Photography
Svartifoss in Skaftafell National Park is one of Iceland's iconic waterfalls. The basalt columns cover the wall of the bowl shaped basin carved over time by the water. These basalt columns are said to have inspired the icelandic architect Guđjón Samúelsson, and Hallgrímskirkja church in Reykjavik is one of several building which have column like features resembling the basalt columns seen here.
PhaseOne 645DF, IQ160, Schneider Kreuznach LS 80mm f/2.8 - ISO50 f/18 at 0.8s
There is just something about the clear, translucent ice that fascinates me. The way it catches and scatters the light. Here are a few more examples from the Iceland PODAS. The first two images are taken shortly before sunset, and the low angle of the sun really makes the clear ice shine. The ice only stays clear for a few hours. As soon as it is exposed to warm air and sunlight the ice will become opaque and appear white due to a steadily growing number of small cracks. You can see this in the third image. Eventually the chunk of ice will break apart, turn over and expose a new portion of clear ice.
PhaseOne 645DF, IQ160, Schneider Kreuznach LS 150mm f/3.5 - ISO50 f/12 at 1/160s
PhaseOne 645DF, IQ160, Schneider Kreuznach LS 150mm f/3.5 - ISO50 f/10 at 1/160s
M8, Summicron 35mm, ISO160 f/5.6 at 1/1000s
This is an image from the Jökulsárlón on the south western coast of Iceland. According to my guide book the lagoon formed as the Breiđamerkurjökull, a branch of the Vatanjökull complex, retreated during the decades following 1920. The size of the lagoon has increased fourfold over the past 40 year, and since 1930 the glacier front has retreated more than 1,5km from the seafront and the lagoon now covers an area of almost 20 square kilometers.
PhaseOne 645DF IQ160, Schneider Kreuznach 150mm/3.5 - f/22 at 15s
A thin layer of fresh snow cowered the ice, and the thin line left by a couple of skaters reminded me of some of the tapestries or charcoal drawings by the Norwegian artist Jan Groth.
Daniel Bergman, our local guide and nature photographer, told us that the alaskan lupin is changing the icelandic landscape. Initially the lupin was planted to bind and improve the soil, but the conditions for the alaskan lupin are near perfect with few, if any, competitors. The spread of the lupin will impact the local flora and fauna. There is a patch of the lupin which stretches from the church and all across the lower part of this image. The hillsides are still untainted though, and I hope it stays that way.
PhaseOne 645DF, IQ160, Schneider Kreuznach 80mm f/2.8 - ISO50 f/5.6 at 1/250s
This is also an image from the evening shoot at Seljalandfoss. It is from the small stream that runs from the pool beneath the waterfall. I like the way the setting sun reflected of the cliff face and the sky color the waves. Even with these reduced quality sRGB JPEG files you get an impression of the image quality. Below you will find a detail from this image where you can see the patterns formed by the specular highlights (at 50% of original resolution).
PhaseOne 645DF, IQ160, Schneider Kreuznach LS 80 mm f/2.8 - ISO50 f/16 at 0.4s - 1200 x 900 pixles (original 8984 x 6732)
Seljalandfoss is one of Iceland's many well know waterfalls. It is easily accessible and photographed by thousands of photographers, amateurs and professionals alike. The cliff face the water falls from is overhanging, and there is a path behind the waterfall; there is every opportunity to take a picture from almost any angle.
One option, with the sun setting, would be to freeze the water and choose an angle which would emphasize the rainbow reflected by the spray forming as the water hit the pool beneath the waterfall. Another to use a slow shutter speed, or ND filters to smooth out the water. But none of this would convey my perception of the waterfall - the force and power of the water gushing over the cliff edge. The force that you can feel as you get close to rushing water. So I dropped the tripod and started to experiment.
One of the things that occurred to me was that by choosing a slow shutter speed and panning the camera to follow the flow of the water, just like a speeding sports car, I was able to achieve what I was looking for - an image, which to me, captured the waterfall the way I saw it. Then it was just a question of details like finding a spot where the light fell from the right direction and getting close enough to keep the details from the surroundings at a minimum.
PhaseOne 645DF, IQ160, Schneider Kreuznach LS 80mm f/2.8 - ISO50 f/22 at 1/8s
As promised here is an image from the Iceland PODAS, taken at Buđir on Snæfellsnes. We arrived just before sunrise, and armed with inspiration from the lectures by the instructors Peter Eastway and Steve Gosling I decided to go for something a little different. Besides converting the image to Black and White and increasing the contrast, I have also used the trick described in the "Image professors blog" (http://blog.phaseone.com/2011/01/13/the-secret-hdr-tool/) to make the window frames stand out.
PhaseOne 645DF, IQ160, PhaseOne 45mm f/2.8, f/9 at 1/4s
And these are the "Before" and "After" versions of the image.
Back in the mid eighties I bought my first camera, and I have been taking pictures ever since, off and on. Over the past couple of years though, my favorite hobby had been lain dormant for various reasons. But early this year, in May-June 2012, I went on a week long PODAS workshop.
PODAS, or Phase One Digital Artist Series, is a series of photographic workshops spearheaded by Kevin Raber. The PODAS experience is special. Over the course of a week you get to work with a state of the art medium format camera, a 645DF with the IQ160 digital back. A number of instructors will be at hand to help you out, and like Kevin they are all photographers of outstanding merit. All available lenses for the 645DF camera, Phase One and Schneider will be at hand and at your disposal. And you get to do this at some photogenic location, anywhere from New Zealand to Iceland, Namibia to USA. Everything is taken care of from you arrive at the airport and till the end of the workshop.
I decided to join the Iceland PODAS. For me it was truly inspiring, and I will post images from the Iceland PODAS in blog posts over the weeks and months to come. Stay tuned.
You can read more about the workshop on the page titled "PODAS Iceland 2012". Click on the link, or look under the "Articles" section in the site menu.
This image is one of the shots from the Iceland PODAS, taken at the Jökulsárlón. This is a lagoon created as the Breiđamerkurjökull, which is part of Vatnajökull, has advanced and retreated again. Large chunks of ice break of the glacier front and float into the lagoon and towards the narrow outlet which leads to the sea. This block of ice is fresh and clear, and when you use a polarizer you can really bring out some amazing features and color. Hope you like it.
This is a detail from an image that looked a little chaotic. But cropping it down, and converting it to Black and White transformed the image to something a little more interesting.
Geiranger is one of the popular destination for the countless cruise ships visiting the fjords of Norway. But as all forms of mass tourism it does leave a calling card. Under certain weather conditions the steep mountains lining the fjord tends to limit the air circulation, and the exhaust from the cruise ships forms a smog like haze. The haze lingering over the fjord in this image is first and foremost caused by the cruise ships anchored in the fjord.