Zephyr by TedGore

One of the experiences I desired to have while in Patagonia was the hurricane force winds of Torre Del Paine, and they obliged in full force while I was there. On this particular morning, it was third day of high winds that I had experienced, and I spent the prior two days just trying to figure out how to manage shooting a photograph in them. I woke to unfavorable skies at the front end of several days of rain that was coming into the area, and despite it not looking great, I went anyway because I knew this was probably my last chance as the winds where forecast to die down that day. I have no way of telling how hard the wind was actually blowing, but forecasts were suggesting that the gusts were somewhere in the vicinity of 80mph! It is unreal, and easily the most exciting time I’ve spent shooting photography so far… on par with shooting the lava ocean entry on the Hawaiian islands. I have no way to describe the feeling, so I found a video on youtube that demonstrates the experience pretty well. WATCH THIS, and then imagine being in the water, behind a camera, trying to take pictures. Yeah. Just insanity. So despite the seemingly unfavorable skies, there was just enough of a break that allowed the rising sun to power through a bit as the clouds of lake mist, picked up off the surface of the lake and rocketed across the landscape from the high winds. There were points where all I could do was brace myself, and my tripod, lean into the gust and wait for it pass, hopefully getting a few shots off in the meantime. I have another image from the same morning that focuses more on the chaos of wind and waves. I liked the leading lines formed by the wind blown, ocean like waves on the turquoise waters of Lago Nordenskjold. On my hike back, while cresting over a small hill where the winds where particularly strong, a gust began to pick up small pebbles and pelt my backside with them. All I could do was lay down and use my pack as a shield until the gust passed. Just craziness, and such an awesome experience. via 500px http://bit.ly/1VUzvsD