Tower Power

Gallery: LandscapePosted April 1, 2013671 views21 comments

A trip to Patagonia doesn't seem complete without a trip to the Towers. I had one crack at shooting them and the weather gods looked down on me this day. I was surprised at how many people day hike to the towers, but the morning experience is quite incredible if the towers stay out of the clouds. A wide angle lens doesn't do the view justice, but I like to include interesting FG elements so a slight zoom was used to minimize the effect. I found all the early morning trekkers chose the gallery seats for sunrise, leaving me the entire shoreline to compose. The large rock face on the right always bothered my when looking at shots of this place, as it seems to dominate the view more than the towers. There is also an emptiness to the left of the towers which I tried to avoid including in the view to keep the towers a central point. I found the early morning head-lamp hike to the towers pretty humorous. The trail is fairly well marked, but older shortcuts near the trail can make for a confusing hike in the dark. I passed several folks way off the trail, shouting back and forth in various languages trying to locate the trail. I felt like I was on The Amazing Race or some adventure race to the lagoon. I think they eventually made it.

I managed some shots with all of the towers more visible, but I like the mystery the clouds provided in this one.

Canon 5DII, 17-40L, slight polarization, 1/8 sec, f16
RAW x 2

Comments

21 comments

Comment posted by John&Patty Benway on April 1, 2013 at 7:25 AM

Gorgeous Harry, there is not a thing I dont love about this pretty scene. Perfect in every way.
John

Registered on May 12, 2006, 626 Posts, 8700 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Reid on April 1, 2013 at 7:53 AM

Wonderful image Harry. Great composition and wonderful natural colors. I like everything about this. Great.

Registered on January 27, 2013, 65 Posts, 2460 Comments

Comment posted by Yiming Hu on April 1, 2013 at 8:06 AM

This is simply Gorgeous Harry. Great light and reflection. Beautiful comp.

Registered on April 28, 2011, 38 Posts, 733 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Turner on April 1, 2013 at 8:42 AM

Wonderful tale to accompany your stunning capture.

Thanks for the share.

Registered on February 18, 2012, 534 Posts, 2755 Comments

Comment posted by Michel Lamontagne on April 1, 2013 at 8:47 AM

Great inage Harry!

Registered on April 30, 2009, 9 Posts, 53 Comments

Comment posted by Marc Adamus on April 1, 2013 at 11:43 AM

I'll be here to shoot snow and ice when this winter comes to the South, and I can't wait to see this place! What amazing towers and the light is ideal. I agree with your thoughts on staying down below and I think you've gotten more depth out of this scene by including the rocky foreground.

Registered on September 17, 2005, 780 Posts, 8091 Comments

Comment posted by Morris McClung on April 1, 2013 at 11:56 AM

The only way this could have been improved imo would have been to have the closer rock face in the same shadow as the rocks beneath it. It still feels a little too dominant, as you stated it felt in shots you had seen from here. Or, maybe just less of it in the frame, but I've never been there, so I'm not sure what options you might have had. I would just like to see more of the tower that is behind the rock face. I think the comp otherwise is excellent and agree the foreground adds depth to this. As well as having that nice reflection. What a fantastic location, and most of us are wishing we could see and photograph this! I am enjoying it through your eyes, Harry, so thanks for bringing these great shots back!

Registered on May 7, 2007, 670 Posts, 19650 Comments

Comment posted by R.Bill Moser on April 1, 2013 at 1:23 PM

This is a bbeautiful scene and you had some nice warm golden light. I also love the depth in this image. Well done

Registered on January 29, 2010, 285 Posts, 4281 Comments

Comment posted by Hamed Musharbak on April 1, 2013 at 3:09 PM

very nice image Harry, i really like the light & the depth in this image

maybe it needs more contrast in the front & the middle

Hamed

Registered on June 1, 2009, 372 Posts, 2282 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Metternich on April 1, 2013 at 3:23 PM

Beautiful shot! Great light and subject matter.

I'm wishing for less obstruction in the water.

Registered on June 19, 2009, 276 Posts, 6240 Comments

Comment posted by Stan Rose on April 1, 2013 at 3:58 PM

Im gonna have to dissent. The subject is obviously awesome, you got good light and good conditions, but it all comes down to comp--and this one is too busy. I really dont see the need for the reflection, it's not clean and the rocks are unexciting compared to the great show in back. I think the top 2/3 are great--but i think it could have been better if you had composed for that top 2/3. Course im jealous cause i sure wish i was there!

