Mirador Las Torres

We hiked up in the pitch black with our head torches, scrambling over icy cold rocks, in the hope of getting some alpen glow on the Torres del Paine. Eventually arriving at a very still Mirador Las Torres I set up my tripod and we were greeted with this surreal pre-dawn blue. Clouds blocked the sunrise from behind so we were not lucky enough to see the famous fiery glow; but were happy enough to just to see the towers with a clear sky given the inclement weather in the distance. Many make the trek and leave without a sighting due to the extreme rapid weather changes experienced in this part of Patagonia which lies at 51° South and is exposed to the endless winds of the southern ocean. The peaks drop a sheer 2000m (6561 ft) down to the lake and are home to some of the most difficult rock climbs in the world. From left to right Torre Sur 2850m (or 9350 ft), Torre Central 2800m (or 9186 ft), Torre Norte 2248m (or 7375ft) with the glacial lake sitting at 886m (or 2906ft)

The idea behind the shot above was to balance the weight of the imposing towers with the foreground element of the submerged rock. The reflection then adds an additional layer of interest the shot. While not the fiery red we had hoped for on the towers; the muted blue tones of the sky complement the pre-dawn blue tones from the glacial silt in the lake and provide some nice tonal balance to the shot. It was taken using a Canon EOS 50D at ISO 100, 1/30s, and f/3.5 using a Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 set to 10.0 mm (which is 15.8 mm in 35mm equivalent).

We then set up our little gas stove and made a warm cup of tea and waited for the sun to rise. Now in the full morning light we hiked up the side of the lake to get a little more of a panoramic vista of the now vivid green looking glacial lake seen in the shot below.

The second shot above was taken at 21.0 mm (33.0 mm in 35mm equivalent), f/9, and 1/125s. The idea was to take a slightly more zoomed shot from an elevated position to highlight how precipitous the vertical drop from the peaks to the lake was in a way that is not possible to achieve when you’re down at the lake surface level using a very wide angle. The higher sun provides a nice contrast between the blue of the sky and the green lake. It's worth pointing out the contrast between the blue and green tones of the same lake in these two shots to show how much effect light intensity and changes in light spectrum width as the sun rises can have on the final colour tonality of the shot. It’s important to take this into consideration when planning a photographic expedition as the results are quite different.

The shots were taken in the Parque Torres del Paine. Patagonia, Chile . Patagonia is a special part of the world and one of my favorite places on this little rocky planet. Where do you like to explore?

Rob Downie
Love Life, Love Photography
_{All images in this post were taken by and remain the Copyright of Robert Downie - http://www.robertdowniephotography.com}