Published: 11th March 2016
The Salar de Uyuni is truly one of the worlds great natural wonders, an incredible unique landscape of seemingly endless whiteness and beauty. Visiting the Salar de Uyuni can be a life-changing experience due to the epic and adventurous journey that is required to reach this landmark location, and due to the incredible sights and activities that can be completed here. If you only visit one destination in Bolivia, make it the Salar de Uyuni.
After a visit to the Salar it is important you leave with ever-lasting memories and (if you are so-inclined!) memorable photographs of the landscape. We don't claim to be professional photographers and aren't intending to write a technical photo-manual on photography, but we have visited the Salar de Uyuni many times, so this our beginners guide to taking funny and memorable photos of the Salar de Uyuni to enhance your holiday memories on your return home...
Photograph The View
The Salar is one of the most unique locations you are ever likely to visit. The landscape, colours, atmosphere, beauty are unimaginably different to anything that can be experienced in normal every day life, so before you take any photos sit back, relax, and spend a few moments admiring the view and listening to the sound of silence (no birds, no motors, no electricity - nothing).
Due to the polar light at this altitude taking crisp images with vivid colours and good contrast is actually relatively easy and you will find that photographs generally tend to look sharp with incredible colours, so find a spot in the middle of the salar entirely surrounded by the whitness of salt all around you, and photograph the epic distances to the horizon.
Research What Time Of Year To Visit
When it comes to photography on the Salar de Uyuni, probably the single most important thing to consider is the time of year that you visit. The dry season in this part of the world occurs roughly from May to October, and during this time of year the salt flats are bone-dry, and the landscape consists of the crystalised salt formations that are visible on many of these photos.
People travelling to Bolivia on a photography holiday or those with more than a passing interest in photography usually prefer to photograph the Salar de Uyuni during the wet season when the surface of the Salar is covered in a thin layer of water which creates the epic mirages and mirrored reflections seen on the more famous photographs of the salt flats. The wet season runs roughly from November through to March, and visiting during this time can be a wonderful visual spectacle, although there are disadvantages as the wet surface of the salt flats often mean it is impossible to travel across the salar, which restricts which locations can be visited.
Photograph the Salar de Uyuni at Sunset
The Salar de Uyuni is an (almost) endless flat white landscape, and this can create unique and fabulous photography opportunities, particularly at sunset when the sun disappears over the horizon creating giant statues stretching almost to the horizon.
Make the most of ths uniqueness of the flat landscape and craft unique photographs utilising the giant scale of the shadows that are created.
Get Up Early to Photograph the Sunrise
Many of the "salt hotels" that are used during holidays in this region are either on the Salar de Uyuni itself, or very close to the edge of the salar, so it is usually relatively easy to get up early on at least one of the mornings of a trip to photograph the sunrise, which is is something we highly recommend. Not only is the experience of seeing the sunrise something special by itself, but the opportunity to capture beautiful silhouettes is a photographic opportunity not to be missed.
Take Funny Photos of the Salar de Uyuni
Although Bolivia has a reputation for being an adventure holiday destination, holidays to Bolivia inherently involve a massive amount of fun, and one of the more popular recent trends to have a fun time at the Salar de Uyuni is the take clever, funny, unique or intelligent photos playing tricks with perspective by making the most of the unique opportunity to be on the largest flattest place on earth.
So, what's our advice on how to take the best funny photos on the Salar de Uyuni?
Plan ahead - if you know you are travelling to the Salar and want to take funny photos while you are there, have a think in advance about what clever perspective photos you could take so you aren't frantically racking your brains for ideas and spoiling the experience when you are actually at the salar itself.
Try to be unique - the internet is full of perspective photos from the Salar, so do your research and try to come up with a unique idea that isn't copying others before you.
Use props - If you have planned your photo in advance you may (very organised!) have had the forethought to bring a prop with you on your journey, but if not there are usually endless props within the 4x4 vehicles used for the tours across the salar - such as books, cameras, drinks, bottles, food packets, cooking equipment etc. Adding a prop to a perspective photograph not only adds to the fun but also makes the photo more surreal and quirky to see.
Involve more than one person - Although larger escorted group tours across the Salar are available we believe that the private excursions (2-6 people) offer the greater experience and allow you to truly experience the isolation of this destination. However even smaller group sizes will involve at least a few people (driver + guide + passengers) so make the most of the people with you to create unique and funny ideas for photographs.
Enjoy the Experience
The most important part of visiting the Salar de Uyuni is to enjoy the whole experience and adventure, have fun, and leave not only with fantastic photos but incredible memories.
More Information
Interested in finding out more, or want to visit Bolivia - check out our holidays to Bolivia here:
All photos Copyright Go Andes, or used with permission.
