped me and ended up with a $80.00 bottle of cologne. Hard to argue with automatic weapons all around you, at least if you want to stay out of jail. They made mention of the cameras but I would not let that bag out of my sight and got very worried at the second check point ( car check point) thinking they called ahead to grab the good stuff. He just wanted to charge for a receipt or something but I just kept giving the same one to him and he gave up.
p.1 #9 · Advise: Wedding in Tulum, Mexico in JUNE!
cdanjo wrote:
I plan to bring: Canon 5D, 20D, 24-70mm f/2.8L for general, 100mm f/2 for portraits, 16mm f/2.8 Zenitar MF for wides, and maybe a 70-200 f/4L if I might need long zoom for any interesting wildlife. Plus tripod, monopod (for hiking), two flashes, 32" disc diffusor/reflector, lotsa memory (and laptop for backup), and a wife to assist!!
Thanks in advance!!
-colin
Hmmmm.... I think you got everything covered except for the last bit. There's has been occasions when a wife has failed. You might want to get another ASAP just in case, you never know.
p.1 #10 · Advise: Wedding in Tulum, Mexico in JUNE!
jefft wrote:
My only advice is INSURANCE. Customs or others checking your bags may need a extra lens to go with the camera they got from the last bag.
Last time there I made out of customs OK but the Military stopped me and ended up with a $80.00 bottle of cologne. Hard to argue with automatic weapons all around you, at least if you want to stay out of jail. They made mention of the cameras but I would not let that bag out of my sight and got very worried at the second check point ( car check point) thinking they called ahead to grab the good stuff. He just wanted to charge for a receipt or something but I just kept giving the same one to him and he gave up. ...Show more →
Ouch. I hate it when people abuse their power and duty. Are there any recommended insurance companies that would cover an 8-day trip, or are they only interested in signing you up for a year (for a much higher price, of course)?? As a grad student, I'm not a homeowner, so I have no homeowner's insurance or anything like that.
BTW, where did you encounter the military? At the airport? We're flying into Cancun and somehow driving to Tulum, not far south, so I wouldn't have expected to be stopped by any military/police in that short a trip.
p.1 #11 · Advise: Wedding in Tulum, Mexico in JUNE!
If your going on a resort sponsored/run bus trip from their facility your likely to be looked after, less likely for the shake down. I think most of the freelance rip offs are when your travelling independently. Bad apples out there, good to whoever above that mentioned it. Not in Kansas anymore toto.
p.1 #12 · Advise: Wedding in Tulum, Mexico in JUNE!
Yeah, I was worried sick about getting off the plane in the Philippines Manila airport after reading stories of stuff stolen, guards requiring bribes, bribing kids who sit in the bathroom stalls all day so you can go to the bathroom (and paying extra for toilet paper), people posing as airport workers with no knowledge telling you to get in the wrong line and then asking for a tip, etc., but incredibly we made it through without a problem -- well, we did have to go through FOUR security checkpoints with about a dozen people checking our passports everywhere. At the last x-ray machine, no one was even watching the screen! Quantity vs. quality, I guess.
My favorite was the IR video camera aimed at approaching passengers in the hall that was used to check for elevated body temperature as an indication of sickness. Boy, do those guards get an eyeful of IR nudity!! Ain't no privacy there!
