Daily Image - April 2020 Archive

15 Apr 15 By the time we got back from the tour we had just enough time to grab a bite to eat before departing for the evening shoot of the Northern Lights. Except that once again our tour got cancelled due to weather. I attempted some night photography but got nothing worth keeping. Spent a little time reviewing the days work before retiring for an early morning flight back to Reykjavik. Our driver, who took us to the airport in a snowstorm, turned out to be the owner of the taxi service and gave us his card as he drove off saying I'm the owner of the company, next time book directly with me and save a lot of money. As we were sitting in the airport we were surprisingly greeted by the hotel owner once again and we exchanged pleasantries before departing on our separate flights. As we walked out to board the aircraft the snow began to abate. The flight back to Reykjavik was a clear one and presented us with one of the most spectacular sunrises I've ever seen. As we approached the city from above the sun just crested the top of the mountains and cast a peach glow over the freshly fallen snow in the city. The streets had less snow than the ground leaving the impression of looking at strongly outlined chess board. Upon landing we were supposed to be taken from the local city airport to the international airport and from there back to the city. Truly stupid booking!! We asked the taxi driver to take us directly to the hotel instead which he gladly did saving us both money and time. Once checked in we thought about touring the city some more but the weather convinced us otherwise so we just relaxed until dinner when we met the group with with whom we would spend the next 8 days touring Iceland. The dinner was excellent, the company interesting, and the info provided by our tour leader had us more then ready to get started. I thought I'd finish this vignette with a little story about the image I've selected for our last day in Reykjavik, another and the last image of a mural - The Deacon from Dark River - that really caught my eye, so much so, that I went back to shoot it twice. Little did I realize at the time that this mural would in some ways represent our trip. "Li-Hill‘s latest wall was done in Reykjavik on the old Iceland Opera building as part of Wall Poetry in collaboration with Urban Nation. The Canadian street artist drew inspiration from John Grant’s song “Pale Green Ghost” and in line with the theatrical setting, an old popular Icelandic ghost story called “Djákinn á Myrká” (Deacon of Dark River). The story of two lovers separated by death, the young deacon comes back to life with his horse on Christmas to bring his love Guðrún to his home. Having been killed days earlier without her knowledge due to a bad storm, his head is covered by a hood to shield his gaping wound. While on the journey his hood slips and in the full moon she sees his massive wound and realizes he has been calling her Gaurin and in Icelandic folklore demons and the dead can not say the word God which is the first part of Guðrún’s name. Once they arrive she see’s his open grave, feels him grab her towards it and narrowly escapes his grasp. A massive charmed stone is placed on his grave to ensure he stays there and that stone is still there to this day." I've done some serious cropping, straightening, and distraction removal on the original. The Deacon from Dark River Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 800; 1/40 sec @ f / 5.6 hand held.

01 Apr 20 Today we take a walk further up the trail to a location where you can see all of the Godafoss Falls. At the time we were visiting we were in a snowstorm that was definitely getting our attention. The wind was in the neighborhood of 35mph driving the bits of snow into us like thousands of tiny darts while making it quite difficult to hold the camera steady either hand held or on a tripod. Tripods on ice in high wind conditions make for a challenge all on their own! But it was worth it!!! To get a feel of what we were experiencing play the above video and then come back. You'll want your speakers on to get the full effect; the sound is mostly the wind. The horizontal streaking you see in the video is the wind driven snow. That blowing snow is, as you might expect, affecting the quality of both the video and today's submission. The curved "horizon" line near the top is the main road. The amount of water flowing over this falls is a bit illusionary. Not to minimize what you see, but keep in mind that what flows in - the river feeding these falls - must flow out - the water you saw in the river in Monday's image. The height is 36 feet and the diameter of that large section in the middle is approaching 95 feet. The water at the bottom is very shallow as that basin is in the area of 150 feet in diameter. What I shared yesterday is roughly the right 2/3 of this image. We spent perhaps 45 minutes shooting Godafoss before the weather simply drove us out. It was however an experience I shan't soon forget. This is a 5 frame pano in which I've added a very small amount of contrast enhancement and a fair amount amount of color fringing removal. Viewed in a Blizzard Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 1000; 1/320 sec @ f / 9.

