Kazimierz Casey Zajko is a landscape and wildlife photographer living in Victoria, British Columbia Canada.

Why do we take pictures? What makes us leave our warm beds at night to reach the vantage point before first light hits the mountain tops?

Many years ago, I was in El Chalten, Patagonia – a small mountain village with spectacular views of Mt. Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre, which I had planned to photograph. Five weeks before that while playing soccer, I had broken my ankle. 

Nevertheless, still wearing a short cast, I walked slowly and painfully in the dark with my headlamp on, for about 3km towards the viewpoint, “Mirador de los Condores” – the ultimate place to view these iconic mountains at sunrise. I had left early as I didn’t want to miss this magic moment and arrived with plenty of time to set up my camera.

Depending on weather, location and especially cloud cover, the transition from the period of darkness to daylight can be gradual, uneventful, and unremarkable, in a way that makes you sigh and think in frustration: “Oh, please, not again!”… but sometimes, if we are lucky, the process is awe-inspiring, magical, fascinating, and delightful. This was one such morning!

The first light gave some color to the upper clouds, which grew more vivid with every minute. Slowly it touched the lower clouds until the entire face of Mt. Fitz Roy was glowing an intense red. I couldn’t believe my eyes and how fortunate I was, watching the miracle of nature gradually unfolding in front of me in complete solitude. I had that silly and happy feeling that everything around was happening just for me, as if I was The Chosen One. (He He).

In a moment of total bliss, one can easily forget about the pain, discomfort, tired legs, bears and pumas. Taking a deep breath and with a big smile, one can only say – “Yeah!!! I think I got it! Thank you!”

Please feel welcome to visit and view my Galleries for more of these magical moments.