This image is a personal favorite of mine, taken in the Patagonian winter recently. For me, it marked a personal triumph and communication with this mountain, one I have long held as the pinnacle of peaks on earth that I have seen. On this evening, it felt as though the mountain itself had won its freedom from the clouds. This magnificent, vertically improbable spire of Cerro Torre rises 7000 vertical feet from the glaciers below and as it cleared on this evening it was so beautiful and ghostly in its power, emerging from its veil of clouds, it was all I could do to remember to keep shooting.
I have captured this peak before but although the images were nice, I felt they were too commonplace in comparison to what I’d seen previously. Winter allowed me a unique perspective, with the waters of this glacial river being clear and 1/10 the volume of the muddy spring through autumn flows. The peak is very far away so I found it necessary to shoot with a mid-range length here, something between 55 and 70mm. I did a minor focus stack for DOF. Otherwise, the exposure was 4 seconds, which captured a little wind motion in the sky since it was blowing like crazy on this evening.
After 3 nights and 4 days of waiting in this area for this giant to emerge, and nearly giving up on it, the evening of this capture went from snowfall to intense windstorm to completely clear in less than 1 hour! A large view of this image reveals spindrift avalanches swirling down the cliff faces distant. I shot continuously, managing at this point to capture a fleeting second when the mountain stood alone. I hope you enjoy it and it does something to convey what was a very memorable experience.
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FSD 