02 Apr 20 It being Theatrical Thursday I get to do whatever I want, and so today, although we are still at Godafoss Falls, we'll look at something entirely different. Returning from the falls to the tour bus parked at the gas station/mini-mart which was the case for every filling station we stopped at during the entire trip, we got some snacks and made a pit stop. Wandering around the outside of the building to get out of the heat, I meandered over to pumps to price out the petrol. It is of course priced in Icelandic Krona and in Liters. Initially forgetting their use of the comma and decimal point being the opposite of ours, the initial thought was wow, gas is in the neighborhood of $90 a gallon. That was a real shock until I remembered that their comma is our decimal point when working with numbers. So that price needed some serious recalculating. I won't bore you with the numbers, but the equivalent price today for a gallon - even though you can't buy a gallon - of gas in Iceland would be $6.30. A little steep especially considering that the local Indian gas station just 2 miles from our house is currently selling gas at $2.05. But petrol isn't the only expensive thing in Iceland, EVERYTHING is priced accordingly. A 12oz soda was $5, a bowl of soup $18, and a hamburger $25. One can easily spend over $100/day on food while visiting. So I thought you might get a kick out of seeing the display for fuel purchase. Note that you have a minimum purchase of 5 Liters, something we don't yet have here in the states. I still get a chuckle at seeing fuel prices with a decimal purchase cost. The station/mini-mart showed 236.8 and the gas here is actually 2.049 but I've never found any store that will dispense me a teaspoon of fuel, $0.001 worth. Seems like we could do away with the silliness one of these years. Other than some cropping and the removal of a distracting sticker on the post, this is straight from the camera. Petrol Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 1000; 1/640 sec @ f / 9.

06 Apr 20 Departing Godafoss in the storm we pressed on to a second location near Lake Myvatin that had something to do with a rift in the area but the blizzard was such that I elected to sit this venture out. I tried a few shots from the parking area but as I couldn't make them out when I knew what I was looking at when I took the shot I saw no reason to walk up an icy path sans crampons to take some shots that wouldn't be identifiable. Apparently the rest of the group wasn't very impressed with the location either as they were back in less than 15 minutes. We then pressed on to Dimmuborgir, on the east side of Lake Myvatin, a location with which I'm assuming you are all familiar. You're thinking huh, what's he talking about. We are on a portion of the shoreline of Lake Myvatin looking at Huldfolk of which you can see 2 standing very clearly in the water at the intersection of what would be the left third and middle third of the image. Now, depending on your perspective, Huldfolk are either natural rock formations or Gnomes that were frozen in place for being out when the sun came up. I think the correct choice is obvious even to the least student of science, they are most certainly frozen in place Gnomes. Still not up to speed on why you should recognize this place? It is where one of the episodes of season 3 of Game of Thrones was filmed. They couldn't have picked a better location. This still image doesn't convey the setting as well as I'd like, so watch the video above taken at the same time to see how it actually was! This is a 5 pane pano to which I've done nothing. Momentary Break Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture priority; ISO 500; 1/800 sec @ f / 9.

07 Apr 20 We left the gnomes and headed on to our next stop called the Rift. The Rift is a location where Iceland sits atop both the North American and European tectonic plates which are drifting apart at a rate of 2 – 3 cm / year. This drift is noticeable by a split in the topography of Iceland running I thought NE/SW but up and down anyway. I took perhaps a dozen snaps but none of them are of any value other than to remind me I was there. It would have been nice to have seen it in other than blizzard conditions as there was a hole in the ground where you could descend under ground to get a better idea of what is happening. From there we headed out to see an area called Namafjall home to mud pots and fumaroles. The weather was intermittently slacking and then picking back up with momentary quiet breaks. These didn't last very long but one short break did allow me to get a couple of shots of a smoking fumarole. Had to wait several minutes for the "tourists" to remove themselves from this fumarole where they were busy taking selfies and then standing around chimping - a real pain in the posterior!! The snow varied in depth from a couple of feet to just a couple of inches which you see here and most of that with ice underneath; made for an "interesting" and challenging walk. Having spent as much time as I have in Yellowstone neither of these formations excited me much but I did find the stacking of rocks around all of the fumaroles rather different. It doesn't seem like the rocks are a natural formation, but rather man made for effect. Forgot to ask that question so I'll leave it up to you to decide which. I've removed a couple man made distractions, cropped, and added a small amount of contrast enhancement to give the subject a little life. Not Quite Equal to Yellowstone Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 500; 1/1600 sec @ f / 9.

