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Hello all - Introduction

Lisa

New member
Hi -
I've just joined. Thanks to Jack for the invitation, and to Guy for the warm welcome. For those here who don't know me, I'm a serious amateur whose vacation photos have gotten waaaay out of hand. I'm a Nikon user (I imagine we're a minority here): D200 & IR-converted D70. I've been a regular at the Luminous Landscape's forums for several years now, but I'm happy to have a more personal little forum available here with some people I've already met at Jack's coffee hours, and plan to check in regularly to see how things are going.

If anyone's interested, my travel photos are at:

http://www.stanford.edu/~melkor/lisa_pictures/lisa_pictures.html

Ciao -
Lisa
 

Attachments

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
Hi Lisa, great to have you here! Your input and images are always welcome. BTW, did you get your printer working back to normal?

Cheers,
 

Lisa

New member
Man, you're quick, Jack - you must be living in front of your computer! :p

I haven't tried printing from CS3 again since I was having problems. I'm printing from CS2 for now, and am loathe to attempt any drastic "fixes" that might break other things (since everything else works fine). It actually fits my workflow OK to do it this way, so I'll stick with this until bug fixes for CS3 come out, or until I get a new PC (which is pretty soon now, as mine is getting pretty old).

Lisa

P.S. I'm frantically trying to finish the photos from my last trip (Kauai) before my next one (Patagonia) in a couple of weeks, and they aren't posted yet, but here's my two favorites so far:

http://www.stanford.edu/~melkor/lisa_pictures/misc2/Kauai0907_10113_1024.jpg

http://www.stanford.edu/~melkor/lisa_pictures/misc2/Kauai0907_10008_1024.jpg
 

Lars

Active member
Hi Lisa,

What are your destinations in Patagonia? I've spent six months in Chile and Argentina, might be able to answer some questions.

Lars
 

Lisa

New member
Hi Lars -

Thanks very much for the offer! We're flying into Punta Arenas, renting a 4WD, and driving to Torres del Paine park in Chile and to Los Glaciares park in Argentina (both the El Calafate area and the El Chalten area), to do day hiking and photography. We already have our lodging reservations (which were *tough* to get even four months ahead!). We also have hiking guidebooks and good topo maps, so we have a pretty good idea of where we want to go regarding hiking in the parks. (And we have pretty good foul-weather hiking gear, which I imagine is a necessity in that part of the world...)

One big question mark is whether there's hiking in the El Calafate area. There are viewing platforms for the tour bus crowd at the Perito Moreno Glacier, but I haven't found any mentions of trails or other places to go or things to do in that area. We'll have about a day and a half there, so if you've been there and done anything else interesting there, I'd be happy to hear about it.

Also, there are boat tours on some of the lakes near Perito Moreno and one of the lakes in Paine. Do you know whether we need to reserve them well ahead of time, or can we just show up and get on a boat?

I'm also very happy to hear any suggestions for interesting or photogenic things "off the beaten path" in the areas we're visiting!

Thanks,
Lisa
 

Lars

Active member
Lisa,

I've been to all those areas, though travelling backpacker-style rather than rented 4WD so my budget was probably "slightly" smaller :) Didnt have any problem w finding accommodation in El Chalten or Puerto Natales - this was December 2003 - but then I was staying in hostels. Torres del Paine is surely where it is difficult to find hotel rooms, I slept in my tent and in Refugio Chileno which at that time (1999) was brand new.

Photography at Torres del Paine, sunrise seems to be the key. Weather changes fast, I'm sure you know about that. I didnt hike up to Mirador Las Torres for dawn, it's a long hike. The good thing is you get a majestic view of the three pillars facing southeast, so it is good for sunrise. The hike from Refugio Chileno was over two hours, moderately difficult. Bring a flashlight/headlight, as you have to start out from Refugio Chileno when it is still pitch dark (4AM).

Otherwise, the reflections in the lakes south of the mountains at dawn can be fantastic. Afternoon weather is often cloudy so use the mornings well.

I took the boat from Pudeto over Lago Pehoe to get to the trailhead round the massif. It was just drop-in but this was nine years ago, there are a lot more tourists there now.

Here is a decent overview map: http://www.torresdelpaine.com/ingles/secciones/02/a/popup/3.htm Notice how the lakes are close to the mountains - the key is to get to the other side of the lake to get a good reflection - and hope for no wind.

Glaciar Grey can be photogenic up close, but not so much from a distance. it's a long hike from the trailhead. Id' say it's not worth it if you are limited in time.

El Calafate: The town itself is pretty boring and far from the mountains, the real attraction is Perito Moreno. I camped about 5 km from Perito Moreno, to get there at sunrise. No interesting hikes around town.

Here is a link to my travel journal from the 1999 trip, and some photos. The journal is not complete, I lost some pages for that week. http://www.vinberg.nu/pages/1999-01-14-puertovarastopuerton.htm

As you can probably see from my photos, the best light at Perito Moreno is at dawn and early morning. The sun reflects in the lake, lighting up the side of the glacier in a spectacular way. Also notice the afternoon shots from where I camped, the view back to the glacier is not bad, especially with loose ice drifting in the lake. You'll recognize the place as you drive by, the water is about 400 meters from the road as far as I recall.

El Chalten... I went there in 2003. Your best friends are ND grads and factor 50 sunblock. Once again, the best light is at dawn and early morning. Once the morning sun hits the peaks at full strength, the contrast level is incredible. Even if you have a sunlit foreground it will be 5-8 stops down from the peaks. Bring ND grads, lots of them. I have 1-2-3 stops, both soft and hard. You'll be in better shape shooting digital so you can review the results on location, I was shooting 6x12 and 4x5 slide film and looking back I'm not happy with the results.

My journal notes from 2003 (no pics): http://www.vinberg.nu/pages/2003-11-23.htm

Here are some pics from my weeks in Patagonia in 2003. Only one from Chalten, and I have to admit it looks a bit edited. http://www.8x10.se/pages/collectiongallery.asp?id=12

Finally, a place you are not going to and a bit hard to get to (airplane, car, hiking, boat, and finally waders): These are caves, in blue-white marble, sculptured by ice. http://www.8x10.se/pages/collectiongallery.asp?id=21

Hope this helps,

Lars
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
I just made a new forum folks for travel destinations. Thanks to Lars suggestion. So if Lars and Lisa want to start it up that would be awesome , be the first to post.:D
 

Lisa

New member
Lars - I've restarted the Patagonia discussion in the new Destinations forum. Please see my post there!

Lisa
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Great Lisa you get the honor of first post ever. Maybe we should give out T shirts . LOL

Actually i have a guy here in town that can do just that for us that is a good friend of my wife.
 
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