Overview

Patagonia: the word is synonymous with awe-inspiring landscape, and Torres del Paine National Park, Perito Moreno Glacier, and the peaks of the Fitz Roy region are the crown jewels. This hybrid program – part expedition, part workshop, led by acclaimed adventure photographer Michael Clark and Justin Black of Visionary Wild is designed to maximize opportunities to execute well-crafted and compelling photographs that capture the spirit of this incredible place. Participants will have ample time to get to know this sublime region during its colorful autumn splendor, and your photography there will benefit from the opportunity to revisit fruitful situations to apply lessons learned and to take advantage of changing weather and light. Assuming the weather cooperates, moonless nights during our itinerary will mean excellent opportunities to incorporate the Milky Way in nocturnal landscapes. The goal is for each participant to come away from this trip with a strong body of work, a new body of knowledge, new friendships, rejuvenation, and priceless memories.

Torres del Paine National Park and Biosphere Reserve is the centerpiece of Patagonia – the ultimate distillation of the region’s most inspiring qualities. It’s one of those rare places that routinely exceeds the grandest dreams of even the most experienced photographers. Peaks and spires thrust abruptly upward above turquoise lakes, forcing moisture-laden winds off the ocean to form soaring lenticular clouds that catch the fiery sunrise and sunset alpenglow. Glaciers spill down from the Patagonian icecap, depositing cobalt blue icebergs on the shores of Lago Grey. Endemic lenga tree forests glow in hues of gold and copper in the southern autumn. Rivers tumble over cascading waterfalls as condors ride thermals on the flanks of the Cordillera del Paine mountains. Guanacos and foxes range over the golden pampas, and flamingoes wade the lagoons. At this time of year, the days are a manageable length with extended periods of dawn and dusk, and the sun never rises more than 35 degrees above the horizon. The quality of light is spectacular.

Our trip begins in Punta Arenas, Chile, where our local guide team and driver – good friends of ours who are regarded as some of the very best in Patagonia – we will meet you at the airport and transfer you to Hotel Cabo de Hornos, a recently remodeled boutique hotel on the town’s main square. We’ll all gather there and go out as a group for a welcome dinner at one of our favorite restaurants nearby to get to know everyone. The next day we proceed to Torres del Paine National Park (with lunch at a restaurant along the way) where we’ll check into Hotel Lago Grey, the first of three excellent lodges in the park that will serve as our base camps for the next seven days and nights – the others are the spectacularly located Hostería Pehoe, and recently upgraded Hotel Las Torres.

After Torres, we cross the border into Argentina, for a four-hour drive to El Calafate on the shores of Lago Argentino (a.k.a. Lago General Carrera on the Chilean side of the border). Our “basecamp” for two nights will be the beautiful four-star Alto Calafate Hotel, from which we will make excursions by van to the expansive Perito Moreno Glacier framed in autumn color, as well as other scenic highlights.

Then it’s on to El Chalten in Los Glaciares National Park, the gateway to the spectacularly soaring granite spires of the peaks Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre, renowned among alpinists as world-class climbs (Justin’s mentor Galen Rowell made an ascent of Fitz Roy in 1985). For four nights, we will stay at Posada Lunajuim Hotel, an excellent three-star accommodation. We will make use of this towering sublime mountain backdrop by making excursions to various vista points, rivers, lakeshores, autumn forests, and more to find compelling foregrounds for our compositions. As our trip draws to a close, we will return to Calafate for another night at Alto Calafate Hotel before catching departing flights to Buenos Aires and home.

Michael Clark and Justin Black will lead the small group on field sessions adapted to make the most of the prevailing conditions each day. Emphasis will be on photography and hands-on mentoring in the field. We’ll photograph when the conditions are good, and we’ll gather in the lodge for presentations on light, composition, visualization, technique, and digital workflow at times when light or weather aren’t as conducive for photography (during harsh mid-day light, if a rain storm passes through, etc.). We will also hold constructive critiques of participant photographs, and then head back out into the field to apply what we’ve learned.

Excursions will include a trip by ferry to visit the face of Glacier Grey and, in our comfortable group vehicles, spectacular locations that we have scouted in detail on prior visits. Some locations involve short hikes, but nothing particularly strenuous.

After dusk each day, we will gather for a nice dinner and some good Chilean and Argentine wine. Then it’s off to bed to rest, as most mornings we’ll be out around 6:00am to take advantage of the incredible pre-dawn light. Breakfasts and lunches will be handled in relation to our photographic activities, served either at our lodges or in the field as a gourmet picnic.

Included in the program:

• Photographic instruction throughout by Michael Clark and Justin Black, a highly effective instructor team who know the region well.
• Top local guide, plus support by a first-rate team of assistant guides and drivers
• Lago Grey ferry cruise
• Ground transportation and transfers
• Fifteen nights lodging
• All meals, snacks, and beverages (including beer, wine, cocktails with dinner)