Vicuña at dusk on the Salar de Uyuni

That's not water, it's salt. At dusk the blinding glare of the white salt plain softened. The sun left the salar and briefly lit distant mountains and clouds. Three vicuña settled down on the plain a long way out from the shore. I guess they were as safe there as anywhere — nothing could sneak up on them there.


[23 October 2011, Panasonic Lumix GH1, 100–300 mm at 300 mm, ISO 100, 1/30 at f8]


All content © 2012 Pete McGregor

Aerial at dusk, Huaraz

Huaraz, in Peru's Cordillera Blanca, was a highlight of my time in South America. The wonderful people I spent time with there — other travellers as well as locals — played a big part in that impression, but so did the Cordillera. Often the light in the evenings was nothing short of astonishing. This is the view from my rooftop.


[8 October 2011, Panasonic Lumix GH1, 100–300 mm at 100 mm, ISO 200, 1/125 at f8]

All content © 2012 Pete McGregor

Wind cloud, Puerto Natales

We boarded the ferry in the evening to sleep aboard in readiness for a pre-dawn departure. Many of us stayed on deck watching the last light fade and the wind clouds form over mountains, fjords, water. I took one last look at Puerto Natales, knowing in all likelihood I might never see it again.


[6 December 2011, Panasonic Lumix GH1, 14–45 mm at 14 mm, ISO 200, 1/100 at f8]

All content © 2012 Pete McGregor

Blue boat, low tide, Puerto Natales

To most travellers, Puerto Natales is little more than a stopover en route to the Torres del Paine or Tierra del Fuego and Ushuaia. But I loved it for its own sake — so much so, I even half-wondered how I might settle down there, at least for a few months. Maybe work on my shamefully poor Spanish, write, wander, photograph the endlessly fascinating shoreline.


[4 December 2011, Panasonic Lumix GH1, 14–45 mm at 14 mm, ISO 100, 1/160 at f16]

All content © 2012 Pete McGregor

River at Campamento Italiano, PN Torres del Paine [II]

Another view of the river, this time from above.


[21 November 2011, Panasonic Lumix GH1, 14–45 mm at 14 mm, ISO 100, 1/10 at f16]

All content © 2012 Pete McGregor

River at Campamento Italiano, PN Torres del Paine

Same place as this photograph, one day later, a different feel. Everywhere I travelled, I felt compelled to photograph flowing water. Here in the mountains of Chile, so similar to Aotearoa in so many ways, the compulsion felt even stronger.

[21 November 2011, Panasonic Lumix GH1, 14–45 mm at 14 mm, ISO 100, 1/8 at f16]

All content © 2012 Pete McGregor

Dawn, Lake Malawi

At dawn on the shores of Lake Malawi in 2007, I looked out towards Mozambique, somewhere out of sight on the far side of the lake. A few fishermen tried their luck far out on the water in their tiny dugout canoes; a pair of hammerkops preened at the water's edge; a big, well fed dog padded along the sand. I'd have been happy to stay there indefinitely.


[20 May 2007, Canon 20D, 24–105 mm f4 L at 73 mm, ISO 400, 1/20s at f16]

All content © 2012 Pete McGregor

Elephant, South Luangwa

South Luangwa National Park in Zambia seems like a long time ago, but proximity to wild elephants is something that remains vivid — intensely so.


[11 May 2007, Canon 20D, 300 mm f4 L IS, ISO 200, 1/200 at f6.3]


All content © 2012 Pete McGregor