I have always wanted to go to Patagonia after watching nature programmes on T V, when I saw an advert in a photography magazine to go on a workshop, I had to sign up. So I got in touch with Andean Trails in Edinburgh, Tom Shearman was the expert who put my tour together he had great knowledge of this part of the world; once the photographic tour was over I was going to do my own thing.
So in November last year I went to Heathrow to start the journey of a lifetime, my brother dropped me off at the terminal. From Heathrow I flew to Sao Paulo and then on to Santiago, I stayed the night there so I could get a break from flying it must have been around sixteen hours and have a good sleep.
From Santiago I flew to Punta Arenas in the south of Chile where I was to meet the team leader photographer Bruce Percy at the hotel; two other members of the tour were also there so we arranged to go to dinner in a local restaurant. Bruce was in the know so he knew what to order, it was steak all round with eggs on top and chips of course, washed down with some great wine!
In the morning we meet by the guide and driver so all bags packed we set for Puerto Natales which was around three hours drive, though on the way we stopped off at Wildlife Park it was a few good miles of the main road. I took a number of shots of penguins and also an eagle which was sitting on a fence post. I noticed that the land was quite flat most of the way to our next location I was quite surprised, as we were nearing our destination you could see the snow capped mountains rising in the distance.
When we arrived in Puerto Natates a Canadian couple joined the party, we had lunch in the hotel before making our way to the first hotel in the Torres del Paine National Park. This location Estancia Lazo was a working farm, we got up early and photographed the lake and the mountains, the air and light was very clear. After breakfast Bruce then asked the Gauchos who were working if it was possible to be photographed which they obliged I must have spent half an hour taking shots.
The third day was spent taking shots of Cuernos range it was quite windy here, so you had to learn how to get the best positions because the wind was so strong, the best results I thought was to get low as possible, or get behind a blocker for protection i.e. rocks.
The four day was I though was wonderful it was at Lago Grey, when we got there we had a walk so we could get a position to take shots up the lake, it was quite a hike with all the equipment on and the weather warm. Because I not very good on my feet I took it easy going up the steep climbs, I used a grad filter here the sky and icebergs was very bright so I had to control the light.
After lunch we took a boat trip to see the glacier it took thirty minutes to get there, the number of people on the boat was I thought was quite staggering because they just seem to come out of no where when it was time to embark. When I was taking shots of the glacier I was using a polarizer with a grad filter to try and get the best results, the sun was quit strong. After getting my films back from processing I was pleased with my efforts. Whilst we were on the tour everyone was offered a drink with ice from the glacier, I had a whisky of course.
Day five was heading out to Laguna Azul here we took shots of the splendid scenery, clouds where hanging around the mountains so with the sun I got some good results, I used a 300mm lens and took shots of the interesting sections of scenery which I thought was a better idea than taking the usual wide angle shots.
After the packed lunch we went out looking for some wildlife to photograph, still using the 300mm lens I took some shots of a number Guanacos which look like Llamas without the wool. The animals seemed quite calm so I could get quite close, though they did turn their backs to the camera for sometime I did eventually did get time to photograph them, I laid on the ground so I could get a better background which was the snow covered slopes, the light played it’s part to by catching their heads which made the shots more moody.
The sixth day the last full session was generally making our way back to Puerto Natales stopping off at Cuernos which is on the eastern side of the park, when we arrived in Puerto Natales I took off my luggage off the bus as this was where I was going to say my goodbyes after our fair well dinner; they were going back to Punta Arenas then fly home the next morning, I was going to make my way to Le Chalten for some trekking by bus in Argentina.
Once everything had settled down I went out and took some shots of the changing light in the mountains in the distance again using the 300mm lens.
Well I hope you have an insight into my first part of the incredible journey.
Roger Plummeridge.
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