09 Apr 20 For those of you who don't look at the exif data on these images, the image for today was taken 1 minute before that of the one I shared yesterday. When the storm broke up while we were at the baths it did so in what seemed like an instant. The sky began to get bright, then blue color began to materialize out of the white and presto, it was blue sky and sunshine. For about 20 minutes anyway. The apparent graininess you see in today's submission as well as what looks like color noise on the right side is blowing snow and it was whipping around something fierce; then just stopped like magic. I took about a 60° walk clockwise to the men's locker/shower room on the right and shot what I shared yesterday while our bathers were changing. By the time we got everyone rounded up and headed out to that little lake I mentioned yesterday, less than a 10 minute drive, the sun was gone, the cloud cover 100%, and the lake gray. Such is the weather in winter in Iceland. The hot water "baths" are to the right hand edge of the image, the stairway leaving the frame takes you directly into them, and you can see the women's locker/shower on the left. Hard rule here was soap shower first sans suit before entering the baths; even mentioned in the promotions for the baths. None seemed bothered by it at all. This is basically straight from the camera. Breaking Up Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/1600 sec to minimize the blowing snow blurring @ f / 9.

08 Apr 20 Leaving Namafjall and the fumaroles behind we headed to what was, for most of the group, the high point of the tour, the nature baths at Jarobidin. We arrived with winds and blowing snow so strong we had to lean into the wind to get inside but while we were there for roughly 2 hours the storm abated and we left in calm weather that was to stay with us until we returned to Akureyri. I'll be sharing likely 3 more images from these baths but this (bottom of the page) is a shot I couldn't have taken even if I wanted, an aerial view of the entire operation. While the outside air temp was between -6°C to -4°C (21°F-25°F), the water in the natural baths was 36°C-40°C (97°F-104°F). With the exception of 2 of us and the driver, the rest of the tour group headed for a luxurious 90 minutes respite from the weather. My back was really acting up so I took the opportunity to give it a rest, do some needed exercises, and take photos. Even enjoyed a 12oz soda for a mere $5. The image for today was taken about 15 minutes after the storm abated. The sun had broken through the clouds and remained brightly lighting the area for perhaps a total of 20 minutes before retiring for the rest of the day. But during that short period of sunshine the entire area was simply breath taking. I can only imagine how utterly magnificent all the locations we visited could have appeared had the sun been with us all day. You are looking out at one end of the baths with the main building on the right and the women's bath house at the left. On the drive up to the baths we drove alongside a tiny lake with rays of light illuminating it that left the water appearing a most luxurious blue but we couldn't stop for even a couple minutes because we were late for the baths; we instead stopped to shoot it on the return leg when it was just gray. I didn't bother to even try to get it. This is straight from the camera. Ye Old Swimn Hole Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/1250 sec @ f / 9.

10 Apr 20 It's Good Friday in addition to macro/close-up Friday, so an early Glorious Easter blessing to you all!! You may recall my saying that I took the opportunity to do some exercises for my back while the rest of the tour group was luxuriating in the 100F+° baths. While lying on the floor of the main reception area/cafeteria, heated of course by the geothermal springs in which the others were basking, I noticed one window on the side of the building that had a rather interesting ice formation running down from ceiling to floor with the runoff piling up quasi cone like in the center of the bottom of that window. While interesting, it wasn't all that attractive at that moment with the storm blowing outside. But when I came back in from shooting the last two images I just shared, the sunlight changed its appearance substantially presenting, with a little imagination, what now looked like a large hour glass incorporating ice instead of sand. I waited until I could get down on the floor again without disturbing any of the visitors and took a few snaps, one of which is today's submission. You'll need to use your imagination some, and distort the rectangular format squeezing it at the middle on both sides but I think you get the idea. The image is as much a creative one as it is a close-up, and, depending on your skill level and patience, might make for a challenging puzzle. Other than having cropped off a bit at the top, this is straight from the camera. Marking Time Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/800 sec @ f / 9 lying on the floor.

