Fitz Roy, Patagonia
Patagonia is a magical area. You just need patience and a very warm sleeping bag.
Patagonia is a magical area. You just need patience and a very warm sleeping bag.
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Dec, 2016Views
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Contest Finalist in Travel Addict Project
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Contest Finalist in Image Of The Month Photo Contest Vol 17
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Behind The Lens
Location
The photo was taken half a day's hike west of El Chalten on the Rio De La Cascada in Argentinian Patagonia. We were camping at Poincenot. It was my second photo expedition to Patagonia.Time
The time was not ideal. We awoke before dawn to hear rain falling on our tents, so the possibility of taking photographs at sunrise was out. Fortunately it cleared up a little later and this was taken at mid-day. We were lucky with the colours because this was the end of Autumn and we were told that the leaves fell a few days later.Lighting
Patagonia may be in the south, but it is not so far south as one might imagine and the sunlight was very strong, leading to very high contrast. I had to work quite hard to recuperate some shadow detail from the raw file. I take jpeg+raw and go back to the raw when necessary.Equipment
This was taken with a Canon EOS 70 D with a EF-S 15-85 F 3.5-5.6 IS USM lens. Canon don't produce "L" lens in the EF-S range, but this has a similar quality (and price). Indeed I used a tripod and a long exposure of 0.6 seconds. The problem was not to fall in the water. I have an infrared trigger which works well and is very cheap, but avoids direct contact with the camera. I also used an ND grad filter as the exposure for the trees and the snow was not otherwise possible.Inspiration
Are you joking? Yes, I know that this is a standard question, but in front of Fitz Roy is not a place where you have to search too hard to find photo opportunities. On the other hand, this is not the photo I like the best. After several days with Cerro Torre in cloud (the usual situation), we awoke one day (at a different campsite) to find clear skies and the moraine lake frozen. I uploaded one or two of the photos of Cerro Torre also.Editing
As I mention above, the contrast was such, even using an ND Grad, that I had to recuperate shadow detail from the raw file. I may have made two jpeg conversions and merged them. I certainly sharpened the trees a little (but not the sky to avoid noise) and probably also did a little dodging and burningIn my camera bag
This was a photo expedition. I had 16 kg of camping gear and 6.6 kg of camera gear (total of ~48 pounds). This is quite a lot to carry (and I am a grandfather, not a teenager). I took the 70D, a 10-24, 15-85 and a 70-200 plus polarizing filters, ND and ND grad filters, a tripod, spare battery. If I am not with photographers I take much less because one can't hold up a whole group to start messing with equipment. I also like mountaineering, but in this case I use a Canon 5GX which hangs inside my jacket and which takes amazingly good photos. It can be operated with one hand whilst the other holds an ice axe!Feedback
1. You have to be in the right place. Obviously. 2. You have to be lucky with the conditions. I have been twice to Les Cuernos (pictures also uploaded). The first time we had several marvellous sunrises and the second not a single one. Obviously you also need basic camera skills but otherwise I am loath to give advice, of which there is plenty available from much better sources than me. Ian Plant has an excellent book about Patagonia and I found the book by Michael Frye superb (Digital Landscape Photography).
