And another try...

[MikeMike]

Going for something different here, I am trying to provide contrast. But not just contrast with light, but contrasting color with an almost black and white, contrasting a building with nature, contrasting two mediums of construction, etc...
Following the timeless advice of shoot and shoot some more coupled with a desire to go for something different.
Yes, the infamous root appears again, but this time without the crop and hyperbole combo.

1

2

3

4

5

 

[RTScott]

You are getting the idea, but you are shooting in the worst light possible…direct sun.

If you can, go back to those spots either early in the morning (sunrise) or in the evening (the hour or so before the sun sets is not called "the golden hour" for nothing.

Number two will work better as a black and white.

 

[MikeMike]

Thanks Scott. Wish I could get there at the right hour or stay until the right hour but it's a 3 hour ride from Veracruz. That means riding secondary roads here at night in the sierra. I am constantly fighting the mid-morning sun and early afternoon sun.
I am going to put some black and whites up, shortly. Black and white is still easier for me than color.

 

[M38A1]

Is #5 the infamous "leg"?

 

[MikeMike]

Shamefully, yes...

But honest officer, it was actually sitting there just waiting for someone to do some creative cropping with it!
Guilty as charged but if the root don't fit, you must acquit!

 

[Tracker]

STScott's definitely got the street cred, so take mine with a grain of salt.

I actually like the ladder better in color, even though I'm a b&w fan, generally.
I like the shadow cast in #4, but a golden hour shot would probably be better.
The Root! (Mexican horror movie?). That pic makes me wish I could see what it's coming from. Is it just chopped off; laying there, or part of a gnarly tree twisting its way down the steps.

 

[MikeMike]

Just chopped off and sitting there, that's what got my attention as it was out of place. I didn't "see" the leg until I downloaded the pic from the camera.

 

[achesley]

Ah, commented on the Root Leg before seeing this. Neat.