This was the very last place I visited in Iceland. We were tired, hungry and somehow it was 3 in the morning. We considered turning back. I’m glad we didn’t. While I want to go back there and capture this incredible waterfall under better conditions it was well worth pushing on to see it. It’s massive, and seems to fall forever into a tear in the earth’s surface. We were able to walk right the way around it and, once again, were the only people there.
I’ve got all my new camera gear in! So tonight’s not a long post as I’m in the middle of playing with it all. It seems fitting that tonight’s photo be another of the few photos I took in Italy before having all of my stuff knicked!
This may be my favorite waterfall in Iceland. It’s isolated in the Skaftafel National Park, about an hours hike from the parking lot. We went there at about midnight, in the rain, and seemed to be the only people about. It’s a trickle compared to the more dramatic torrents at Godafoss and Gullfoss, but there’s something special about the way the thin stream of water spreads out as it plunges into a deep pool. It’s very soft and delicate, but surrounded by harsh decaying hexagonal columns of granite.
Taking this photo was interesting. The stream was about a foot deep but had a few loose rocks strewn about. I found three rocks in positions to accommodate each of my tripods feet and another one I could stand on. Then, I realised that I needed to keep the rain off my lens so had to call my travel buddy into the river with me, with her umbrella. We were stood, teetering on a rock, holding onto each-other for balance, when the only two people we saw the whole time we were there decided to turn up. Fortunately, they were photographers and didn’t seem phased by our odd positioning.
I’ve ordered all of my replacement gear and it should be arriving shortly. Buying most pieces used from BH PhotoVideo saved enough cash that I was able to add a macro lens into my kit. I’ve wanted one for years, so I’m looking forward to playing with it. Once it all gets here I’ll update my gear page with the new pieces and explain any changes I’ve made.
On my first day in the Asti region of Piedmont, we took a drive to Acqui Terme. On the way there I spotted a vineyard and winery that I wanted to photograph but the sun was dropping and it was in the shade of the hills. So, after getting up at sunrise and taking in the views from Alice Bel Colle I decided to go back to this winery. I took a lot of photos there, and fell down a hill. This is the first of those photos I’ve processed. I saw the village in the distance, with the dome, from all over the place, but never actually made it there. Looking at Google Maps, I’ve realised that it’s called Fontanile.
After a long night taking photos my travel buddy decided she was hungry. So, rather than heading back to our hostel for some much needed rest we made our way to Husavik to sleep in a car park for a couple of hours while we waited for somewhere serving breakfast to open. I didn’t get much sleep, but after trying to nod off I decided to go for a walk. We’d left from this marina to go whale watching and I liked the old fashioned boats inhabiting it. So, I made my way back there and took a few more photos for the night.
This is a shot of Bermuda I took last year. I just found it stashed away on my hard drive. It was shortly after it had rained on the dock in Spanish Point.
In a gas station near Godafoss I saw a tacky souvenir t-shirt, and for the first time I wanted one. It had two kids hugging a sheep on the front with Iceland written above it. I’m not sure why, maybe I was fatigued, but I found it hilarious. Unfortunately, it only came in children’s sizes. So, I’ve got this photo instead.
If you follow me regularly you’ll know that I had pretty much all of my camera gear stolen in Italy. If not, you can get the details here. I’ve now got an insurance check in hand and am trying to figure out what to buy. It’s a bit weird starting from scratch. I was dead set on buying the new 5d mk iii, but now I’ve looked at it I can get a used 5d mk ii and 7d for less than the cost of a mk iii. So, I’ve decided it’s not worth it. The two cameras compliment each other well, and the improvements I was interested in from the mk iii are covered by the 7d. Plus, if I accidentally drop one off a waterfall I’ll have a backup camera with me. With that decided I have to figure out what to get as far as lenses. I will be getting L-series lenses and had hoped to get them used from BH Photovideo to stretch the insurance cash as far as possible. Unfortunately, there aren’t many used L-series lenses available at the moment.
So far, I’m confident I’ll be buying another 14mm prime lens and a 24mm-70mm lens, though it’s looking like I’ll have to buy the new version of the lens I had, at a premium as it’s just been released. My big dilemma is with the longer lens. I had a 70-300mm lens, but now I’m considering switching that for a faster 70-200mm lens. That would allow me to really freeze motion, but I’m reluctant to lose the reach. So I think I’ll be buying an extender as well, which will effectively extend my reach to 400mm. I just hope I don’t get too disappointed by the drop in performance and image quality the extender causes.
Today’s photo was taken using my old 70-300mm lens. It, combined with the big, full frame sensor in the 5d mk ii, allowed me to get a nice tight photo of this guy, and then crop in even closer for a portrait.
I pulled back a bit further for this shot of the church posted previously. After leaving out the front of the building in my first composition of the shot I decided the façade was too nice to not shoot at all.
On our way out of Acqui Terme we spotted this tower up on a hill, so naturally, we set about driving to it. It was still light when we spotted it. As you can see below it took a while to get up close!
