My first glimpses of Mount Fitz Roy were breathtaking. Seeing the great peak in the early morning light left me invigorated, and the long hike in the darkness was forgotten. I wanted to see more of the mountain before the frost melted, and I was acutely aware of the sun rising higher above me.
Single shot, additional exposures for highlights, focal length 19 mm, aperture f/11, shutter speed 0.5 seconds, ISO 125, tripod.
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This is the kind of place that beckons. The wind was bracing and the temperature was only beginning to rise, but the cold didn’t deter me. I was exhilarated by the environment and the feeling that I had stumbled on an unknown treasure, a secret place laced with silver and hidden away from view. I wanted to capture as much of it as possible before the sun is too high and the light is too harsh for photography.
A river courses through this area, with small cascades breaking over rocks. Following the course of the river, your eyes naturally focus on Mount Fitz Roy, and I wanted photographs that captured this — the icy splendor of Patagonia and the lordly presence of the mountain. I put on rubber boots and waded out into the stream, positioning myself so that Mount Fitz Roy was the focus and stood my tripod in the water. I hardly felt the cold now; I was fixated on the scene before me: the water, the frost, and the jagged peaks of Mount Fitz Roy.
I’ve had this feeling before in my travels, the feeling of seeing a landscape so magical that it might have been the creation of child’s imaginings. I felt it in the dunes and salt pans of Namibia, and now, in a very different environment — a landscape of ice and water — I felt it again.
There was more of Patagonia to explore.
This photo received following awards:
* MIROC circuit 2019 (2nd MIROC Exhibition Bergen 2019, Norway) – FIAP Honorable Mention
