Big Sky

Big Sky country in Snaefellsnes, Iceland

Twisted Architecture

An unusual building near the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City.

In Between Buildings

The view looking up on Wall street in New York City. 

Looking inside...

After climbing to the rim of Eldhraun, I took this panorama of the view across and into it. Unfortunately, it doesn't quite extend far enough, as I should have taken one more shot on the left side. Oh well, that's how you learn!

Eldhraun Crater, Snaefellsnes

Iceland 2012

 

Ascending the Crater

About to ascend the crater cone of Eldhraun, Snaefellsnes, Iceland.

Fragile Crater

This is Eldhraun, Icelands most delicate volcanic cone. It was formed when liquid lava bubbled out of the ground, forming layer over layer of bubbly, crusty lava which formed this cone. It was a beautiful walk to get to it, which took us through fields full of blueberries, dwarf birches, and mushrooms. The crater itself was quite steep, and well worth the adventure to climb.

Skyline

The New York skyline as seen from the brooklyn bridge.

Looking Up

Looking up in Times Square the day before New Year.

New York Street

Counterlight coming dowm a New York City street around noon.

Hvítserkúr by Sunset

Hvítserkúr at sunset, in Vatnsnes, Iceland

Robin in the Park

During a walk in the park this past weekend, I came upon this robin. He hopped out from behind the hedge to check me out, then stood there looking curiously at me. I snapped a few shots of him, and off he went.

Crater Cone

The View from the top of Stóra-Grábrók, overlooking Litla-Grábrók. The ring road in Iceland drives right past this, and it's a sight you shouldn't miss! There are three craters here, all differing in size. The smallest is almost gone due to earlier mining operations, but thankfully the area is now under preservation. the view is very other-worldly. Standing there looking over the landscape, the thought crosses your mind; "am I on earth, or is this mars?"

HDR from 3 photos, assembled in Photoshop HDR Pro, tonemapped in Lightroom

Curious Bird

This hedge sparrow frequents our feeder and cleans up the dropped grains underneath. It always makes me happy when I see him come by, and curiously tilt his head at me. 

Feed Me!

This is a juvenile arctic tern. It can fly around, but is still being fed by its parents. We encountered dozens of these birds while walking out to the seal observation site in Vatnsnes, Iceland. We had to keep an eye out for the parent birds, as they can be very agressive, particularly when you get to close to their young.

Winged Portrait

This blackbird comes around to get fat on our bird food. We have several feeding stations set up, and lately we've had quite the commotion on our terrace in the morning. This blackbird has been a regular visitor, and has recently taken to sitting on top of one of the feeding houses, in an act of dominance. It doesn't seem to work though, as the chickadees always come and scare him off!

Glacial Panorama

Here's a panorama of Langjökull in Iceland, a very beautiful glacier in the west. We had very nice views of it while driving through the region, and were able to get pretty close to it by car (4X4). Check it out in full view to see it in detail.

Windswept Mane

This horse was standing sround in a field near Fljótstunga in Iceland. We were waiting for our tour of a lava cave to begin, and took some time to capture these wonderful creatures on camera. I'll be posting pictures from the lava cave soon.

Somewhere on Snaefellsnes

I'm not sure exactly where I took this shot. We pulled off on the side of the road to capture the clouds rolling over this mountain. Its taken somewhere on Snafellsnes, Iceland. We were not all that far from Eldhraun, a beautiful delicate volcanic cone which we later hiked up. I'll be posting pictures of that here soon.

Dramatic Light

This photo is looking across the landscape while climbing Eldhraun, a very beautiful and delicate volcanic cone crater in Snaefellsnes, Iceland. The lighting in the picture is unusual, but I think it creates a nice effect the way it dramatically lights up the mountain and the sky. What do you think? Comments are always appreciated.

Mushrooms are Beautiful

A birch mushroom in its natural habitat. Eldhraun, Iceland. We were there in august, and these were popping out of the ground everywhere! It's one of the few times I've been able to mushroom hunt from the car, and I don't mean while crawling along. We were spotting them at 90 kmh from the main road!

Winter is here...

This lonely apple still hanging on to the tree reminds me that fall has nearly made its exit, and winter is coming around the corner...

Eagle Eye

This eagle was part of a show at Photokina in germany this year. When we came by, the bird was taking a break, hanging out on it's perch. A perfect opportunity to photograph an eagle up close! I got lots of good shots of it. Here are three of my favorites.

Glacial Fog

Looking over Svinafellsjökull as the fog starts to roll down the mountain. We had a wonderful morning hike on this glacier tongue, and the weather held out for us until we were on our way back down. The fog was rolling in and it was just starting to sprinkle as we were stepping off the ice. HDR assembled in Photoshop HDR Pro. Skaftafell, Iceland. Summer 2012.