13 Apr 20 We return to the baths for one final look before our ride back to Akureyri for the evening and departure the following day for Reykjavik to begin our primary 8 day tour. Today we are viewing a 15 frame pano of the baths taken from the left of center of the "bathing" area. The storm had just abated, ol' Sol was doing his best to put on a show having burned through a section of the clouds just for us, and I was doing my best to capture it. How I would have loved to have had this lighting all day long. You can see a couple of "bathers" in the pool a little to the right of center. Aside from the benefit of lots of warm water on your body - I'm rather certain by back would have loved it - I can find no reason to travel a significant distance - even from Reykjavik - to just stand around in warm water. At only 4 feet (1.5 M) deep you can't do anything but just stand there and drink if you want, but that's it. Nice place to see, especially in weather like this, but that's about it. Fortunately we did get this brief break in the weather which really showed the place off well, but there were many other places a lot nicer to visit and photograph as I hope to demonstrate over the next few weeks. This 15 frame pano was a bit too dark on the left so I've given the entire image a brightness increase and used a gradient to balance it out. Almost Full Monty Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/1250 sec @ f / 9.

14 Apr 20 The morning we departed Akureyri on the tour we've been taking for the last 10 days our bus driver told us that he would be happy to stop anytime we saw something we wanted to shoot. Apparently the we included him as we made just one requested stop the entire day and that was on the return leg. The one thing everyone wanted to see most was a group of Icelandic horses and we passed a small group on the way to the lake but we blew right past them and kept going. I know the driver heard the request as I was sitting right behind him and made it along with a couple others. But we didn't stop. As it turned out we passed the same group of horses on the return leg and this time the group made it plain we needed to stop. So we did and spent about 45 minutes with a group of maybe a dozen horses. They happened to be privately owned and I do believe we were likely trespassing on a farmer's road but we stayed within 20 feet of the highway and so likely weren't being too inappropriate. The horses were very friendly, and more or less welcomed our company, probably enjoying a break of routine in the storm which was now once again blowing snow sideways. The herd of blonds, brunettes, and redheads was quite colorful and I did my best to give each equal time. The portrait for today is of a redhead, my favorite of the group, and one who was very welcoming of attention. I did my best to oblige her. She wasn't very interested in food - grass we pulled along the fence line - but was very appreciative of rubs and scratches. The white streaks are blowing snow; you can figure out on your own what's showing on her eye. Notice the coarseness of the hair; it is the coarsest I've ever seen on any animal. Likely nice to have for an Icelandic winter. This is straight from the camera save for the removal of a few distractions. Blow'n in the Wind Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 640; 1/80 sec @ f / 9.

16 Apr 20 We got up early on day 10, the first day of our main tour, to a hearty breakfast and met the remaining two folks who were to be with us and hadn't made it the day earlier, a physician and his physical therapist wife from VA. Before the tour ended she would to prove to be an important addition to the group, at least from my perspective. We checked out of the hotel and found seats on the tour bus, a very nice Mercedes van, a model that is apparently quite popular in Iceland. I got on close to last and took one of the few remaining seats, sitting directly behind the driver. That proved to be a fortuitous choice as I was able to shoot out the windscreen for most of the tour giving me an opportunity for lots of shots available only to the two of us in the front seats. The morning started out looking not the greatest but turned into a fantastically beautiful day as we left Reykjavik heading west along the southern coast traveling on the Ring Road on our way to an area called Stykkishólmur on the Snæfellsnes Peninsula where our first planned stop would be the Black church in Búðir. As we made our way west the sun was beginning to rise and it was painting the landscape in gorgeous pastel colors. I kept thinking WHY! don't we stop and shoot this beautiful scenery but it is probably good I wasn't driving because we still might be stopping to shoot. To my surprise we suddenly slowed, turned around, and made a stop near a couple of farmhouses and a bridge with lots of ice floating on the river beneath it. We all got out and thus began our first shoot. I was more impressed with the sunrise than the surrounds and spent more time with it. Today's offering is a pano of the area with the sunrise as prime character. This is a 7 frame pano which is straight from the camera. Three Trees Nikon D500; 18 -20; Aperture Priority; ISO 800; 1/160 sec @ f / 9.

