In Deep

The alluring Cuernos Spires revealing themselves during an epic, 130km/h wind storm. People weren't kidding when they said Patagonia was a different world as one look at this image makes you feel like you're with Frodo, Sam and Gollum wandering through the Dead Marshes, with Mordor thundering in the background. What a special moment in time this was as clouds were rolling by and finally they revealed the full, epic view of the Horns.

This was our first full day in Torres Del Painé National Park, and on this day I believe I came away with one of my absolute favorites. Not just because of how the composition plays out, but how completely different it is to all my other images. The contrast between nice, pleasant sunrises with fall colors, to dark, dead and extremely moody.

Finding this comp was a huge challenge as the dead tree area provided many opportunities, but most of which I would consider to be "meh." As with most forest shots, they are easily chaotic and hard to provide a subject and leading lines, while not having any distractions. @brycemironuck_photography and I searched for about 45 minutes with no luck, however after looking around from an area that we already scouted and almost giving up hope, I saw this twisted, gnarly tree about 150 meters away. My line of site was almost exactly what this composition is, and even that far away I knew this shot would be completely different from most dead tree shots I've seen from this location. I struggled hard pulling this shot together, as it's a 4 image focus stack / exposure blend, while battling hurricane force winds. Overall I'm thrilled with how it turned out!
Thanks for reading 😁