Atlantic Ocean, Jökulsárlón Iceland
Quietness along the Atlantic Ocean in Jökulsárlón, Iceland.
Shooting Notes:
Camera: Alpa Max | Lens: Schneider 47mm xl | Capture: Phase One P45 | ISO: 50
This moment will forever be frozen in my memory. It was cold–no it was freezing!! But, there was a calmness like no other time before in my memory. I struggled with the coldness to use my big camera because for me, it was a big moment. My hands were freezing even with the Icelandic wool gloves I was wearing. My feet were frozen in places underneath two pairs of wool socks and boots, but I was determined to make a capture. I did worry about the battery in my digital back getting too cold and not pulling the shot, so I had two backups kept warm inside my waist pack underneath my layers of clothing and coat. This image was captured with a few seconds of exposure (the reason for the fluffy looking wave). What you do not see here is the point that this shoreline makes about 50 feet to the right. I was standing on a very small piece of shore with the Atlantic Ocean and small bits of icebergs surrounding me. There were icebergs floating by on the right side of the point with birds resting on top. A curious seal swam nearby and would poke his head up and take a look at me every so often. The sound of the gentle waves, cold air, and ocean birds feeding and squawking is actually in this shot if you listen and look deep enough.
In: Iceland · Tagged with: Alpa, Atlantic Ocean, Iceland, Jökulsárlón, Phase One P45, Schneider 47mm xl, Shore, Wave
Jökulsárlón, The Glacier Lagoon
Jökulsárlón The Glacier Lagoon
Shooting Notes:
Camera: Canon G9 | Lens: 7.4mm – 44.4 mm| f4.8 @ 1/1250 | ISO: 80
Jökulsárlón is the largest glacial lake in Iceland and is not far from the Icelandic Ring Road. It is located at the south end of the glacier Vatnajökull between Skaftafell National Park and Höfn. Appearing for the first time in 1934-1935, the lake grew from 5 square miles in 1975 to at least 11 square miles today because of heavy melting of the Icelandic glaciers. Approaching a depth of 656 feet, Jökulsárlón is now probably the second deepest lake in Iceland and is filled with icebergs, which are calving off the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier. Jökulsárlón is separated from the sea only by a short distance, and with the combined action of the glacier and the river that empties from the lake, the ocean may eventually transform it into an inlet of the sea.
In: Iceland · Tagged with: Canon G9, Glacier Lagoon, Iceland, Jökulsárlón
Highway 1 – The Ring Road
Click on photo for a larger view!
Shooting Notes:
Camera: Nikon D700 | Lens: 20 mm| f22 @ 1/50 | Pano: Three Horizontal Stitches
Iceland Highway 1, also known as the ‘Ring Road’ is the country’s main road. It travels like a flowing ring along the coast, connecting the habitable parts of the country (the interior of the island being uninhabited). The total length of the road is 832 miles. The circle was finished in 1974 to celebrate the country’s 1100 years of settlement when the longest bridge in Iceland over Skeiðará river in Southern Iceland was opened.
I shot this view a few feet from my vehicle in the rain. At first stopping, I was in awe of the mountain on the left and wanted to photograph a panoramic of it. I walked about a quarter of a mile into the landscape and started setting up my medium format gear, but soon learned the oncoming storm was traveling much quicker than I anticipated. When the raindrops started falling on me and my gear, I packed up the Max (Alpa Max camera), and headed to the car to retrieve my D700.
This panoramic was stitched from three horizontal shots and nothing fancy–just fast. Not exactly what I had in mind initially, but I had to memorialize this awesome mountain and remember how it made me feel standing there with it–an awesome feeling of geometric proportions! 
In: Iceland · Tagged with: D700, Highway 1, Iceland, Mountain, Ring Road
The Dyrhólaey Lighthouse
The Dyrhólaey Lighthouse built in 1927.
Shooting Notes:
Camera: Nikon D700 | Lens: 20 mm| f22 @ 1/25 | Filter: Singh-Ray Vari-ND
The current lighthouse was built in 1927, but the very first lighthouse was built on Dyrhólaey in 1910. The building materials for this 1927 building were transported by boat to the port of Dyrhólahöfn and then pulled up onto the promontory via a cable located on the shore. The lighthouse is active; with a focal plane of 118 m (387 ft); a white flash every 10 s. 13 m (43 ft). It’s design consists of a square cylindrical masonry tower with lantern and gallery rising from the center of a 1-story keeper’s cottage. It’s height is a total of three-stories.
