Patagonia
“When I’m reminded of my insignificance, I discover joy.”
IN THE SHADOW OF THE HORNS – View from the South entrance of Torres del Paine National Park in Chile. The early morning clouds parted long enough to see Cuerno Norte, Cuerno Principal and Cuerno Oriental clearly. Fifteen minutes later, the spires were no longer visible.
PERITO MORENO – The power and force of the Perito Moreno Glacier is on display long before you ever see it. Gunshots of exploding ice shatter the silence as the 30-kilometer frozen river pushes into Lake Argentino at a rate of more than 2 meters a day. When you meet Perito Moreno face-to-face for the first time, you're struck with awe and fear imagining how anyone could cross such a mine field of crevasses. I wanted a wide shot that would captured the enormity, brutality and beauty of this geological butcher knife.
RIO SERRANO DREAM – In one of the most surreal moments as a photographer, I was taking pictures at dusk of Los Cuernos in Torres del Paine, Chile when a white horse came strolling toward the banks of the Rio Serrano. My jaw almost dropped as the equine trotted out on a small peninsula in the river and paused in profile. It might as well have been a unicorn sent by the Photography Gods.
LOS CUERNOS – Los Cuernos (The Horns) in Torres del Paine, Chile are the overlords of the Rio Serrano valley. Terrifying and mesmerizing at the same time, these jagged saw-blade peaks command your eye and defy you to turn away. Knowing the moments to catch these peaks when they're not shrouded in a stratocumulus blanket are few and fleeting, I arose an hour before dawn and parked myself on the bank of the Serrano River. Without a tripod, I constructed a camera support from a piece of driftwood and river stones in order to shoot at a longer-exposure. The skies cooperated and the blue hour didn't disappoint.
THE STAND OFF – Along a swampy inlet along the Serrano River, I noticed two Spectacled Ducks facing off on two small tufts of grass creating an almost perfect mirrored image of each other.
THE PAINE MASSIF – Early morning rays of sunlight striate the Paine Massif as clouds build overhead.
EL CORRALERO BLANCO – A white Chilean Criollo horse miraculously appeared along the Serrano River as I was photographing in Torres del Paine, Chile.
THE END OF THE WORLD – The weather in Ushuaia, the southernmost town in South America, can cycle through four seasons in an hour, much less in a day. Clouds rolled in at dusk as we approached the port from the Beagle Channel.
AUSTRAL PARAKEET – In the forested hillsides above the Perito Moreno glacier, Austral parakeets (Enicognathus ferrugineus) patrol the conifers like gangs. Dodging and blending amidst the foliage, I was fortunate to spot and photograph this exotic bird in the open.
MIRADOR RIO SERRANO – A picture perfect view of the Paine Mastiff and river valley from the roadside overlook just outside the Torres del Paine National Park entrance.
RIVER OF ICE – About twenty miles before arriving at Perito Moreno National Park, there is bend in the road where one can view the glacier as the condors see it.