Photography of Religious events

I am presently in San Miguel de Allende Mexico for my yearly lecture slide show: The Guide to Semana Santa. The lecture is created from my book “Tears from the crown of Thorns”. It is designed to help the visitor understand the significance of the processions and to learn how to navigate the myriad of events.
I am, of course, taking more photos. It has been an interesting time.
Taking photos of religious events involves sensitivity. Many people do not appreciate people taking photos of their spiritual processes. However these are important to document and if you photography with respect there should be no problem.
Here are my suggestions:
1. Do not use flash
2. Do not get in participants faces with your camera. Never.
3. Scope out the scene before hand to determine the best place to stand for sun, shade, good background and drama.
4. Get to the event early stand at the spot you choose and use a telephoto lens.
I did my entire book this way and the photos are pretty extraordinary.

Here are some of the images from this year. I will be adding more images in the next few days