May 042013
 

This odd rock was actually the middle of a giant print of a horseshoe. I don’t remember the exact story, but the belief is that one of the gods was riding his giant horse and it stepped here, leaving a giant hoof-print. When I took this picture I had tall cliffs behind me, to my left and to my right. Then, this rock in the middle.

We looked around for ages for this giant hoof-print. It was only when we were leaving that we realised we were actually inside the hoof-print.

Giant rock in front of sunset-kissed sky in Iceland in area called Magic Horseshoe

May 012013
 

I’ve been rationing my few remaining Iceland photos for quite a while now. I really need to get back there. When I took this photo, my travel buddy was still recovering from becoming a quivering mess at the top of Detifoss and decided not to get this close. She claimed she was tired, but I’m pretty sure she was just scared.

When I got this close I started getting a little nervous. I’ve used a wide angle lens so it looks like I was further from the rushing water than I was. The water level here was level with the rock I was standing on. It definitely made me concentrate on where I was putting my feet and my camera.

Selfoss waterfall in Iceland up close

Feb 182013
 

The Eastfjords in Iceland, much like most of the country, are truly magical. The road winds its way in and out of deep gouges in the coastline. Every corner reveals incredible views. When I saw this cloud in the distance, pouring from the mountains down to the ocean I knew I had to stop the car and try to capture it.

Coastline of Eastfjords, Iceland where cloud mass moves down the mountain over the ocean.

Jan 232013
 

I’m itching to process more of my photos from my most recent trip to Africa. Alas, I’m at my desk working on a presentation. A beer will be required when we knock off tonight, so here’s one of my ready to go photos from my trip to Iceland in June 2012.

The new lighthouse at Gardur, Iceland with straight path and rocks leading to it.

Jan 092013
 

Here’s another shot of Godafoss, taken from the bank opposite the bustling parking lot full of tour buses and tourists snapping away frantically before moving on to their next destination. The scene opposite was the exact opposite of the serenity offered by this bank.

Godafoss waterfall from below under a blue sky and fluffy white clouds in the background and rocks on the bank in the foreground in Iceland

 

Jan 052013
 

Today’s photo is of Detifoss, the most powerful waterfall in Iceland, and I’m stood right on the edge. I’ve talked about my fear of heights before on this blog, while photographing the Victoria Falls in Zambia. For some reason, I managed to avoid getting too worked up at this one. My travel buddy on the other hand had a bit of an episode. I didn’t realize it at the time, but she’d frozen right on the cliff edge a bit further down the gorge while I was taking the photo at the end of this post. Apparently she had to talk herself back to sanity and then crawled her way up to safety. She did manage to snap this photo of me just before I descended to get good and close to the torrent though:

Photo of me on the edge about to take a photo of Godifoss, Iceland.

I feel kind of bad for not realizing that my travel buddy was in a bit of distress, but I’m pretty sure she’ll agree that this photo was worth it:

Detifoss, the most powerful waterfall in Iceland, taken from the edge showing a torrent of water.

Jan 042013
 

We came to this bridge and as it wrapped around us, I decided I wanted to try and capture that, so I called for my driver to reverse. We could see a car coming up the single lane road behind us, but it was a distance away. You find you can see cars on the same road as you from a long way away in Iceland pretty often. Still, I felt the pressure as we were blocking the road. So much so, that I took this photo barefoot. The road was freezing. I don’t think I stopped hopping from foot to foot the whole time.

The view as you drive onto a suspension bridge in Iceland

Jan 012013
 

I don’t know what this is, but it looks pretty cool. We encountered this on our trip to see seals in the Northern region of Iceland. Just below the cliff there’s a beach. Just off the beach is a sand bar that a seal colony calls home. I took this shot on my way back, while waiting for my travel  buddy to catch up.

Oh yeah, Happy New Year!!

Old rusted horse-drawn rake on a farm in front of a mountain in Iceland

 

Dec 292012
 

Bag’s All Packed… well, camera gear at least

I dedicated a good part of today, one day before flying out, figuring out how to fit my camera gear into my brand new F-stop camera bag. At first glance, it’s a pretty awesome pack. They’ve designed a proper backpackers backpack you could hike with all day and fit space for camera gear inside. When I started packing however, I quickly became frustrated. It could barely take anything! I kept thinking, on their website they had loads of lenses, bodies and flashes all fit in. I kept trying. I even started considering which lenses to jettison. Eventually, after pulling out all of the dividers to try to come up with my own system, then forgetting how to put them back in, I logged onto the F-stop website. That’s when the words “those bastards” entered my mind. They’d cleverly removed all of the lens hoods from their lenses in their examples. Fortunately my fury was short-lived. I soon discovered that my lens hoods nest together quite neatly and fit in the handy upper compartment of the bag. Once I’d done this I had acres of space and numerous interesting configurations to play with.

