A few days ago we took the boat up to the face of Glacier Grey in Torres del Paine. Most of the trips had been canceled that day due to 80km winds that were racing down off the Patagonian Ice cap, and onto Lago Grey.

It was a hectic journey on the boat with everyone staggering back and forth on the upper deck or hiding under the roof to shelter from the spray and winds that would often take us of our feet. Literally.

At one point I managed to make my way to the back of the boat, and to my surprise I could see the dingy that was attached to the back of the boat almost flying in the sky. I know, it looks like it’s been superimposed, but my workshop amigos will vouch for me on this one. It really was taken in one go. A lovely rainbow in the sky, a 17mm lens to get it all in, and an air born dingy.

I’m always intrigued by what is round the corner. I could have never anticipated this shot.

Now, if only my workshop amigos had captured me whilst I was outside trying to save my camera bag from disappearing over the edge of the boat in a pretty awful storm. I thought I had managed to rescue my bag whilst maintaining a degree of dignity (I got completely soaked!). I returned to the cabin where everyone hadn’t seemed to notice, only to discover later on at dinner that everyone on the boat had been watching me with mouths agape, wondering when I was going to go overboard along with my camera bag…..

Today we had pretty bad weather in Torres and I think it’s always tempting to put your camera away and write the day off in terms of any photographic potential.

But we were coming through the park, heading towards Lago Grey where we were going to photograph the ice bergs in the lake and I saw these horses. The Cuernos (Horns) of Paine were shrouded in rain and low lying cloud but occasionally we would get a hint of them.

Weather gives drama to an image. It can hold back light in certain areas and bring forth light in others. I love the moody light on the mountains in this shot.

But it’s only part of the story. You need a good composition also. Using a 70-200 lens with 1.4 extender for a focal length of 280mm, I got the composition I was after (I had tried my 400mm lens but it was too much for the scene). The horses were constantly moving across the pampas, so it took a bit of running up and down the road side in order to position them directly below the Horns of Paine.

Boris, our driver from last year, and also this year, has just told me that three Puma’s have been spotted at Laguna Armaga which is on the eastern side of the park.

We’re headed over there tonight after visiting the face of Glacier Grey, so I wonder if we will be double lucky to see them tomorrow?