Join Thomas Heaton as he photographs dead forests in Patagonia

posted Sunday, April 21, 2019 at 6:00 AM EDT

In 2011, a visitor to Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia triggered a fire. This forest fire forever changed the park. Some affected species of trees have begun to regrow, but it takes them over a century to reach maturity, so the effects of the fire will be very long lasting. Photographer Thomas Heaton recently traveled to Patagonia to photograph numerous landscapes, including the dead forests of Patagonia.

In the video below, we go behind the scenes with Heaton as he explores the skeletal trees and searches for compositions, including using the trees to frame the massive mountains in the background. In a situation like this, Heaton is being particularly careful with the edges of the frame. There are so many trees and branches sprawling throughout the scene, it requires care to ensure that no rogue branches make their way into his frame and to ensure that the entire tree he is focused on is contained within his image.