Imagine a landscape of lush rolling fields covered in flowers, pristine waterfalls, never-ending sunsets, beautiful wild horses and green mountains. It sounds like a fairytale, right? Something out of “Lord of the Rings,” perhaps? Believe it or not, this place is very real, and it’s called Iceland. Talk about a photographer’s dream come true! If you’re a photographer (amateur, professional, whatever.), and you visit Iceland, you WILL end up returning over and over again… just like I have. There are few places that I like to visit repeatedly, but Iceland is one of those special places.
We just wrapped up a week-long photography workshop with Focus on Nature called Discover Iceland. During the course of the week, we traveled along the south coast of the country, stopping at over 20 incredible shooting locations. The shooting/exploring was also punctuated by some lecture and critique sessions where I covered techniques for shooting and editing images. The workshop happened during a very interesting time of year. If you’re wondering what this midnight sun thing is all about, here it is: In Iceland, during the summer, it never really gets dark out because the sun sets around midnight and never really gets very far under the horizon before it rises again around 3 am. This makes for some very interesting shooting [and sleeping] scenarios.
Left to right: Ragnar Th Sigurdsson (our excellent local photographer guide), myself, and Einar Erlendsson (The man behind Focus on Nature).
Our group stops to grill dinner in the midst of one of our photo shoots. Here, you can see the rugged vehicle we traveled in during the workshop.
The setup for this workshop was very nice. The group traveled in a very large and incredibly rugged vehicle, maneuvered by Siggy, our awesome driver. Each person had their own row, so it was easy to keep camera gear out and ready. While we were on the road, I would give shooting tips and post-processing techniques (yes, I actually processed images on the move!). There was also my daily session of “How to pimp your 5D Mark II” (most of the workshop attendees shot with this camera.) When we were out shooting, the vehicle would stay open so that we could easily change out gear.
And then, of course, there was Einar. Einar is the man behind Focus on Nature and, while we’re on the road, he drives behind in his truck, aka command central. He is always using some type of device to arrange the details of the workshop. Because the weather and other conditions in Iceland can be so unpredictable, we don’t make many of the arrangements in advance. Instead, we follow the light and make decisions on the fly so that we don’t miss any great opportunities. Einar is constantly toggling weather maps, arranging hotel stays, meals, etc. It’s because he’s there, taking care of all the details, that we can focus on shooting.
But that’s enough about workshop details. Let’s get on to some more images, shall we? The following is a photoloque of the Discover Iceland, 2012 workshop:
Here I am shooting one of Iceland’s many geothermal spots. Iceland is situated in a location where there is a crack in the Earth’s plates and it allows the country to use the resulting heat/steam for energy.
One of Karen’s images from Skogafoss, an incredibly large waterfall on the south coast of Iceland. The group had a great time with this one, because you could actually climb up the hill on the right side of the waterfall to get interesting vantage points.
The two above images were shot in the town of Vik. We stopped here because the place is just so photogenic. There, you’ve got rustic buildings, Icelandic horses, the beach, and of course, that picturesque church on the hillside.
We stopped to shoot at two different locations where a glacier “flows” into a lagoon. Icebergs break off the glacier and float around, sometimes washing up on the land.
This is where one of the glacier/iceberg lagoons flows out into the ocean.
The two photos above were from a pretty comical shoot. As we pulled up to this field by the beach, Ragnar told us that we would be photographing these beautiful birds, and that it was great because, when you walk out there, they try to attack you! At first we were scratching our heads trying to figure out what was so great about this, but eventually, we found that you get some good shooting opportunities as they swoop down at your head! We got some good images, but the birds did get their revenge on some of us. Some people say it’s good luck when a bird poops on you. If that’s the case, we were a very lucky group!
If you know me, you know that I couldn’t let a whole week of shooting go by without doing some lightpainting! The tricky thing with this time of year in Iceland is that it never get’s dark. In order to keep our scenery dark enough, we had to use much shorter shutter speeds. This turned out to be ok because the type of lightpainting we did involved burning steel wool. When I spun the steel wool around it was bright enough to show up well with shutter speeds of 4-5 seconds.
In one of the above captions, I mentioned the iceberg lagoon that flows out into the ocean. Some of the icebergs eventually wash up on the shore and melt there, creating very interesting shapes and textures. Our group spent a while shooting here.
As a last-minute treat, Einar arranged for the group to take a boat ride out in the glacier lagoon.
We stopped to shoot at this charming little grass-roof church. Iceland has a lot of adorable buildings like this.
These pools were full of a funky green algae that almost gave them a glowing appearance. This was definitely one of those “off the beaten path” locations that you can only get to with a pretty rugged vehicle.
