The Double Take

When traveling, I do this quirky thing where I'll take a picture to duplicate what I'd seen in a post card or book. It's not a hard thing to do. You just stand in the exact same spot, line up the shot and snap. Piece of cake.

It's something I like to do especially if that particular post card or picture is what brought me to that spot in the first place. If that is the case, then it is absolutely necessary to grab that shot, or at least to attempt to do so.

Because of changes occurring with the progression of time and the differences in lenses, my photo will never precisely match that of the original. But I try. And while there I want to give it my best shot, so to speak.

Back in the late 1980's, Michele and I were in the Mexican state of Michoacan, staying in the city of Uruapan. Why we were there and how we got there is a different story. It's like planning a vacation by closing your eyes and placing your finger on the map then going there.

Anyway, while there, we had days to kill so I read up on the area and discovered what there was to do. Turned out there was plenty of interesting things to do and places to see. One of the day trips we took was to the ruins at Tingambato. These are very interesting Mayan-era ruins which I've read about considerably since. But back then it was all new. And there I had in my pocket the post card to match.

In the photograph, a child or person is running across the flat courtyard which I learned later is a ball court in the center of an arena. To match the shot I needed Michele to run across the yard in order to duplicate the scene. Being that it was over 100 degrees hot, she refused. I insisted but it was no use. Searching for an alternate would have been futile as we were the only ones there, or so I thought. A little unnerved, I climbed up the bleachers and lined the shot as best as I could.

Later, back home, I was reviewing the photographs taken on the trip and came up with the ones shot at Tingambato. Apparently, I had taken the shot while a child ran across the field. I vaguely remember doing so. But the match is extradinary. The first photo is the post card. The second is my shot trying to match it (or is it vice-versa).

Earlier, before Tingambato, on the first day in Uruapan, we visited the Eduado Ruiz National Park. In hand, I had a post card of a man jumping in the river with heavy vegetation all around. Below is the post card and my matching shot. There was no way I was going to make a perfect match on this one, but I did try. What you had to do was throw a coin in the river which one of the dozen or so boys would dive to get. Needless to say, this was a blast to watch.