Gardur Lighthouse, Iceland

 Europe, Iceland, Travel  11 Responses »
Aug 232012
 

Arriving in Iceland at midnight, in the middle of June, immediately makes you realise you’re entering a surreal land. As the flight begins it’s descent you can see the vibrant colors of sunset around you. The colors continue long after you’ve left the airport. Long enough that you can travel 20 minutes to your accommodation, drop off your bags and wake up your sleeping travel mate, that got there a day earlier, and still be able to take photos of the unending light!

This beach was walking distance from our guesthouse in Gardur so we made our way straight there. I spent at least two hours taking photos that night, despite my total lack of sleep, and didn’t even begin to feel tired. The air was crisp with a slight scent of sulphur from nearby springs. We even managed to climb up the lighthouse pictured in the distance here. It afforded a great view back across the landscape, including the newer, still-functioning lighthouse nearby.

Shoreline with rocks covered in green moss with calm water and lighthouse in the distance with pink light showing under the cloudy sky in Gardur, Iceland

Sheep on the Mountain, Iceland

 Europe, Iceland, Travel  1 Response »
Aug 132012
 

Sheep in Iceland

On our first night in Iceland we stayed in a little guesthouse near the airport. The next morning, the owner gave us a lift back to the airport to pick up our Jeep. He had one piece of advice for us. In summer, the sheep are allowed to roam free in Iceland and would be all over the roads. Further, if we saw a mommy sheep and a lamb on opposite sides of the road we should be very careful because when the lambs get scared they’ll run straight to their mother no matter what. This piece of advice came in handy on a fair few occasions. It was really remarkable just how many sheep there were about, just roaming free. We spent a lot of time wondering how they round them back up. We asked a few people, and got all different answers, none of which really seemed particularly convincing.

Today’s Photo: Sheep on the Mountain

These guys didn’t cause us a problem, they were a safe distance from the road. This photo was taken on our first full night in Iceland, in the Westfjords. I only shot 3 exposures on this one as the dynamic range in the scene did not require the 7 exposures I used to default to. I’ve gotten much better at reading a scene and being able to tell if I can get away with 3 exposures or if I need more. I still recommend that if you’re new to HDR or a little unsure about the scene you should shoot as many bracketed images as you can. If you get home and realize you’ve got more than you need you don’t have to use all of them. If you don’t have enough range in your images chances are you won’t be able to produce the results you want.

Sheep on the mountainside with green grass below and dramatic sky with clouds and orange sun in Iceland.

Zambeezi Sunset Cruise

 Africa, Travel, Zambia  1 Response »
Jul 242012
 

Another shot of that spectacular, lingering sunset on the Upper Zambeezi. At this point the liquor had been flowing and the group was in good spirits. We can’t say the same for the morning. When we woke up the next day to take on the category 5 rapids below the falls we weren’t the happiest campers. It was still a great day, and most of us had recovered by lunch time. But here’s a pro tip, if you get the white water rafting + booze cruise combo at Jolly Boys, Livingstone, do the booze cruise after the rafting… not the night before!

Spectacular sunset over the Upper Zambezi river in Zambia.

Watching the Sunset, Westfjords, Iceland

 Europe, Iceland, Travel  7 Responses »
Jul 232012
 

Today’s photo is a rare self-portrait. I had everything all set up for this photo but felt like it needed a scaling factor to help the viewer gauge the immensity of the scene. I shouted for my travel buddy. Unfortunately, she was focused on photographing some little flowers on the other side of a hillock. I reached the conclusion that I’d have to figure out how to do it myself. So, I used my intervalometer to set the timer at 1 min. I sprinted along the edge of the cliff to the outcrop. I stood there for what felt like ages and decided it must’ve gone off. I started making my way back and heard the shutter burst. So, I dropped the timing down to 30 seconds. After running down there again, I heard the shutter while I stood there. Upon inspecting the result I discovered that only half of me had made it into the frame. Next time I walked further out onto the outcrop. You’ll notice in the photo that I’m wearing a t-shirt. Up until this point, I’d been wearing a fleece and rain jacket and was still cold. But, I was wearing all black and didn’t really come out in the photo. So I decided it was time to strip down to my bright red t-shirt. Chilly, I started the timer and ran down. This photo is the result.

Then, I pulled my fleece back on and made my way to the car, quickly.

Vast panorama over the Westfjords, Iceland that includes bodies of water, sky blue sky with orange sunset and a person in red shirt looking tiny.

