Fade Away
I was at this incredible location in June and spent about 3 hours here—alone for the majority of the time—which was pretty special for me. Maybe it was because it was a little too windy, cold and cloudy for most, but I couldn’t resist a chance that some of that amazing Iceland light would crack through. At around 12:30 I had a short-lived glimpse of color
Only In Dreams
In June, lupine blanket the entire country of Iceland. We were lucky enough to visit the town of Husavik on our journey around the Ring Road. This was one of the nicer small towns we stayed at—a great place for whale watching and good home base for visiting the major attractions north Iceland has to offer. This photo was made at around 2:00am at the Kaldbaks-kot Cottages just outside of town. There was a sea of lupine here and with the beautiful sunrise glow I had to shoot it. An incredible moment.
Brúará
Perched alone on this edge, in the dark afterglow, standing in the water, with it flowing all around me was a surreal experience I will never forget and a personal highlight for me on my Iceland trip. I guess that’s why I went with the more surreal look. I felt like this composition in combination with the sky light captured some of the magic of amazing place. And I feel the longer you stare at it the more details come out and the tones balance out more. This was taken on Saturday, June 21—summer solstice—when the sun bounces off the horizon, never setting. Was taken after midnight and the glow in the sky was just gorgeous—like I had never seen before. Had been raining all day and I came back at night for some long exposure action. All the moisture and mist in the air allowed for the most interesting, even, saturated glow across the sky right when the sun ducked below the cloud layer for a short time.
Abandon
Driving back from Mt. Vestrahorn out on the Stokksnes peninsula I had some incredible light. I climbed back up to the turf houses I had passed up earlier in the evening.
Midnight Sun Romance
After hours spent on the Stokksnes Peninsula photographing Mt. Vestrahorn, it was tough to wrap it up and call it an evening with the light being some of the best we’d had all trip. But as Natalie and I drove back out on the one gravel road, I couldn’t resist stopping one more time to capture this moment. The cloud cover was to die for—incredibly fierce, vibrant glow everywhere. My two models made the scene that much more beautiful. Throughout our trip around the Ring Road, we’d be accompanied by the unique Icelandic horse—often paired up just like this, rubbing on each other, probably to keep warm and itch. They were always very friendly—running up to us at times—and they really were a staple of Iceland’s landscape and something we will always remember about this country. For this shot I quietly got out of the car, walked up the road and setup my tripod. I was trying to move quickly before this perfect composition changed. Luckily, it seemed the horses were in late night relaxation mode so I was able to take a few shots before they moved. Wish I could’ve got the other horse to lift it’s head though but didn’t have the angle. The difficulty here was the low light, the wind and the horse movement. I knew I’d have to blast up the ISO so my shutter speed would be fast enough to minimalize any blurring. So the first thing I wanted to make sure I got were the horses. Got lucky with this one—the only useable shot—with the wind obviously blowing I turned up the ISO to 800 to get a relatively sharp shot (other than the blowing tail and mane). I then immediately readjusted to a higher f-stop for more depth, lowered the ISO with a slightly longer shutter to get everything else correctly at f/14 1/13s ISO 250. In post, I painted in the sharper exposure of the horses where I needed to and used my usual methods involving luminosity masks and selective sharpening, etc. to complete it. more info
Reflections of Vestrahorn
The peaceful and majestic mountain of Vestrahorn in southeast Iceland—an incredible location. This composition creates a nice balance between the warm and cool light tones on both sides with the cloud's spectrum of color connecting the two. more info
Rush
Got some of my best light here at Godafoss (Waterfall of the Gods) in northern Iceland. This was taken at around midnight in June and the water level was higher than expected probably due to the beginning of the summer melt. This made it hard to find any sort of foreground as most rocks were completely covered. I hugged the left side cliff and worked my way up very close. I was soaked but luckily captured this shot with nice water movement and a rock up front.
Middle Earth
Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon - There were a bunch of places throughout my trip to Iceland where I felt like I was on some fantasy planet. This canyon, in particular, seemed like it’s straight out of a fairytale—blue glacial water, sheer cliffsides, green mosses blanketing the landscape. The incredible spires and archways made it really feel other-worldly. We spent a long evening here hiking along the top of the cliffs and then of course it was time to go down into the canyon where I got a little more than I bargained for. So I brought a flying drone camera on this trip to Iceland shooting some stills but mostly video: ( http://exposurescape.com/aerial-iceland-flight-of-the-drone/ ). After a few previous successful flights in Iceland, I thought it would be a great idea to really test my piloting skills. With no GPS connection inside the canyon, and my confidence high, I took off filming upriver about 700ft. Long story short, the wind quickly took over and panic set in as I saw my drone fly out of sight towards a canyon wall. Then the fun part—a frantic run through multiple river crossings like I was Bear Grylls—completely soaked from the waist down. Luckily ended up crashing 5 feet from the river bank in some bushes. Took 30 minutes but I found it. And there I was wet, defeated and slightly cold, but my animalistic photography hunger set in as the sky was now getting some nice color. I took another half hour to get a few shots—and since I was already wet, I hopped right back into that river to get this shot. I knew I wanted to include these two dramatic cliff points on either side of the river so I went from there. As far as processing, I applied numerous luminosity masks to balance tones and colors throughout. I also selectively sharpened (and blurred) this image to enhance the fairytale atmosphere of this incredible place. Contact me for purchase information.
