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.

Hvítserkur

This is a picture of the 15 meter high rock formation of Hvítserkur in Vatnsnes, Iceland. This image is an HDR.

Taking Flight

A Puffin taking flight in Borgarfjörður, Iceland. 

On the Glacier Tongue

We took a guided hike on Svinafellsjökull, one of the glacier tongues in Skaftafell National Park, Iceland. It was a great experience, and very humbling to get a sense of how big the Vatnajökull glacier is. I'll be posting more pictures from this adventure in the future. Here's the first one to give you a little taste. Check back for more!

Crazy Clouds!

Some crazy clouds in the evening sun over Jökulsárlón, Iceland. HDR assembled with Photoshop.

At the Dock

In Eskifjörður in the East Fjords of Iceland, there are lots of houses on the water that have their own docks. With the mountains around the fjord, it makes for a very picturesque setting. These picture are all HDRs composed of 3 exposures at -2, 0, and +2, and assembled in Photoshop HDR pro. I do all my tonemapping in Lightroom 3 afterwards, then bounce it back to Photoshop for the final touches.

What a Fluke!

A humpback whale fluking in Húsavík, Iceland

Facebook Page

If you are looking to get more fun from my blog, you can now find me on facebook. Just look for me under http://www.facebook.com/catching.blog I'll be posting pictures there too, and keeping you up to date on what's going on in my blog. Check it out, and please click the like button when you stop by!

Towers of Basalt

This is Litlanesfoss, a waterfall on the lake Lagarfljót, near Egilsstaðir, Iceland. I think it's one of the most beautiful I've seen in Iceland, with long Basalt colums mimicking the waterfall and framing it on both sides. A couple of kilometers uphill is Hengifoss, Iceand's third highest waterfall (118m).

 

Perfectly Perched Puffin

At the puffin observation area in Borgarfjörður, Iceland, you can see lots of puffins flying around, going out to sea, and returning with their beaks full of fish. I don't think there is another sea bird that rivals the puffin in cuteness. We discovered this little guy off the beaten path from a smaller observation platform. 

Lupin Fields

Looking over Lupin Fields at Seyðisfjörður. Eastfjords, Iceland

Moon Over Iceland

The moon rises over Húnafjördur, Iceland

Dettifoss

Dettifoss is iceland's most powerful waterfall, and thunders down 44 meters at a rate of 500 cubic meters a second. That's the equivalent of dumping out 2,500 bathtubs every second! Needless to say, the power of this waterfall is overwhelming. You can get very close to it. Just standing next to it on the bank seemed to awake certain primal fears in me, and gave me that hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach. Nature can make you feel very small.

Flyby

While observing and photographing puffins in Borgarfjördur, Iceland, these little guys were flying by us really closely. We had next to no warning before they came zooming by, making photography of them next to impossible. It didn't stop us from trying, though! I lucked out with one shot and got this happy little puffin on his way by, mouth stuffed full of fish.

Moonrise over Grímsstaðir

We saw the moonrise many times on or way around Iceland this summer, but the one on this evening was particularly beautiful. After a very beautiful sunset, the moon began to rise through soft pink clouds - leftover light from sunset. the temperature was dropping fast, and it got down to -2.5C (27F) that night. Thankfully it was a windless night, and we stayed toasty warm inside the tent.

Spouting Rainbows

I happened to get lucky with this shot and caught the sun gleaming through the spout of this humpback whale, creating a rainbow in it. The picture was taken in Húsavik, Iceland.

 

Arctic Announcement

here is an arctic tern announcing its presence, and making us acutely aware that its chick is also in the area. We were very lucky to be able to get so close to these aggressive birds. The path we were walking on was covered with arctic tern chicks, and on both sides of it too. The terns didn't bother us for the most part, but would start to dive in closer when they felt we were too close to their young. I've had scary experiences witrh these birds in the past, and even thought for a while they were out to get me. This day of bird watching cured me of that.

Get it while its hot!

We walked on the Leirhnjúkshraun lava flow near the Krafla geothermal area by Mývatn. This area erupted in 1985, leaving a large expanse of very rough lava flows, cones, and craters. The area is still cooling, and some spots are still steaming. The first picture is developed in black and white, the second in color.

Serious Coastline

Some serious basalt coastline on Saefellsnes peninsula, Iceland

Whimsical Whimbrel

A picture of a whimbrel landing on a cliff edge in Seyðisfjörður, Iceland

Off to find more fish!

When I took this picture, I briefly thought of deleting it from the card. It looked like it was a total loss. Not suprising when trying to track a puffin in flight. I'm glad I didn't, as I really like the effect it has. It looks a lot loke a drawing. So the next time you think of deleting that picture you just took, DON'T! It might turn out to be a pleasant suprise in the end.