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Extraordinary Experiences
28 • Vacations
®
•
Fall 2018
Renowned photographer Ossian
Lindholm has been taking tourists
to Quebrada de las Conchas for more
than two decades. He’s considered
a pioneer in “photo safaris.”
Vacations® •
Fall 2018 • 29
Like two snakes curving in unison, Route 68 meanders
alongside the Rio de las Conchas through a mountainous
desert at the edge of the Andes called Quebrada de las
Conchas. It’s part of a system of ridges and valleys stretching
across northwestern Argentina, each with its own distinctive
landscape.
Steep gorges rise from the riverbed below, exposing
layers of red, blue and green sandstone shaped by erosion.
A wide, golden layer, the Yacoraite Line, marks the extinction
date of the dinosaurs, which is why geologists love it here.
Photographers, too. This place is a visual feast – wild,
colourful, and nearly empty except for our little tour bus.
“Ah, a beautiful composition, see? Did you get it? The
colours are amazing,” exclaims Ossian Lindholm, one of
Latin America’s most respected landscape and wildlife
photographers. He’s observing the settings of my Fuji
X-T2 camera.
With a few quick adjustments to shutter speed and
aperture dials, Lindholm transforms the sandstone into vivid
multicolour, and the bleached sky into a perfect robin’s-egg
blue. “Pick the brightest point in the sky to metre to,” he
continues, “and remember never to shoot at a lower speed
than your focal length.”
Lindholm, author of five books and 14 calendars, and host
of a weekly television show has been taking tourists to
Quebrada de las Conchas for more than two decades, about
as long as he’s been a professional photographer. He’s
considered a pioneer in “photo safaris.”
EL ANFITEATRO ©SARAH STAPLES
©OSSIAN LINDHOLM
RIO DE LAS CONCHAS ©OSSIAN LINDHOLM
Photo Safari in
ARGENTINA
By Sarah Staples