Registered on September 15, 2005, 836 Posts, 17099 Comments

Comment posted by Harry Lichtman on April 1, 2013 at 5:23 PM

Thanks for the comments.

Mark & Stan - I see your points with the comp. - I think I tried to make the situation work with where the lighting was. Given another opportunity, I might have chosen a much higher perspective that didn't require a reflection and allowed the peaks to take more prominence. I do have a slightly cleaner reflection comp., but the light isn't as electric. Thanks for your thoughts.

Marc - Enjoy your southbound trip. SHould be fantastico, as they say down there. How the weather works out for you at that time of year. Ice and snow images should be a nice change from the many similar shots of this area in the summer and fall.

Morris - I completely agree. Moving left was an option which I investigated the day before, but lacke any FG interest. I also notice that this area was almost always still compared to what the rest of the lagoon was doing regarding wind. Given another opportunity, I probably would have hike high above, totally in the opposite postion that I selected. The towers would be much more visible, not sure what the FG would have looked like - probably lots of rock!

Registered on September 17, 2010, 304 Posts, 3507 Comments

Comment posted by Shantikara Valuska on April 1, 2013 at 5:25 PM

A very nice image. However I agree with you that the rock face on the right is a bit heavy. I don't know the place, so no idea what options you had there.
* oh, I just posted the same time, you already commented on it.

Registered on July 25, 2011, 38 Posts, 451 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Schrayer on April 1, 2013 at 9:04 PM

Beautiful image, Harry. To me this image really conveys a sense of scale. I like the drama and mystery provided by the clouds as well. Of course the light is sweet too.

Registered on May 28, 2004, 114 Posts, 2890 Comments

Comment posted by Ian Cameron on April 2, 2013 at 5:13 AM

Harry I think you did really well full marks for inventive composition. I have not seen one taken from this angle before and I think it makes the towers look amazing. I would love to see this one taken without the foreground slab of cliff lit up, just the towers at the back and I think a couple of steps to the left would have presented a decent foreground namely those rocks jutting out of the water (which incidentally I quite like as they show the precipitous nature of your surroundings) but would open p a view on the partially concealed peak a fraction more. A great effort though good to see a different shot.

Registered on August 6, 2004, 1125 Posts, 3318 Comments

Comment posted by Harry Lichtman on April 2, 2013 at 8:39 AM

Thanks Ian - I have one more image that I got around to processing that I think addresses some of the drawbacks of this that you & others point out, largely the busy feel of the FG. Unfortunatley, you must really move left in order to get a more clear view of the towes, and there was much more water chop as the rocks tend to buffer the water from chop and wind. The shore line rises abruptly in other areas, creating other comp issues.

Registered on September 17, 2010, 304 Posts, 3507 Comments

Comment posted by Morkel Erasmus on April 2, 2013 at 3:06 PM

A stunning location well captured in the golden light.

Registered on March 22, 2011, 385 Posts, 2068 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on April 3, 2013 at 10:06 AM

This is really nice, Harry! I think your comp worked out very nice. I really like the colors in this and the reflections look great. The clouds are a nice addition and certainly add to the mood. Very nice work on this!!

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments

Comment posted by Kathy Barnhart on April 5, 2013 at 12:08 PM

Just saw this version of the more recent post and this looks perfect to my eyes. Really an amazing place and you captured it so well here.

Registered on November 11, 2011, 404 Posts, 1639 Comments

Comment posted by Max Waugh on April 9, 2013 at 6:09 PM

You're bringing back not-so-fond memories, Harry, especially the way you describe that pain of a trail. But I think you were fortunate to have any light. We started at 2:30am or whatever it was and got up there in time for nothing but dense clouds. I could go with either of the images you've presented so far, but I do like the slightly warmer tones here.

Max

Registered on September 26, 2008, 428 Posts, 2329 Comments

Comment posted by Thomas Haney on April 23, 2013 at 4:19 PM

What an amazing scene. I'm sure that being there and seeing all the possibilities make it easy to second-guess the composition, but it looked perfect to me.

Registered on April 7, 2013, 138 Posts, 537 Comments