 

 

 

Welcome to Iceland

 Europe, Iceland, Travel  3 Responses »
Jul 152012
 

This is the first photo I took in Iceland. My flight was scheduled to get in at midnight and was delayed by half an hour. It was torture as we approached because I could see the sun was setting. I knew it would be light all night, but the sunset was incredible. It felt like it took forever to get through immigration, get my bag and make my way to the guesthouse. I didn’t spend long in the room as I quickly broke out my gear and took off… successfully leaving my tripod in the room. Fortunately my travel buddy offered to run back and get it while I looked for a shot. I think it was technically sunrise when I took this shot and the color had died down a bit. As you can see it was really windy. Rather than trying to freeze the flowers (which may have been impossible) I decided to increase my f-stop and let them get as blurry as possible.   Field of white flowers blowing in the wind with a lighthouse, boat and buildings in a row with clouds and sunset in Iceland.

The Other Side

 Bermuda, Travel  1 Response »
Jul 062012
 

I spent a lot of time last summer taking photos of sunsets off of the dock at my friends’ new house in Spanish Point. One day I decided to do something a bit different, so I went to take photos off the rocks on the other side of Spanish Point. The result, of photographing a tide pool there, has a weird abstract feel.

Tide pool off Spanish Point, Bermuda with dramatic striped purple sky reflecting in the ocean.

The Boathouse, Niagara-on-the-Lake

 Canada, Ontario, Travel  13 Responses »
Jul 022012
 

A beautiful, sunset in a quaint Canadian town, provided the perfect backdrop for this calm scene on the shores of Lake Ontario. This was taken just as winter was turning to Spring. It was an early Spring, hence the boats are on the dock rather than in the water chomping at the bit. The serene surface of the lake provided a perfect mirror to help show off the sky.

Only a chain-linked fence threatened to ruin the shot. In a panic, as the light looked ready to fade, I figure out how to use the fence in concert with my tripod to get the shot. You can read more about how I did that here.

Beautiful sunset on the shores of Lake Ontario, Niagara-on-the-Lake with a boat house and sail boats are on the dock with the lake reflecting the sky.

Fjords and Flowers

 Europe, Iceland, Travel  5 Responses »
Jul 012012
 

Sitting here, after taking this photo, I came to the conclusion that we were not going to make it to the bird cliffs at Latrabjarg. They are the furthest point of land in the direction this photo is looking in. As you can see, we still had a long way to go. It was still a great night with some pretty dramatic scenery. All of the photos I’ve released from Iceland thus far are from this night. It offered up the best sunset we had the entire time we were in Iceland.

White wildflowers on the rocky shore with a beautiful sunrise over the ocean and fjords with the bird cliffs at Latrabjarg in the distance in Iceland.

Charles Bridge, Prague

 Czech Republic, Europe, Prague, Travel  11 Responses »
Jun 282012
 

This is the last of my photos from Prague, for now, anyway. It’s a great city and I’ll certainly be heading back at some point. This is one of the most recognizable landmarks in Prague, Charles Bridge. It’s pretty difficult to get a shot with no tourists crossing the bridge. I’ve talked about other methods I’ve used involving combining multiple images to mask out any people or just getting there really early. With this shot, it all came down to patience. I set up and waited until there was no one in the way.

Charles Bridge in Prague overlooking the old town under blue sky and golden light.

Queen’s View Panorama

 Bermuda, Travel  1 Response »
Jun 182012
 

My plan to get all of my posts ready before taking off for Iceland didn’t pan out. So, I’m sat writing this from the Western Fjords. My first day in Iceland has been quite eventful. If you’ve seen my Facebook page you know what my logo looks like. The bird is an arctic tern. About an hour into our drive today I hopped out of the car to photograph a waterfall. I heard a screech, looked up, and realised I was under attack from my logo. They’re not big birds, but they’re bloody terrifying.

Today’s Photo: Queen’s View Panorama

This is shot from Lighthouse hill, just below Gibb’s Hill Lighthouse.  I decided to try to capture the whole of the view that caused the Queen to pause and take it in. To do that I had to shoot 4 different frames, each with three exposures, and stitch them together.

I’m off now to spend the night driving through the Western Fjords. The light is already looking amazing on the mountains.

Panoramic view of the Great Sound from Lighthouse Hill in Bermuda where Queen Elizabeth stopped to admire the view.

 

 Older Entries  Newer Entries