floating next to whales

In Húsavík, Iceland, the whale watching is incredible. The boat we were on was rather small, a little smaller than the Humpback whales that inhabit the bay in the summer. They get you right next to the whales, so close you could just about touch them! The same company does tours with a zodiac, which is probably incredible, but also pretty expensive. On our tour, we saw 5 or 6 humpback whales really close up, and a lot more from further away. In total, we probably saw around 15 humpbacks over the course of a few hours. Here are a few pictures from our closest encounter.

Jökullsárlon

More Icebergs from Jökullsárlon. Iceland. I just can't get enough of them. This is an HDR.

Geothermal Cave

An HDR of a geothermal cave near Mývatn, Iceland.

 

Look out, puffin landing!

The way puffins land is hilarious! They have very short wings for their weight, therefore cannot hover or come in slowly like most other birds. The result is somewhere between a crash landing and a feet first, screeching-to-a-halt stop straight out of a warner brothers cartoon. I always get the feeling they are not quite in control of most of the process. Take a look at this photo, you'll see what I mean.

Puffin!

I love puffins! They're without a doubt the cutest of the sea birds. Very curious, comical, and just a bit uncoordinated. We were lucky enough to se a bunch of them in Iceland this summer. Here's a picture of one on the way into his burrow to feed the kids. 

The Fall of the Gods

This is an HDR of Goðafoss in Iceland. One of the most spectacular waterfalls, it is an itegral part of icelandic history. in the year 1000 AD, The Lawspeaker of Iceland Þorgeirr Ljósvetningagoði went to a meeting to decide the official religion of Iceland. After being convinced that Iceland would become a christian nation, he tossed his statues of the norse gods into this waterfall, not far from his home. The waterfall is appropriately named, as it is quite litterally the fall of the gods.

of Whales and water

Here's a little preview of what's to come in my blog. This week I'll be posting a series of pictures from our whale watching tour in Húsavík, Iceland this summer. We got as close as one can in a boat to these beautiful and enormous creatures, and the resulting pictures are dramatic, to say the least. Here's a picture to hold you over until then. This is the blowhole of a humpback whale.

Keyholed Ice Block

We passed this ice block keyholed in a crevasse on Svinafellsjökull, one of the glacier tongues on Vatnajökull in Iceland. I didn't get this shot right the first time, but we luckily passed it again a short while later. I stopped and took 2 HDR series of it, and the second one was right on. This is it, assembled with HDR Pro in Photoshop CS5.

 

Icebergs in evening light

Since we're having such hot weather at the moment, I've decided to post some cool pictures of ice the next few days. Here are Icebergs floating in the evening light on Jökullsálon in Iceland. This is one of the prettiest sights in iceland, with icebergs calving directly from Vatnajökull into the lagoon. They slowly make their way over the lake and eventually float out the mouth on a short river and out into the Atlantic Ocean. Some of them wash up on the beach, creating a beautiful display of different ice sculptures sparkling in the light. Vatnajökull is europe's largest glacier. This picture is an HDR assembled in Photoshop, then tonemapped and developed using Lightroom and Photoshop.

Striped Ice

A piece of glacial ice striped with layers of dirt and volcanic ash. Vatnajökull, Iceland.

Friendly floating puffin

A friendly puffin enjoying calm seas in the bay of Húsavík, Iceland

A Whale of a Time!

A humpback whale next to a ship of observers in Húsavík, Iceland. You can see that the whale is at least as big as the ship. Our boat was even smaller. One can get amazingly close to these massive creatures of the deep.

Arctic Tern in Flight

an arctic tern flying overhead in Vatnsnes, Iceland

Dayglow stream

The mountain of Snaefell. Vatnajökull, Iceland. This is an HDR composed in Photoshop.

Arctic Summer

Arctic summer in Hornvik, Iceland

 

Love and roses

I found 2 beetles having a good ride on a hollyhock bud. These beetles were very small, about 5 or 6mm long. I wonder how many more of them I'll find soon...

Cathedral structures

Interesting structures, painting, and ornaments in a cathedral in Portugal. This is a HDR assembled with Photoshop.

 

Arctic Bay

Looking into Hornvik from the beach.

 

Portugese Beef

A curious cow staring at me in Portugal. 

Summer Sun

The sun low in the sky over hornvik, Iceland.

 

Golden glow

A blue-tiled church in the town of Évora. The whole alter area was made of guilded carvings and ornaments, illuminating it in a yellow glow.

Looking Northward

A panorama of Hornbjarg in Hornstrandir, Iceland

 

A Hoverfly Landing Strip

A hoverfly just landed on a hollyhock leaf.

 

When life hands you lemons...

Lemons growing happily on a tree in Portugal.

 

Eukalyptus Forest

A eukalyptus forest in the mist in Portugal.

Cathedral Dome

Looking straight up into the dome of a cathedral in Portugal.

Natural Fireworks

The Eruption at fimvörduhals glowing during the night.

Volcanic Moonrise

The moon rises over Eyafjall above a thin plume from the eruption at Fimvörduhals. Sunset comes to a close, throwing reddish tones of dim light on the mountains. Soon, the eruption will begin to glow. To be continued...

Mýrdalsjökull

This is a photo of Mýrdalsjökull in Iceland. I took this as we were watching the eruption of fimvördurhals, the smaller eruption that took place before Eyafjallajökull erupted and stopped air traffic in Europe for a month. This is shortly before sunset.