A different angle of the Godafoss, the waterfall of the Gods. When a waterfall has such a massive volume of water going over it there is always a lot of spray, almost everywhere, and seemingly especially where you want to be for the shot. There is nothing like drops of water all over your lens to ruin your shots, and if you don’t see it until the evening when you are downloading your images it can ruin your whole day. You quickly develop a little ritual, check exposure, frame the shot, check the focus, mirror up… wipe the lens carefully, then quickly take the shot… repeat until you have one that is droplet free.
Oh yeah, don’t fall in!
Godafoss or rather Goðafoss, as it is correctly spelled in Icelandic is the waterfall of the Gods, or the waterfall of the big chief… depending on how its translated, I’m told. I’m not speaking much Icelandic at this stage, though I am working on it…
Legend has it that about 1000 years ago the head of the Norse community in Iceland, the Lawspeaker, after converting to Christianity, threw the statues of the Nordic Gods into the river from the top of the Falls, at least that’s how the story goes. Either way, it is one of the most spectacular places I’ve yet been, and somehow the waterfall of the Gods is a fitting name.
This shot was just after a very grey dawn with lots of spray finding the lens of the camera. There was lots of wiping in between shots, and the camera had a rain jacket on. Its shot on the Hasselblad H4d-60 with the 28mm lens.
Photo Tour of Iceland 2015.
I have dates for the first Photographic Tour of Iceland for 2015, we will be in Iceland from August 25th until September 3rd 2015. I don’t have all the details yet, a few things like price we are still working out, but for the latest you just need to keep watching the Blog, or go to the Iceland Photo Tour Page.
I didn’t think I had time to visit Litlanesfoss waterfall on this trip, but the road had other ideas. I was following highway 1 around Iceland, making detours at various places to get to spectacular spots. In this case though I had continued on straight thinking I was on highway 1, but at some intersection highway 1 had turned right and the road that continued straight on had become another road… even though it looked exactly the same and there was only a small sign to indicate otherwise. Seems I was meant to come here.
It was grey, windy and occasionally raining, so perfect weather for waterfalls really. The overcast conditions and wet rocks all conspired to bring out the colour in the stone and the ubiquitous green of the stunning Iceland moss. Yes, it really is this colour!
Image shot on the Hasselblad H4D-60 with the 50mm f4 lens
Actually on the way out of Pinvellir National Park in West Iceland, shot from the side of the road. Mountains are such a novelty to me that after the first couple of days of travelling around Iceland in my camper van I concluded that at the rate I was going, or rather my frequency of stopping, it would take me about 2 months to get back for my return flight to Europe…
The scenery was so spectacular that I was stopping every few minutes and hiking off into the fields and ravines either side of the road. Since I had only given myself 10 days this clearly wasn’t going to work. After that realisation I set myself a final destination each day where I would want to be for sunset and then try to budget my stops to only those that were truly spectacular… Trouble is, all of Iceland is truly spectacular. Next time I think I allow more time!
This image is yet another un budgeted stop when the combination of the stream, the mountains and the light just could not be ignored. This was on the way out of Pinvellir National Park West Iceland, where I had spent the whole day saying “wow!” a lot.
The first few of days I was in Iceland on the Snæfellsnes Peninsula the weather was nuts! It rained every day, the wind blew like crazy, and it snowed… sometimes all at once. Apparently that’s normal, and the Icelanders say if you don’t like the weather, wait another 5 minutes. It really is true. I would pull up to a location and the car would be rocking on its suspension from the wind blowing so strong and visibility would be 10 metres due to the rain… then a few minutes later, it would be calm and dry… or at least calmer and dryer.
Of course the best thing about weather like this is the wonderful skies with wild clouds zooming overhead at high speed. It makes for a great place to play with ND filters and long exposures. For this shot below, I was literally hanging off of the tripod to stop it blowing off the cliff, with camera attached… a camera that costs more than my car… actually a lot more than my car.
Shot with the Hasselblad H4D-60 with the 28mm lens and an ND 1.8 (6 stops)… and 78kg (Me) clinging to the tripod…
Kirkjufell on the Snæfellsnes Peninsula of Iceland is a mystical mountain that looks like something out of Lord of the Rings, in fact it may have even been used in the Lord of the Rings. I didn’t see any Hobbits, but then it was about 2 degrees and raining when I was there, so they were probably all at home in front of the fire! The waterfall strategically placed in front of Kirkjufell, Kirkjufellsfoss (Foss is Icelandic for waterfall), only adds to the magic of the place, especially for photographers.
Shot on the Hasselblad H4D-60 with the 28mm lens at sparrows fart with frozen fingers! This image has had about 3.5 minutes of post processing in Lightroom (along with the 2 previous images), so it looks very “raw”.
Autumn colours in Iceland are mostly pretty subtle, they don’t have much in the way of forests to turn bright orange and red. What they do have is a wonderful variety of small perennial plants that turn beautiful shades of red, orange and yellow… There is also an abundance of amazing waterfalls in Iceland… Though not strictly a waterfall, Hraunfossar is beautiful none the less, especially in Autumn.
Just a short drive out of Reykjavik, But it seemed to take ages as I wanted to stop every 20 metres! Shot on the Hasselblad H4D-60 with the 100mm lens.
Back in Amsterdam after an intense 10 day whirlwind tour of Iceland and driving nearly 2000km. All I want to do just now is sleep, something I didn’t do very much of over there. But before bed here is a picture from the first day or so of the Snæfellsnes Peninsula Lava field with this amazing moss that really is this green. Really!
Image shot with a Hasselblad H4D-60 and a 50mm Lens. So did Iceland live up to my expectations? Oh yes!
I’m sitting at Schiphol airport in the Netherlands after 17 hours of flying via Abu Dhabi (that airport is a surreal experience). I have 6 hours to wait until my flight to Reykjavik Iceland, and a well earned (and needed) hot shower.
Then its straight into it, I can’t wait! There are volcanoes erupting, crazy unseasonal storms blowing and the Northern Lights have moved into full swing, sounds like the ideal recipe for some awesome landscapes.
Stay tuned for more…
This is the second image from my recent brief trip to Karijini National Park in the Pilbara Region of WA. I have lots of new images from that region, but finding time to work on them it difficult at the moment it seems. With running a gallery and organising Photographic tours to exotic locations my days seem to be full!
This image was shot pre-sunrise above Spa Pool in Hamersley Gorge with the borrowed Hasselblad H5D-50 and the Hasselblad HCD 28mm lens.
Click on the image to get a better view…
