I am proud to announce that my favorite image from 2008 is “Torres Dramatic Sunrise“. I created this image in Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park in the region of South America better known as Patagonia. I’ve been familiar with these mountains since well before I even knew what a mountain looked like. I was first introduced to the Patagonia clothing company by my Uncle Jerry way back in junior high school while growing up in Michigan. While I was very active in rock-climbing and mountaineering during the 90′s, I read a number of amazing stories about climbing the famous granite spires of the region. Even though I am no longer interested in technical climbing, I had always wanted to visit these legendary mountains and in 2007 I finally had the opportunity to do so. I loved the spectacular scenery so much, that I went back last January. I did not have enough time during my first trip to backpack to the famous Los Torres viewpoint, so I made it my main objective on this second visit. It is a 16 mile roundtrip hike up to the Torres campground, so in order to photograph the mountains at sunrise you need to camp overnight. I took enough food and equipment to spend 5 days and had uncommonly good weather. Every morning I would get up an hour before sunrise to hike up the ridge to the famous viewpoint and wait for the sunrise. I did this 4 days in a row, and on my final day I got lucky when the clouds parted for a brief moment and the sunrise light illuminated the spires in golden light. Patagonia is one of my favorite travel destinations and I am going back again on January 25 for 15 days. I am going to have a photographic rematch with Mt Fitz Roy and the elusive Cerro Torre in Los Glaciares National Park. It takes a lot of energy to travel that far for a couple of images, but the results are worth the effort. I created this image using my Pentax 67II, 75mm lens, Singh-Ray 2-stop Hard GND filter, Gitzo Basalt tripod, Acratech Ultimate ballhead, Fuji Velvia 50 film at f22 and 3 seconds.

I bumped into my friend and actor Tom Skerritt yesterday down at the Madison Park Starbucks. Tom is best known for his roles in the movies Alienand Top Gun. He was out for a walk with his wife Julie and their little baby girl. I asked him about his Detroit Tigers ballcap and whether he was from Michigan? I was also born and raised in Michigan, so we got to talking about how unfortunate the economy is back there and the auto industry bailout. Eventually, we got to talking about the changes going on in Hollywood, and how every industry is changing from the old business model to whatever is next? GM and Ford were doing great 10 years ago selling SUVs, but now they are broke. The music industry use to sell CD’s for $17, but now many bands are independently releasing their own records online and selling via iTunes. Photographers use to be able to let stock agencies sell their images, but now the internet has allowed everyone to market their work. I think that there will always be a place for professional photographers, it is just a matter of figuring out what that new place is going to be.

So, back to my top 10 favorite images from 2008. This image “Cuernos Sunrise Panorama” was created last February in Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park. It was my second visit to this incredible location. I had scouted the park during my first visit in 2007 and knew that I needed to come back with a slightly longer lens than I had at the time for the panoramic image that I envisioned. Several days in a row, I got up very early in the morning and drove to this viewpoint hoping to capture a dramatic sunrise. In order to set up my camera and tripod, I had to use the tiny rental car as a windbreak against the powerful winds that are constantly blowing in Patagonia. Even with the front element of the lens barely poking out from behind the car, I was lucky to get a few sharp images without any camera movement. I used my Fotoman 612 panoramic camera, Nikkor 210mm lens, Singh-Ray Lighter Brighter Warming Polarizer, Gitzo Basalt tripod, Acratech Ultimate ballhead, Fuji Velvia 50 film, at f22 and 6 seconds.

I have just returned from a 14 day trip to Patagonia. It took me over 27 hours of travel to fly from El Calafate back to Seattle. I spent 5 days backpacking and trying to photograph the famous Torres at sunrise. I was fortunate that I was able to photograph the spires 4 mornings in a row. I had to hike up a big hill for about an hour every day to be in place for the sunrise. On my final attempt, the wind was just screaming and it was very difficult to shoot. Right as this cloud came over the top of the spires, there was a brief lull in the wind and I was able to capture one frame that was sharp at the peak of the drama.

Please visit more of my Torres Del Paine National Park Photography from Patagonia.