This image above all other images I've shot tells a story of what the essence of landscape photography is all about.
Before even arriving in Patagonia, Bryce and I spent months of planning and mapping out potential areas to shoot, how to get to these areas and how hard it would be. Most of our pre trip scouting seemed fairly straightforward, however mapping out our route up the south side of Laguna Sucia took some thought and tedious research as being 12,000km away from home means that we couldn't afford to make any mistakes. When we arrived in Los Glaciares National Park, we hiked 10km with our 50lbs pack to the closest campsite, staked our camp and then right away packed our day bags and scrambled our way up to Laguna Sucia for a late afternoon scouting mission. Although we didnt come away with anything special as the evening light fell short, we knew that this location provided tons of comps and if the light hit in the morning, we would have some of our best shots.
Well, the next morning we woke up and made the trek in the dark to the southern forest above Laguna Sucia. Finding this comp was a huge challenge as lining up a shot in the dark with an immediate foreground was brutal. Basically I had to take a shot to see what I'm shooting and then make adjustments from there! After about 30 minutes of trial and error, I finally got the composition I wanted, and as soon as I got the comp, the light started to take off. The mixture of diffused light hitting the clouds and the direct light hitting the mountain, along with a huge icefall gave us conditions that we both have dreamt of for over a year! This is landscape photography at its best. Not based on the image quality, but the journey behind the image.
Great Shot Eric! Even more satisfying knowing the work that went into taking it. I took up landscape photography as a way to express my love for the outdoors. Sometimes it's important to be reminded that it's not about the final image, but about the journey you took to get there--though with this shot you certainly came away with both an excellent final product and an adventure! It's a great feeling when everything comes together perfectly.
If I had one suggestion it would maybe be to bring up the shadows on the tree a little more. I love the moody feel of the photo as a whole, but the top left quarter of the frame feels a little flat compared to the rest of the image. Again, I'm just nitpicking and it's entirely possible that if I saw it then I'd say it detracted from the main subject too much, so take it with a grain of salt.
Great work on the composition and colours. Having such a scene in front of the lens is one achievement, capturing it in such a way another. Well done!