20 Apr 20 As I mentioned on Thursday, I was shooting the sunrise while most of the others were working with the ice. Not that the ice wasn't interesting because it was as today's submission will illustrate. After I finished working with the three trees and barn, I too crossed over to the other side of the road and started working with the ice both from on the bridge crossing over the river and lower down closer to the bank of the river. Couldn't quite go everywhere I wanted as our mother hen tour guide - he was superb - wouldn't let us go everywhere we wanted. This shot is from the end of the bridge a little way down the bank. The sunrise was hitting the slopes of the mountains facing eastward giving them a bit of a golden glow while simultaneously lighting the river such that it looked like it was being lit from underneath as if it was a swimming pool. The ice closer to me was melting leaving just a crust on sections of the surface giving the stream the impression of being much deeper than the 2-3 feet deep it was. For the next 24 hours we were to enjoy some beautiful light as we awaited what was to be a storm to remember. In the meantime we all enjoyed the opportunities provided us and I got to do a little instructing as well. Other than a fair amount of straightening and a slight amount if contrast enhancement, this is what the camera saw. Breaking Up Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 1000; 1/320 sec @ f / 9.

21 Apr 20 Finishing our unplanned stop to shoot the sunrise, we boarded the van and headed toward the Snasfellsnes Peninsula to begin working our first scheduled site. One stop along the way to get food and make a pit stop (and dave purchasing a much needed belt to hold up his too large snow pants) and we were in for about an hour's drive through some of the most spectacular countryside I've ever seen. Seated as I was directly behind the driver - our guide - I was able to take hundreds of shots during the trip out the windscreen. For the first day of the trip I could look out not only the windscreen but the window next to my seat. Unfortunately, the second day out a rock hit my window - fortunately it was double pane glass - and shattered it into a thousand pieces leaving me only the windscreen for viewing for the remainder of the trip. But no matter, the guide kept it spotlessly clean so I had a great shooting location throughout the trip. Today's shot is one of those taken through the windscreen and illustrates a typical piece of farm land. This one came with a built in irrigation system. A small farming community is located out of the frame to the right. We saw dozens of these small groups of homes/barns accompanying large pieces of acreage as we drove along the loop road with the majority of them also having a small church. Next go around I'd like to see these locations at the peak of crop season just for comparison. Other than the removal of a few distractions and a small bit of contrast enhancement, this is what the camera saw. Farmland Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 250, 1/640 sec @ f / 9.

22 Apr 20 With food in our bellies and me with my britches cinched up, we made the hour or so drive to the Snasfellsnes Peninsula. Words won't adequately give it its due, but this 28 pane pano might give you some idea of its majesty!! This is a very interesting location in that it "features a true subpolar oceanic climate, the least cold of all the polar climates, with cool summers (<10 °C, considered by most as the limit of polar climates) but with winter averages less cold than cities much further south featuring temperate continental climates, such as Chicago, Milwaukee, Toronto, or Denver, because of the moderating effect of ocean currents." The weather while we were there the first day was very comfortable and I could have managed quite well sans snow pants and coat which I had unzipped the entire time. The forecast major storm that was to hit in less than 24 hours can be seen approaching in the upper left of the image. Off to the right of the frame is a small hotel and restaurant and just beyond that the famous Black Church of Buðir, the subject for tomorrow's offering. We spent about 3 hours photographing this location and it was a shear delight. At the right hand side of the frame is the North Atlantic ocean with a few building waves and 4 or 5 ducks just enjoying the afternoon. This 28 frame pano is straight from the camera. The Big Picture Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture priority; ISO 200; 1/800 sec @ f / 9.

