Chile photographic diary - The landscapes of Cachagua and Zapallar

Outstanding view from hiking in Cachagua.

Today I’ll start a series of some mini posts about my Chile 2026 trip, which is still ongoing, so I am posting as I travel. I think it’s interesting to experiment with this, and share my photographs with you along the way.

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Zapallar is 165km northwest from Santiago, sandwiched between Papudo, in the north, and Cachagua in the south. This stretch of Pacific coastline, from Papudo to Cachagua, is one of the most exclusive in South America and certainly in Chile.

Penguins enjoying the cold water from the Humboldt current — a cold, low-salinity ocean current that flows north along the western coast of South America.

It is very much like a “mirror” image of Malibu in terms of terrain and types of houses, without the premium price, with better seafood and zero gentrification.

Chile has a bit of everything. Mountains, desert, ocean, beaches (well, there’s a lot of beaches), rocks, landscapes. It’s the perfect place for photography.

Many people think that sunny days are the best ones for landscape photography, that’s a misconception. The best light for landscape photography is cloudy skies and low contrast, because I can photograph in RAW and increase saturation in post, gaining more control by looking to the histogram. If the day is very sunny, there’s a chance you have strong shadows, which don’t provide the best landscape shots.

All the photographs has been taken with the Leica M10-R and a 50mm Summicron f/2 from 1970. I prefer this than the pricey Summilux, as it has more character and it’s not clinically sharp. Most aperture were between f/8 and f/11, and produced zero vignetting.

This lens has some history. I dropped it during my first use and the focus barrel got stuck and the optical elements didn’t move. I sent it to Dag Lens Repair, and Dan did some miracles on remaking the brass threads in it. Now it works like a charm.