Tag:Chile

Santiago

Aiming high in Santiago

My first visit to Santiago was when I was fifteen years old, on a family ski trip to the resorts of La Parva and then Portillo. Good skiing, great après-ski, amazing views, incredibly strong sun at that altitude that I remember burnt my exposed neck worse than I’ve ever been burnt before (imagine an oozing turtle-neck skin!), it was a good time to be an irresponsible teen. My visit this time was a little less exclusive, arriving bleary eyed on the […]

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Puerto Varas and the Burn-out

The Boat and the Border From Bariloche, I hopped on a boat and crossed the border into Chile, heading for Puerto Varas. Having read a few reviews before undertaking this leg of the journey, I would like to point out that the boat rides themselves, with the necessary bus intermissions to join up the lakes, are not that particularly impressive or luxurious – they do the job, nothing special. It is what nature throws up in front of you that takes the […]

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Gran Torre Santiago

Photo of the Day: The Costanera Centre in Santiago

The Costanera Centre in Santiago, Chile, has some pretty impressive stats. It has the largest mall in all South America and the Gran Torre Santiago, at 300 metres, makes it the highest building on the continent too. I did walk around the mall but was a little overwhelmed by the scale and had to retreat to a less shopping-frenzied environment. One good thing about having packed to the limit is that I have no room to buy anything, so can walk away […]

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Photo of the Day: A Blue Home

After being holed up in bed for two days with fever, I only had a day to walk around the beautiful lakeside resort town of Puerto Varas in Chile. The centre of town looks a little more polished, ready for the regular influx of visitors during the summer break, but it doesn’t take long to venture out and find some of the traditional wooden homes looking a little worse for wear. Photographers like to call it ‘character’, but this rundown home in […]

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Guard dog

Photo of the Day: Alpha Dog

Sony A7RII : f4.5@250th : ISO 320 : EV 0.0 : FE 55mm f/1.8 If I was a dog, this is how I would want to look. Nothing flashy, just fit, alert and ready to do the deed, when necessary. He took one look at me, decided I wasn’t going to be a problem and carried on checking out the surroundings. And there was none of that barking business, waste of effort when your stare is as hard as that. I’m pretty […]

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Wash basin

Photo of the Day: An Ordinary Day

Sony A7RII : f/5.6@250th : ISO 2000 : EV +1.0 : FE 55mm f/1.8 I appreciate a beautiful landscape, or a good portrait, but capturing an ordinary day in a moment is special too. There’s something that comes from concentrating a little slice of life into a single frame. I love the balance of all the elements, the colours from the domestic items, the curve of the tap, the blue light on the curtain against the warm wall behind… I […]

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Photo of the Day: Border guard

Sony A7RII : f/3.5@320th : ISO 100 : EV -0.3 : FE 55mm f/1.8 How about this for a portrait of a quintessential border guard. I saw him striding over when there was a queue of us waiting to cross into Chile from Argentina, somewhere between Bariloche and Puerto Varas. He said it was okay for me to take his portrait, but there was no way that expression was ever going to change. I asked him to move over to […]

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Photo of the Day: Boat Stop

Sony A7RII : f6.3@250th : ISO 125 : EV 0.0 : FE 55mm f/1.8 When you’re waiting for a bus, it’s called a bus stop. When you’re waiting for a boat, it must be called a boat stop, no? This was taken halfway between Bariloche in Argentina and Puerto Varas in Chile. It is a rather impressive journey, with tall mountains on either side. You can do a similar route by bus, but I thought I’d spoil myself a little […]

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