Landscape, Wildlife, and Travel Photography
Patagonia Part 1: The Landscape

Patagonia Part 1: The Landscape

Part 1 should really be called The Landscape of Torres del Paine National Park. The Patagonia region, spanning southern Chile and Argentina, is massive, roughly the size of California, Oregon, and Washington states combined. And like those states, the geography and landscape can be drastically different from one area to the next – mountains, glaciers and fjords, grasslands and more. Also, like the western US, parks and wilderness areas abound. Unlike those states, the infrastructure to get around is much more limited.

We spent a week exploring just one, more accessible corner of it, Torres del Paine. Its iconic towers are recognized around the world, both due to their unique shape and the way they capture the first rays of sunlight. (Though maybe not as famous or well known as Mount Fitzroy, also in Patagonia, and the inspiration for the Patagonia outdoor clothing brand logo).

All photos from April 2025.

First light hitting the Cuernos Del Paine (Horns of Paine). One of the Torres can be seen peaking out at the far right. 

This was a great morning. We climbed a short, but steep trail to a lookout for sunrise and were rewarded with colorful skies, sunlit peaks, and, remarkably for Patagonia, no wind. As a photographer, it was quite the reward to have all those pieces come together. 

A larger view of the range on the same morning. Lake Pehoe is below.
Paine Grande at sunrise.
The namesake peaks, Torres del Paine.
Paine Grande mountain, shrouded by one large cloud.
A boat, probably shuttling tourists, early one morning. 
Rime ice coats a peak. Rime ice forms by fog or clouds freezing onto the surface of the peaks. In the Patagonia region, this is a common phenomenon, often resulting in large, mushroom-like shapes on peaks and ridges. 
A small waterfall, Salto Grande, on the Paine River at sunset.
April, our spring, is their fall, and the colors were beginning to change. Taken near the Mylodon Cave Natural Monument.
It was hard not to photograph these peaks from every angle. Not only do they dominate the landscape, but the ever-changing weather creates new lighting by the minute. 
Grey Glacier terminating into Lago Grey (lake).
A close-up of Glacier Grey at the water’s edge.
The landscape of breakfast. Pastries and hot coffee after a morning outing, back at our refugio, while still taking in the views. 

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