Southern Patagonia is for landscapes, vast, large and iconic. In my travels there, wildlife appeared limited, plenty of Guancos, a couple of Rheas sightings, occasional condors or other birds of prey overhead. Only in Torres Del Paine did I see a fox and some water foul. In Torres Del Paine the Guanacos and fox were sighted right off the road. On the trails I saw no wildlife. Other then the Morino glacier, the known landmarks e.g. Las Torres are at the end of a long hike. Carrying gear should be a major consideration. Weight and waterproofness on top of the list. For these reasons I took one lens, the Nikon 18-200 VR mounted on a Nikon D200 and a polarizing filter, worked well, no other lens was needed. I carried the camera in a chest holster "binered" to my backpack's shoulder straps D rings for easy on off.

The major photographic challenge in Patagonia is the weather. When the light i.e. sun is visible it's easy to get great shots, but when it's cloudy and rainy the wonderful landscapes turn blah. I could not solve this problem, so I focused on flowers with rain drops, but in March there are almost no flowers in Patagonia. The flora is not particularly photogenic, there are interesting shapes to the trees but not anything special. So, I waited for the light on the magnificent peaks and when it happens it is magical. Another feature that is worth mentioning, that I think is unique to the area, are the fantastic lenticular clouds, called lenticular due to the lens-shaped appearance. These clouds are formed by so-called mountain waves of air created by strong winds ...typical Patagonia weather. At sunset they light up, fantastic. I have a couple of photos of such clouds in the galleries and photos,

Finally, take extra batteries if you shoot digital, the huts have no electricity. Other then some consumer films, do not expect to find any photo supplies once you leave the larger cities.