27 Apr 20 We jump back to the Buðir black church for a bit of a close up. In this case you can see more of the building including the locked door. This marks number 4 of the 6 churches we visited while there of the 8 must see churches on the church tour. We'll visit 5 & 6 later. Iceland is interesting in its acceptance of Christianity and I thought I'd share some info I found about the country on a few of its websites. "You might be surprised to learn that this tiny Nordic island of nearly 340,000 people has more than 350 churches. Seems like a lot, right? Religion is not an integral part of most Icelanders’ lives; we’re the sixth most atheistic country in the world. Nevertheless, you should try to carve out some time on your itinerary to visit a few of the prettiest churches in Iceland. Their unique architectural styles and unusual exteriors are part of our cultural heritage. Like many countries in Europe, paganism was practiced here before we converted to Christianity. The Vikings brought over their Norse religion and mythology, with a pantheon of gods like Thor, Odin, Freya, Loki, and others. Eventually, for political reasons and an escalating trade war with Norway, Iceland embraced the new monotheistic religion in 1000 AD. Godafoss waterfall is strongly tied to this important event in Icelandic history. Now that Christianity is the state religion, things are a bit different. All Icelanders are registered as Christian with the Lutheran Church of Iceland when they are born. They later have confirmation at the age of 14 and are considered full members of the Church. But that doesn’t paint the full picture and Icelanders are not as religious as you may think. Even though demographics show 85% of Icelanders as Christian, most young people don’t think of God as the Great Creator. Many couples also do not marry before having children. So Why so many churches. To be fair, it all boils down to convenience. Anywhere you go in Iceland, you’ll probably find a church, even in some strange locations. For a country that’s not particularly religious, it’s a bit surprising. You have to remember that Iceland’s climate and general weather conditions are extremely harsh, so it wasn’t always practical for people to travel long distances to worship. Instead, they built many small churches in the countryside so people could attend." Thought I'd do a little something different with this and changed out the sky as the totally pure blue one was just too boring. A Place of Worship Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture priority; ISO 200; 1/1000 sec @ f / 9.

23 Apr 20 So here is the first image of the Black Church located in the Snaefellsnes peninsula. This pano view gives you an overall view of the church, its graveyard, and the Snaefellsnes mountain range in the background for which the peninsula got its name. With the temp hovering around 6°C it was a delightful sunny afternoon and the group scattered in all directions each doing their own thing including a bit of drone photography. If you look closely you might even spot one of the other photographers."The church here is culturally significant. There has been a church here since 1703. When the importance of Buðir as a trading post declined, the hamlet was declared to no longer be a parish. A replacement church was needed, but not forthcoming from the church. One woman fought and won the Danish King’s permission to build a new black church… Steinunn Lárusdóttir. When her church was completed in 1848, a plaque claimed the Buðir black church was build without the help of the “Fathers”, in other words, without any help from the Lutheran Church. The church which stands there now is a reconstruction of Steinunn Lárusdóttir’s church. And it serves as a reminder of the strong Icelandic woman and her determination." The church was closed and the door padlocked when we visited the but fresh flowers on the graves plus wiring to small floodlights illuminating the gravestones strongly implied that at least the graveyard was being actively used. More tomorrow. This seven frame pano required a lot of straightening due to a poor effort on behalf of the photographer and a reasonable amount of correction to the blended sky which, if you look carefully, you will observe didn't work as well as I would have desired. Church & Graveyard Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/1250 sec @ f / 9.

28 Apr 20 One last shot from Buðir before we move on a little further down the Snaefellsnes peninsula. A goodly portion of Iceland is comprised of lava from the many volcanoes found on the island and it is the reason that a large number of the beaches are composed of black sand. Today we are taking a closer look at the ground on which the Buðir Black church sits. As we walked around the area taking our photos this is what we were either walking on or around. Here we are looking at a big piece of future sand. You can see the plants at work breaking it down into what will be sand in I'm guessing another 50,000 years or so. All the grassy areas you see in this frame are either growing in sand already or are growing on a thin layer of the lava. It is a bit of a journey to go see this stuff but for those of you who are looking for somewhere to visit something akin might I suggest the National Monument and Preserve Craters of the Moon in Idaho. It's not exactly the same but will give a reasonable experience. If you are not familiar with it, it was where the Apollo astronauts trained for their walks on the moon. Other than some slight contrast enhancement, this is straight from the camera. Sand in the Waiting Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture priority; ISO 200; 1/640 sec @ f / 9.