Into The Mystic
Got blessed with some great light here at Goðafoss in Northern Iceland. Before heading down to shoot below along the cliffs I wanted to get some shots from above. I hiked around the falls and liked this point of view, however, the wind was blowing the mist from the falls directly onto this location—I mean like white out, cold, drenching mist clouds. For some reason, I still thought this was a reasonable idea and got my trusty full-size microfiber towel draped it over my head and the camera and ran out to this point. Took a minute to get the tripod, settings and focus set, and right before I was ready to fire I would wipe my lens off with a Kimtech Science wipe (awesome for cleaning lenses btw) then wait for an opportunity to lift the front of the towel and shoot—sure we’ve all been there. I only got 2 useable shots out of about 30. The slightly long 1/3 of a second exposure either got misted or hit by my hand trying to pull up the towel. Slightly frustrating. But I am relatively happy with this image and the more unique angle it has. I like the curve of the waterfall edge, the sun flare and the light on top of the foreground water and although the mist did make it hard to process some of the areas, at the same time it created a very nice soft sunlit glow across the image.
Born Again
The church that overlooks the small town of Vik in southern Iceland. Lupines bloom in June here.
Only In Dreams II
The unbelievable lupine bloom in Iceland in June. This was taken in northern Iceland in the small town of Húsavik at around 2:00am. An incredible sight.
Hypnotize
The elusive Bruarfoss waterfall in Iceland. This place is not exactly easy to find—but I was not going to miss it. It is located in the very small town of Brekkuskogur on a main route from Thingnellir to Gullfoss… After searching for hours and finding the coordinates (64.264305, -20.515338), I was able to look on google satellite maps to pinpoint exactly where to turn, park and hike to the falls (message me if you want the details). I made one stop there in the morning to scout out the place and on my way back from my long day trip, I couldn’t pass up the sunset glow that was now breaking through the cloud cover. This was a 26mm shot from the bridge—enough to fit in the nice swirling pool of water at the bottom and still capture some sky. I took a few 1 second exposures at f/16, ISO100 to make sure I caught a few swirls that I liked. In post, I used multiple luminosity masks to adjust tones and contrasts throughout. Had to avoid doing much to the water, as it is already incredibly blue in person. All in all, this is a shot we’ve all seen before, but I’m glad I captured it in these conditions. more info
Flourish
Summer solstice when the sun touches the horizon, changes it's mind and heads back up. This was taken at that time right outside of Husavik in north Iceland in June when the lupine flowers are in full bloom. more info
Far & Away
This rare, calm evening at Vestrahorn was one of my favorite experiences while I was there in June. Misty cloud cover allowed for an interesting sun dog bow. Every now and a string of birds would fly by in the distance.
The Proposal
The one and only Skogafoss. The night I proposed to my wife, Natalie. more info
Days Of Old
Driving back from a late night at mount Vestrahorn in southeast Iceland, regardless of how exhausted I was, I just had to keep stopping for moments like this. Incredible scenes in perfect light with no one else around for miles. The sky was incredibly pink around 1:30am when this was taken and this abandoned house/barn caught my eye along with the grazing horses. more info
Beacon
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Endure
North of Mars
Dettifoss
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Reynisdrangar
Reynisdrangar seastacks near the town of Vik, Iceland. more info
VestraLight
Vestrahorn mountain in Southeastern Iceland is an incredible place. I was lucky enough to experience it at around 11:00pm on this perfectly calm night—no wind, nice temperature and not a soul around. The cloud cover was somewhat misty which made for nice, unique lighting conditions. I got one good reflection shot (also on my page) and then booked it farther back just before the sun disappeared behind the range. Thought this compo was a little different using these mounds of grass with the last touches of sunlight to lead the eye into the scene. Contact me for purchase information.
Fractured
Selfoss
Selfoss is an incredible waterfall located just up river from Dettifoss—europe's most powerful waterfall. Selfoss is a wall of water that extends as far as the eye can see up to this location where I made this photograph at around midnight with the sun setting directly on the falls. more info
Origins
A 20 second exposure and a different angle of the popular Seljalandsfoss in southern Iceland. Used a 10-stop ND filter. Some color cast in this one but along with the long exposure I chose to keep it looking dreamy and different.
The Falls
Europe's most powerful waterfall, Dettifoss. It's power and scale cannot possibly be captured in a photograph.
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