We visited the vast Uyuni Salt Flat in Bolivia twice: once in dry conditions and again when seasonal rains leave a mirror-like coating of water on the salt. The natural beauty is stunning, but the flat, uniform, and seemingly endless landscape of the world’s largest salt flat (it covers 4,300 square miles or 11,000 square km) also creates the perfect conditions for playful photography that fiddles with your sense of perspective like the shots in this photo essay.
Seasonal rain transforms the Uyuni Salt Flat in Bolivia into an enormous mirror which obscures the horizon line and adds to the other-worldliness of the place.
Karen with a Tonka Toy version of our truck.
Karen with a Tonka Toy version of our truck.
Our guide helped us set up this shot…
…and this one.
Simple props and a bit of imagination work really well.
Bring kids’ toys as props and then give them away when you’re done with them.
Adult props work well too.
Another shot set up by a guide.
Grady, our road trip mascot, got supersized on the salt flat.
Fun with Bolivian beer.
Sunset on the salt flat.
Pro tips for Uyuni Salt Flat photography
- Bring props. We used a toy Godzilla, our road trip mascot Grady, boots, bottles, our truck, and much more to help us mess around with perspective on the salt flat.
- Use the phone on your camera. Believe it or not, most of the shots Eric took using his DSLR Canon didn’t work nearly as well as shots taken with a phone camera that handles the perspective better.
- Ask your guide to take photos. Many guides who take travelers onto the Uyuni Salt Flat have become experts in setting up and taking shots like these.
Here’s more about travel in Bolivia
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