After battling the forces of Patagonia, we had one remaining opportunity to capture the infamous peaks of Patagonia before making our long journey home. Bryce and I woke up well before dawn and we were treated with unpleasant, dull overcast skies. With what was seemingly a defeat, we both knew through experience from the trip that anything can happen in Patagonia, especially if it involves weather. With this mindset, we made our final push to this location in hope's to get one last look at the mountains. We were both completely drained, worked and ready to go home, but we had a mission, and we proceeded.
The winds that morning were higher than usual, but that amped up our moral as it provided two great opportunities: waves and a chance for the clouds to dissipate. We found our compositions and hunkered down, waiting for the mountains to appear.... and appear they did.
For nothing more than a few minutes, the clouds lit up and gave way to my favorite sunrise to date. All of the surrounding area was completely socked in, but we "lucked out" and had an incredible view of the Cuernos! Those few minutes quickly past, mountains were nowhere to be seen, and we found ourselves in a middle of a blizzard. 100km/h + winds, snow being hurled at us sideways, and the realization that we need to get the heck out of there. My tripod had another incident (accidental this time 😂), but we didnt have time to put the pieces back together as we were getting pressure washed by snow, so Bryce hysterically watched me run away from the snowstorm while trying to keep my tripod bits together! What a crazy and humbling our last day was. And all I can say from this trip is that God's creation is absolutely incredible, and never will it cease to amaze me. I thank Him for providing us with this memorable last moment in Patagonia.
Thanks for reading!
Eric,
What a great picture. My favourite shots among those I've taken have always been the ones that challenged me as a photographer. If I have all the time in the world to compose, set up my tripod, ND filter, the colours are beautiful, the light is just right, and I have time to get a few practice shots in, I'll get a picture good enough for a calendar but I might not include it in my top 10 of the year. And the shot will likely be as good as the ones taken by the others standing in a line on either side of me!
It's the ones that take effort, timing, talent and creativity - in challenging conditions - that are the most rewarding. The ones where you know you can't just go back, set it up and do it again. One of my favourite shots is one where I was standing barefoot in freezing ankle-deep water, early one frigid, grey morning in Iceland, for as long as it took until I had the ice, the waves and the clouds just right (predictably, no other photographers on either side of me!). Taking the shot on dry land wouldn't have been the same.
Beautiful shot, and great story. I hope your tripod survived. Patagonia's on my bucket list.
Sid
Eric i love the motion and color you got out of this ...spectacular scene nice capture
Very stunning photo, and I love that you told the story behind. A lot of people mean a picture should speak for itselve, but I enjoy the story of the picture. It add a nice depth to the picture.
Congrat with a very nice result.