Angry Birds

This is a swarm of arctic terns in Vatnsnes, Iceland. Arctic terns are among the most aggressive of the sea birds.Their favorite passtime is to divebomb people when they get close to them. They really go for blood too. I've had them just inches from my head before. I've heard of people that have had pieces of their scalp ripped off by these birds, and I generally try to stay clear of them. They seem to be after me too, as I'm usually the one being attacked. The area where our campsite was located, however, was right next to an arctic tern breeding ground, which has been made into a sanctuary, complete with an observation platform from which you can see one of the largest seal colonies in Iceland. The birds were used to seeing people, and generally tried not to kill or maim us. It was rather unnerving having arctic tern babys sitting on the path, and having to walk by them without getting attacked. We made it back alive, and I think I'm mostly cured of my arctic tern phobia.

Feeding Time!

An arctic tern feeding it's chick. Vatnsnes, Iceland.

Transition

Glacial ice transitions seamlessly into mountainside. Svínafellsjökull, Iceland.

Cold Desert Mountain

This mountain is called Snaefell, and lies to the north of Vatnajökull in Iceland. It is surrounded by highland desert. You can see neon-colored moss that grows at the rivers edge. The mountain is 1833 meters high.

another cute little guy

I just can't get enough of these puffins! Here's another photo from the puffins in Borgarfjördur, Iceland. This one is looking rather quizical as he surveys the area, his beak full of fish.

Frozen Wave

Looking up the glacier tongue of Svínafellsjökull on Vatnajökull glacier, Iceland. Water moves in similar ways, weather its liquid or solid. This glacier tongue seemed to be a frozen wave, slowly rolling its way down the mountain until gradually reaching the ocean. More pictures to come in the near future.

More Horse Portraits

Here are a couple more horse portraits from Iceland.

Icescape

Looking down over the glacier tongue of Svínafellsjökull. Skaftafell, Iceland. In the background, you can just make out the atlantic ocean. This is an HDR assembled with Photshop HDR Pro.

Rolling Glacier

Looking over neon moss at Vatnajökull in Iceland. This is on the north side of the glacier, near Snaefell. Vatnajökull is Europe's largest glacier.

Character Portraits

Icelandic horses are characters! They all have their own style, their own hairdo (which is usually decided by the wind!) and their own personalities. I took these pictures on the south coast of Iceland, when we pulled off to meet this group of horses. They seemed very friendly, and we had to stop.

Ice Bridge

This is an ice bridge melting in the summer sun. Vatnajökull, Iceland. I'm not sure how much longer this was around after we left. My guess is, it was gone in a few hours. This is an HDR assembled in Photoshop HDR Pro.

2000 Views!

Thanks to all who check out my blog and enjoy the pitures! I've just surpassed 2000 Views total, and the past 2 months have each had over 550 views per month. It motivates me even more to keep things coming and post more new pictures for you all to enjoy. Here's a picture from somewhere on the south coast of iceland. There's lots more down the road.

Color Overload

In Iceland, you see lots of colors. Often the colors are so vivid that they don't look real. In this picture, taken in the highlands near Snaefell, The landscape is mostly desert. Wherever there's water though, neon colored moss pops out of the landscape in a blast of color that really slaps you in the face to get your attention. I usually end up having to partially desaturate these pictures to get them to look right. Even still, some of them turn out looking pretty over-photoshopped. They aren't, Iceland took care of that already!

100th Post!

Today is my 100th post! I'm so happy for the quick progress my blog has been making, and wanted to thank all my viewers for making it more and more successful. I've had over 550 views a month for the last 2 months. This blog really motivates me to look through my pictures and develop more of them than I ever would without it. Thank you all for your support. Here's a sunset picture of Goðafoss in Iceland For you all to enjoy. This is an HDR, and it has been majorly desaturated!

Fading Light

Here's another HDR looking down the docks in the harbor of Eskifjörður in the East Fjords of Iceland. 

 

On the Front Porch

A puffin energes from his burrow, taking in the view from the front porch. Borgarfjörður, Iceland

Hvítserkur in moonlight

Here's another picture of Hvítserkur in Vatnsnes, Iceland. This is not the standard angle to photograph Hvítserkur from, but I wanted to capture the moon next to it. I walked a way down the beach (avoiding getting divebombed by kittywakes) and found this view.

Shadows of ancient lava

The moss-covered lava flow of berserkjahraun, located on snaefellsnes peninsula, iceland. This lava flow is 3600-4000 years old, and has connections to the saga. It's quite amazing how raw and rough a lava flow is after such a long time. I guess, geologically, its the blink of an eye.

Up close and Personal

Here's another picture of the fluke of a humpback whale just before it disappears under the surface. I shot this on my canon 450D with a Tamron 18-270mm Tele at 46(!)mm. ISO 200, F7.1, 1/500 sec. I like how the reflection of the sky in the water forms unusual patterns and shades of blue.