Far down in the south of this world, away from our busy societies,
lays a place where the mind can rest.
And presence some of the most majestic views this planet has to offer.
A place where mother nature shows all her splendor
and where the elements conjure their spell any moment of any day.
A place so picturesque it´s almost surreal.
A place that takes my breath away and where i feel a deep connection to earth.
Torres del Paine national parc, Chile
Torres del Paine national parc is quite a popular touristic destination nowadays. Thousands of people venture to the far south to enjoy this wilderness that has been kept quite pristine by Conaf, a chilean association with the goal "to guarantee society the sustainable use of the forest ecosystems and an efficient administration of the National System of Protected Wildlife Areas of the State, with the objective of contributing to the improvement of the quality of life of current and future generations".
Peak season is in summer, so the trails and parc in general will be most crowded from december to late march. After the mass tourism slowly vanishes and autumn starts it´s suddenly peak season for landscape photographers.
Besides a huge variation of flora and fauna, the main attractions are without a doubt the different peaks of the Paine massive. From almost every corner of the parc, you can either see the name giving Torres del Paine (the towers) or the Cuernos del Paine (the horns).
In this series of images taken in between of 2015 and earlier this year i focussed on showcasing these majestic granite peaks from different angles and chased that special light that often comes in between of the famous and quite harsh shifts in weather.
Towards the end of this project you´ll find some behind the scenes material
The cuernos during a very calm sunrise session years ago- since then i have never seen this place with such reflections
Dramatic sunset with a view towards the cuernos, lenticular clouds and strong waves made this a pleasure to shoot
One of the many glaciers that one can spot in the peaks
An overlooked but quite photogenic angle on the mighty cuernos
Lago Pehoé offers many perfect viewpoints and foregrounds to showcase the great cuernos. Especially when it gets windy...
Huge iceberg that calved at Grey glacier and drifted through lago Grey during one of these dramatic rainy sunsets
It was starting to get stormy and rain heavily again- the flysh lines of Lago Grey gave an interesting leading line
Mt. Paine grande during a nice sunrise- this fantastic peak is often overlooked
Las Torres del Paine give name to this national parc and here i was looking at them from the borders of the parc with a long lens
Moody twillight with a view to los cuernos- the granite foreground rocks kinda mimic the peaks
Big part of the vegetation in the parc has been burnt by bush firest- the stems remain as reminder but the flory is picking up again
Deep in the chilean part of Patagonia, this treasure hides.
Majestic peaks, glaciers and invincible nature.
Rugged, wild and sometimes harmonic at the same time.
Each time i see these views dissappearing in the rear mirror, i can´t help but dream about
my next return.
To be continued...
No matter where in the parc, the views are amazing
The weather can be quite a challenge to shoot every now and then as strong winds emerge from the huge glacier field Campo de hielo sur just behind the great peaks.
From snow to sunshine, from still to stormy- it literally shifts in few hours and back.
See some behind footage taken with my phone while capturing some of these images.
#photography #chile #patagonia #landscapephotography #felixindenvisuals