Packed F-stop camera bag

Ready to go… just need clothes

For this trip, I wanted to keep my telephoto lens on my 7d-Mk II, ready for action, should a lion, penguin or whale shark cross my path, unannounced (it sounds like a joke, but I’m likely to see all three on this journey). I figured out I could lay it across the bottom of the pack. For a moment I tried to lay it across the top to keep it really handy, but the opening tapers at the top so this was not an option. With the 7d plus 70-200mm lens across the bottom of the pack I fit in the rest of my gear, lenses and bodies all separate. I sat back, pleased with myself. I even took a photo and sent it to my friend, who didn’t respond, funnily enough it was only exciting to me. Then, I changed my mind. One camera and lens ready to go wasn’t enough, I wanted my 5d-Mk II to fit with a lens attached as well. I don’t want to have to break it down every time I put it away. So, I settled on the configuration photographed to the right. There’s a startling amount of stuff in the bag, and I still have space in the top compartment.

I’ll write  a fuller review of this bag after I get back from my first trip, but for the moment I’m pretty happy with it, despite my initial frustration. I’ll also keep you posted if I have an issues with it on a day to day basis as I travel around Southern Africa.

 Today’s Photo: Icelandic Horses, Up Close!

I love these Icelandic horses, and if I go back this year. I’ll be spending a night in a field just trying to get photos of these guys under the midnight sun. I never really put any time into photographing these horses when I was there last time. We came across this pair on our way back to the hostel. I was with my friend, who’s a vet. This is an important point because as I hopped out the car she said, in all her vet-ly wisdom, “You better be quick ‘cos they’ll run away from you. You’ll never get close to them.”

Me taking a photo of 3 icelandic horses through a wire fence

Johnny Peacock: Better Horse-Whisperer than Charlotte

Little did she know that all animals love me, including cats, which I’m allergic to. As this photo shows, she soon ate her words. As soon as I walked up to the fence the horses trotted right over and began striking poses.

I’m visiting her in Africa soon and I’m hoping that, this time, any large animals we encounter there, particularly the cats, will be more attracted to her than me!

If you’re wondering why I’m not wearing socks, it’s because my feet hurt and I was riding back barefoot, to let them air out. When we stopped I just pulled on a pair of sneakers I had in the trunk.

Tonight’s photo wasn’t taken from the angle you see there, though I think that may be gracing your computer screen soon. I took this shot shortly after the horses came over. These two seemed inseparable. The dark one lead the way and the tan one followed along. They stopped for a little cuddle right in front of me and I fired away. I’m not really happy with this photo. I’d have liked it if their heads were a bit closer together and if I hadn’t cut off their hooves. But, I did a quick preparation of all the photos I have left to work on while traveling and discovered that, including those I’m not quite happy with, I only have 26 left!! I’m going to have to be pretty active on my stopover in London and my three weeks in Cape Town, Mozambique, Zambia, and possibly either Botswana or Namibia to make sure I get enough quality shots to keep me going until my next trip!

Close up of dark brown and tan small Icelandic horses.

Dec 262012
 

I started this website on Christmas Day last year, purely because I finally had enough time to get a site up and running. It’s already been through a facelift since then, and I hope you all like the new design more. My goal was to post a new travel photo every day of the year. If you follow me regularly you’ll know that it went well for a while, but I started to miss an occasional post, and have been really lazy in the lead up to Christmas!

Since starting the site I’ve posted a total of 304 photos, so 61 short. I’m making it my New Years resolution to hit 365 next year, with a post every day. I can announce that in order to achieve this goal I’ll be spending the first three weeks of this year in Southern Africa again, starting off in Cape Town. I’m not doing a lot of planning for this trip, as I’ll be going with a couple of locals. I’ve been informed today that potential plans include swimming with whale sharks off Mozambique, visiting the Kruger, and a couple days in Malawi. I’m going to enjoy getting to travel and just be told what to do rather than have to figure it out for myself this time!

On top of that trip, I’ve been fortunate enough to negotiate a week off a month, starting in March. So, I’ll be able to visit ten different locations to add to the website. I’m not sure where I’ll be going yet, but Cuba is high on my list, as is a return to Iceland. I’d also like to photograph Angkor Wat in Cambodia. That would be a long trip for a week, but I think it may be worth it. Red rock country in the USA has a strong potential, as does a few days in the Everglades.

I’ve decided to follow today’s photo with what I consider my best shots from 2012, so scroll down and take a look.

Today’s Photo: On the Road, Iceland

This shot was taken in Iceland’s East-fjords. This day we were rushing. We had a long way to go and a tendency to take twice as long as we should to get anywhere. So, my clever travel partner figured out how much time the drive would be, where we’d want to stop for extended time periods, and what was left for impromptu stops for pictures. She had three different timers running and all sorts of alarms. As a result, I was shooting handheld to keep each stop to a minimum. It was bright enough that I didn’t need a tripod to ensure sharp images, and I could align my various exposures in Photoshop. Still though, this spray and pray approach has resulted in a LOT of rejected photos. We didn’t reach our destination when we’d planned, but I’m sure we’d probably still be trying to get there now if not for the strict timer system.

Long straight road through Iceland's East-fjords with rugged mountain.

 

My Best Shots from 2012

Tampa, Florida

Iceland

 

Prague

 

Bermuda

 

Rwanda

 

Iceland

 

Zambia

 

Ontario, Canada

 

Prague

 

Rwanda

 

Ontario, Canada

 

Bermuda

 

New York City

 

Iceland

 

Prague

 

Rwanda

Iceland

 

Acqui Terme, Italy

 

Bermuda

 

Toronto

 

Cape Town, South Africa

 

New York City

 

Zambia

 

Iceland

 

Rwanda

 

Zambia