29 Apr 20 The Black Church at Buðir was the first stop on the Snaefellsnes peninsula but we were to take in three more photo ops before driving in the dark to our dinner and lodging. Our original plans were to spend two full days here before moving on the the southern coast at Vic. The storm changed everything and we wound up spending just the one half day and night here before an early departure and run to Vic where we would wind up sheltering from the storm. So our additional three stops were rather rushed and not at all what they might have been. In several respects it didn't make a lot of difference for me as the three additional stops showcased things that are better displayed on the west coasts of the three states WA - OR - CA than they were in Iceland. Accordingly I wasn't all that enthused with what we saw for the rest of the day. I think that may have well impacted how I viewed the places we visited. One of them was an area called Londrangar and featured some nice sea stacks, but not nearly of the quality to which I'm accustomed. So the challenge for me was to try and find a way to make them interesting. With waning light and an ever more painful back, that wasn't easy. But I tried to find something to give some scale to what we were seeing. Here you have two of the sea stacks, a lighthouse, the keepers station and another building (red roof) and some crashing waves. It isn't as obvious as I'd like, but observe that the height of the ground on which I was standing was in the neighborhood of 75 feet above the beach. What is obvious is that the storm is making it's presence known. I've done a small amount of dodging and burning and a small amount of contrast enhancement to the original to give you a better sense of depth in the scene. Calm Before the Storm Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 500 (needed more for the decreasing light level); 1/640 sec @ f / 9.

30 Apr 20 Back to where we were yesterday, but today we are taking a closer look at those cliffs. I wanted to share a creative version of this shot but unfortunately all the creative stuff destroyed the part that I want to point out. I'm guessing on this observation - the point I want to share - but if you look at the cliffs in the center of the image you note that the columns are made of layers that are colored differently. I'm betting that what we are seeing is the result of repeated lava flows from volcanic eruptions over the eons of time. The cliffs, as you might imagine, are far more striking in person, especially when accented by the winds, squawking sea birds, roar of the ocean, and accompanied by the spray from the crashing waves, but at least this will give you some small sense of what it is like. This lava part is definitely lacking on our U.S. western coast, but all the rest can be found here in abundance. This is straight from the camera save for a little dodging and burning. Lava Cliffs Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 500; 1/200 sec @ f / 9.

03 Apr 20 We'll catch a hop back to the states for the weekend and take a short break from Iceland but return on Monday. As is likely true for most of you this being under house arrest is getting tiring and so we take an occasional break and do a bit of driving just to go somewhere and see something besides our home interior. Jan gave up her favorite evening pass time (TV) for Lent so her evenings are becoming really boring. My routine hasn't changed much and I just have more time to work on things photographic. So for me these occasional outings can become photo shoots as well, and the last one we took, to Sequim, Jan's favorite place to go just for a drive, offered me a chance to shoot Bald Eagles. With but one or two exceptions, all our trips to Sequim have produced one or more of the proud birds and this trip was no exception. This bird happens to like this particular tree and I have shots of it perched as you see it today from several different years. It isn't much bothered by people, and on the day of our visit, it sat watching two very loud young lovers walk down the street and waited until the young lady was within range and let loose with a goodly size poop missing her by inches. A bird with a sense of humor. It seems as though the bird doesn't mind photographers who quietly take their photographs but doesn't appreciate it when folks break the silence. This is one of my favorite shots of the day. I've seriously cropped the original and added a small amount of contrast enhancement to bring out the texture of the feathers and the bark. Perched Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/1250 sec @ f / 9.

24 Apr 20 We leave the land of fire & ice today to take a close up look at a common iris. Jan picked this one out of about 150 candidate photos (not all iris) as her favorite of the group. Nothing really special about it other than your being able to visualize the lovely texture of the petals and a bit of pollen on the one petal in front. Even though I've used a reasonable aperture for depth, being as close as I was, the relatively shallow depth of field gives some nice dimensionality to the flower. I love close-up / macro photography and spring time provides a lot of opportunities. Plus it is both easy to do, there are multiple approaches, and you don't have to go far to do it. Great way to spend the lock down. This is straight from the camera save for some cropping and the removal of a major distraction. Purple Iris Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/800 sec @ f / 9.

17 Apr 20 For today's macro/close-up we take a gander at an orange tulip. While there is indeed lots to do in the yard and house along the lines of spring cleaning, especially with this mandated house arrest, we do find we need a break now and then to go somewhere and do something so earlier this week we went to a nursery so we could do even more in the yard. While Jan looked for yard adornments I looked for flowers I thought would make for good pictures and this tulip was among my top selections. What really caught my eye was the design on the stigma. The lighting was such that the interior of it was displaying as though it was being scanned by a color x-ray. Not sure what was causing the effect but I thought it was rather unique and so I took the shot. This is basically straight from the camera except for some severe cropping and selective dodging and burning. Up Close Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/640 sec @ f / 9.