During the first decades after the lighthouse was built, the lighthouse keeper had a sheep-cote and a barn not far from the lighthouse, and around the houses he grew grass and made hay. (Source: local info and Lighthouses of East and South Iceland).
Interesting Read:
A captivating story of an Italian journalist’s experiences serving temporarily as Keeper at the Lighthouse of Dyrhólaey.
In: Iceland · Tagged with: Iceland
View from Dyrhólaey
Dyrhólaey on Iceland’s southernmost tip, is reached via an unsurfaced road that leads to a very rocky plateau. The rocky plateau is 360-feet high (110 m), and it is here you can get an excellent view of the southern coastline.
Flowers and foliage growing on basaltic rock in Dyrhólaey, Iceland.
Shooting Notes:
Camera: Nikon D700 | Lens: 70-300 mm @ 70mm| f32 @ 1/15 | Filter: Singh-Ray Vari-ND
To get an idea of the scale size of these rocks, notice the fence at the top of the basalt rocks and the bird in flight. Beautiful purple flowers and greenery await the on coming storm. Up next will be the Dyrhólaey lighthouse.
In: Iceland · Tagged with: Dyrhólaey Iceland Travel Basalt Rocks, Iceland
Reynisdrangar, Southern Iceland
This was the first place I landed after the Reykjavik airport. It was about a 2.5 hour drive full of green and black terrain, dotted with the occasional rain storm. A very nice Romanian photographer named Leonard drove me to Reynisdrangar in a comfortable Nissan Patrol (not available in the US). By the time we arrived, I had slept some and was ready to take my first footsteps into the Icelandic wilderness.
Reynisdrangar are basalt sea stacks under the mountain Reynisfjall near the village Vik i Myrda.
Shooting Notes:
Camera: Nikon D700 | Lens: 70-300 mm | Filter: Singh-Ray Vari-ND
According to legend, the Reynisdrangar Needles (rock formations to the right in the water) were formed when two trolls were trying to drag a three-masted ship to land. After daylight broke, they turned to stone. The Needles can be seen clearly from the village of Vík (more photos upcoming) and are about 217 feet/66 meters above sea level at their highest point. In one of the many caves there – a local legend exists about a monster having lived there for many centuries. The monster seems to have disappeared after a landslide over 100 years ago.
The original settlers to Iceland brought Norse and Celtic mythology with them. The original Eddas and sagas are read even by today’s school children in Iceland. After generations of Icelanders surrounded by the spectacular landscape and oceans, other tales have been added that have a uniquely Icelandic flavor. I knew there was a reason Beowulf was required reading in my English 101 class!
In: Iceland · Tagged with: Iceland
Empty Barns
Somewhere along Highway #1 heading southeast from Reykjavík, Iceland.
Leaving Iceland was not so easy — I wanted to stay longer.
This is an image of what I saw driving from Reykjavík and heading southeast towards Dyrhólaey on Highway #1. In fact, I saw a lot of these types of farm structures along Highway #1 with grazing or sleeping sheep close by. It was always very beautiful. One thing I wish I had on my camera but did not, is a GPS recorder for Geo-tagging. I thought my iPhone with a pro-photography app would do the trick, but I had no phone service! Since I camped out part of the time, my iPhone battery did not hold up when I used some of the apps installed on it. Bad planning on my part!
Shooting Notes:
Camera: Nikon D700 | Lens: 70-300 mm | Filter: Singh-Ray Vari-ND
I generally travel very light as a photographer as I get sentimental over one or two lenses and that is usually my kit. But, since I always shoot with a tripod (unless I am walking around doing grab shots), and a 77 mm Vari-ND filter and hood, things start to get a bit heavier for me inside my pack. My technique is simple, I want to be able to control the light as much as possible with as little gear as possible.
On this trip to Iceland, I decided to take three cameras: an Alpa Max with a Schneider 47mm xl lens, my wonderful Nikon D700 with a 20mm and a 70-300 mm lens, and lastly, my snapshot camera, the dependable Canon G9.
Empty Barns was shot with the D700 and 70-300 mm lens on tripod with shutter cable. Three bracketed one-stop exposures were made using the histogram as my light meter reference. Image was finished in PS (CS5) with the blending of the three exposures as layers. This is not typical HDR, but exposure blending. Texture was real important to me to capture in the wood and rocks, so I emphasized a bit of tonal contrast wanting more details in the wood than in the lava rock.
I got lucky that day since the sun was shinning when I drove past the scene. Read the rest of this post »
In: Iceland · Tagged with: Iceland