At Seljalandfoss

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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)

Crop 1200 x 900 pixels (original 2400 x 1800)

Seljalandfoss

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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

Black Church at Buđir

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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.

PODAS - how it all (re)started

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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. 

Inner glow

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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. 

Bruce Davidson

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I came across this interview with Bruce Davidson on Vimeo. You may find his portfolio on Magnums site, and I recommend a visit to the site. 

“Renowned photojournalist and Magnum photographer Bruce Davidson has been acclaimed for over half a century for his searing images of street gangs, circus performers and the civil rights struggles of the 1960s, all captured with a remarkable directness, truth and power that transcends the concept of style. Here, in his own words, are Bruce Davidson’s forthcoming, charming, and revealing insights into who he is, what he’s done, and where he’s going.”
— Leica Camera on Vimeo

Geiranger

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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.

Autumn B&W

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Another autumn impression, the colorful leaves are all gone and the gray season is upon us. This one is from the archive, and that is one of the things I enjoy with this blog - the incentive to go back and have a look at old images and work with them again, this time with a better understanding of what can be done with post processing.

Stars

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Sometimes an artifact you would do almost anything to prevent or suppress  can create a pleasing results, such as the star like effects around the specular highlights in this image. A CCD sensor is made up of a large number of pixels, each pixel a few µm large, forming a two dimensional lattice. When light hits the sensor the lattice gives rise to diffraction. So this is a sensor artifact, and not done with filters.

Covered by Leaves

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Instead of adding yet another colorful image to the deluge of colorful images of autumn leaves, I thought I would do something different. So I went for a black and white version, added a slight touch of tone and dodged the upper left part and the lower right hand corner to emphasize the leaves covering the car. Hope you like it.

Hard Rain

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After a brief taste of winter, the weather has been gray, mild and rainy again. The rain has been pelting down so hard that the spray of the rain hitting the ground bounces back a feet above the ground. I tried to illustrate this with this picture of the water pouring over the edge of a clogged up gutter.