As outdoor photographers, there are places in the world that beckon to us to explore their photographic wonders. The pull of exotic landscapes bathed in warm light, and huge swaths of wide open areas packed with an abundance of wildlife, are draws impossible to resist for inquisitive adventurers. One of the places at the top of my to-do list was the incomparable Patagonia region of southern Chile.
There is so much to photograph and explore in Patagonia, so I decided to narrow my vision to Torres del Paine National Park, and more specifically, the wildlife that calls it home. Most prominent of these animals, and what truly piqued my interest, are the park’s famous pumas. With buy-in from local estancias (ranches) that border the park, the pumas have a massive area where there are free to be wild without persecution from hunting and trapping. Because of this, the puma population in Torres del Paine and the surrounding area is absolutely booming.
Sony a1 Camera
600mm, F4.5, 1/400s, ISO 1000
The ultimate wildlife photography zoom lens
My lens of choice for pumas, and all the wildlife I encountered, was the brand new Sigma 300-600mm F4 DG OS | Sports lens. This is a de-facto professional grade lens the likes of which have never been seen before and I put it to good use. In my time there, I saw 17 individual pumas over the course of about 25 encounters. As far as I know, this is not possible anywhere else in the world. That’s what makes this place so special. Of course not every encounter would result in photos but enough did that I was able to get plenty of great photos. In addition to pumas I was able to photograph Andean condors, grey foxes, rheas, an austral pygmy owl, black chested eagles, and of course plenty of guanacos.
Sony a1 Camera
600mm, F5, 1/1600s, ISO 1000
Sony a1 Camera
600mm, F4, 1/1000s, ISO 1250
Sony a1 Camera
395mm, F6.3, 1/500s, ISO 1250
The 300-600mm F4 DG OS | Sports was absolutely perfect for photographing wildlife in the park. The optics are stunningly sharp with nice contrast and great color. The HLA autofocus motor is ultra fast, and when using Animal Eye AF in my camera, it locked on to my subject and consistently yielded professional results. The lens is big and fairly heavy, similar to 500mm and 600mm F4 primes from other lens makers. However, in direct comparisons to other photographers’ setups, mine was usually a bit smaller and lighter. I was able to hand hold the lens for numerous images, but I also had it mounted on a tripod for many of my photos and videos.
One of my favorite features of the 300-600mm F4 DG OS | Sports is the fact that it’s a zoom that shoots like a prime. There were times when the pumas would come incredibly close, and while other photographers were forced to swap lenses to get the shot, I could simply zoom out! I also love the fast F4 constant aperture. I shot it wide open while recording video clips in pre-dawn light. For still images, the F4 aperture was wonderful for isolating my subjects are rally making them “pop” from their environments. The bottom line here is that you are really getting four ultra-quality F4 prime lenses in a single lens. Oh…and did I mention it’s half the price of one prime lens? Just incredible.
Sony a1 Camera
395mm, F4.5, 1/1600s, ISO 1000
Sony a1 Camera
561mm, F4.5, 1/2000s, ISO 1000
Sony a1 Camera
600mm, F4, 1/1000s, ISO 1000
Sony a1 Camera
600mm, F4, 1/2000s, ISO 160
Torres del Paine National Park is well known to landscape photographers for the combination of lustrous low-angle light of the southern latitudes and soaring rock spires of the Cuernos and Towers. While most of my efforts were focused on pumas, I had to get a few images of this iconic place. With the 300-600mm F4 DG OS | Sports, I had the versatility to try different compositions without moving or changing lenses, not to mention gorgeous compression for unique-looking landscape photos.
Sony a1 Camera
300mm, F5.6, 1/500s, ISO 400
Sony a1 Camera
300mm, F6.3, 1/800s, ISO 400
Sony a1 Camera
451mm, F5.6, 1/800s, ISO 640
My Sigma lens kit for travel and storytelling
Flying halfway around the globe to one of the most photogenic places on earth, I’d be crazy not to also shoot some landscapes and culture. To help me tell those stories I brought a few of my favorite lenses: the Sigma 16-28mm F2.8 DG DN | Contemporary, 24-70mm F2.8 DG DN II | Art, and the 70-200mm F2.8 DG DN OS | Sports. This kit has traveled with me all over the world and images from them have been used for cover shots, features length editorial stories and major commercial ad campaigns. I trust this lens trio to get the job done beautifully and once again they handled everything I threw at them.
Sony a1 Camera
16mm, F3.5, 1/320s, ISO 2000
Sony a1 Camera
40mm, F16, 30s, ISO 250
Sony a1 Camera
192mm, F9, 0.6s, ISO 100
Another highlight was a visit to Estancia San Louis. This is a working sheep ranch long owned by a local family. While there, one of the gauchos was rounding up some sheep and even showed us how he sheared them. The gaucho working his dogs and sheep with the Towers in the background made for some very classic images of Patagonia and was a blast to photograph.
Sony a1 Camera
24mm, F9, 1/800s, ISO 800
Sony a1 Camera
70mm, F6.3, 1/800s, ISO 400
I booked my trip to Patagonia though Chile Nativo. Their intimate knowledge of the area was evident, and the glamping (fancy camping) at Riverside Camp was incredibly cool. My guide, Santiago, was super helpful and made finding the pumas and the landscape areas very easy. The team was great to work with, and if you want to go I would highly recommend them. To get there, I flew to Punta Arenas and rented a car. You could also fly into Puerto Natales, which is closer to Torres del Paine, but is quite a bit more expensive.
Final thoughts
Whether you go for wildlife, landscapes or general travel, a trip to Patagonian Chile is something every adventure photographer should put on their list. If your itinerary includes wildlife photography, consider bringing the Sigma 300-600mm F4 DG OS | Sports lens. For me, it was critical to getting my very best images. And bring the rest of your Sigma lenses to photograph the people and the views. You won’t regret it. If you have any questions feel free to reach out. Hope to see you out there!
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