There was one day where we spent a bit of time in the vehicle waiting for a rain storm to pass by. (This wasn’t really a bad thing, because we covered some more shooting tips while we were waiting.) When the rain subsided, we were rewarded with this beautiful full rainbow. This is a rather unique group shot, wouldn’t you say?
This waterfall is called Seljalandsfoss and was the perfect spot to wrap up a full day of shooting. The falls are extremely picturesque and you can even walk behind them!
These very generous Icelandic horses allowed us to photograph them from up close in their pasture. They even had some foals with them that were very curious about our cameras.
Here is Karen, shooting at the Blue Lagoon, which is another geothermal location. These pools were probably 85-90 degrees F! If you’ve been to Iceland you know that the Blue Lagoon is actually a geothermal spa where you can go and swim or get treatments. The area you see above is not part of that spa but it’s still part of the same body of water.
As you probably noticed from the images, we had a pretty great experience. The group was wonderful, and everyone got along great from day 1. I hope to see many of them again in the future, either on another workshop, or during the course of our travels in the bus. We were sad to leave Iceland, but look forward to another future visit. We are actually working with Focus on Nature to arrange two more workshop events in 2013. I’ll announce them here on the blog and at DigitalMastery.com as soon as we have details.
Hi gang! We just arrived in Iceland a couple days ago, and it’s been an incredible trip so far! Iceland is one of my favorite travel destinations and I never get tired of it. There are always amazing things to shoot here. I’m here teaching a workshop with Focus on Nature that will run for a full week.
Karen and I arrived in Reykjavik a few days early so that we could explore a bit and recover from jet lag before the workshop started. When we arrived on Friday Morning, Einar Erlendsson (The man behind Focus On Nature) picked us up from the airport and drove us around the city of Reykjavik while we waited for our hotel room to be ready. We went to a funky folk art installation called El Directore house. It was somewhat like other folk art places we’ve seen in the states, only with a bit of a viking theme to it. Einar also took us to the Harpa opera hall for lunch. Not only was the cafe there very nice, but the architecture of the place is very unique and fun to photograph. After driving around the city a bit, we finally made it to our hotel, took a nap and then headed to dinner in the city.
Day two was when the fun began. We got up really early to meet Einar for breakfast, and then drove out about 1.5 hours out into the country where we met a pilot who would take me up in his small plane. I had been wanting to photograph Iceland from the air for a long time, so I made that a priority for this trip. Einar knew of a very skilled pilot so he arranged our flight. The plane was a classic 1964 wooden-frame French plane that sat four people. I had a small opening for my lenses so that I didn’t have to shoot through the glass, and the pilot was very accommodating, flying over the places I asked and angling the plane so I could get the best shots. We had great weather for the flight, and the scenery was absolutely breathtaking! Check out the slideshow of some of my aerial images below.
After the plane ride we headed back toward Reykjavik, but made a few shooting stops on the way back. First, we stopped at a random field/pasture because Karen was itching to see and photograph some Icelandic horses. They really have a story book look to them. Next, we stopped at Urridafoss, our first waterfall of the trip. We spent a lot of time shooting here. It’s a good thing I had a strong neutral density filter because it was pretty bright out there!
My waterfall shot from the other day.
Karen got this shot of me shooting Urridafoss (Anything that ends in “foss” in Icelandic means waterfall!)
Sunday marked the first day of the workshop, and we met the attendees at 1pm at a meeting room in the Grand Hotel in Reykjavik. After getting acquainted, we had a 4-hour lecture session and then all went out to dinner. In the coming week, we will head out of town, into the country, and shoot a ton. The plans are to basically follow the light. We’re not going to run on a strict schedule, so we’ll be flexible to just go where the good shots are.
This is for those adventurous souls out there who love photography and embrace spontaneity. Space has just opened up in my Iceland workshop coming up on June 24-30 and we’d love to get one or two lucky people on board with us!
This trip takes us to one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Iceland features black sand beaches, waterfalls, geysers, volcanoes, geothermal features, glaciers, icebergs, lighthouses, turf houses, storybook horses and interesting architecture, all packed into a country that is 1/95th the size of the United States. Its unspoiled countryside offers breathtaking vistas, dramatic weather and such a diversity of subject matter that after a week’s time, you will feel like you’re just scratching the surface.
While this adventure is right around the corner, I’ve been building up my excitement by processing images I’ve shot there on previous trips to Iceland. I thought I’d share those with you here as well. Click on them to enlarge.
For more information, and to sign up for a last-minute adventure of a lifetime, click HERE.
In June of this year, I will be leading a photographic workshop in one of my favorite places to shoot: Iceland. Focus on Nature (the organizers) asked me to write a blog post for them about the upcoming trip. Instead of just saying how great it’s going to be (how can it not be? It’s Iceland!), I decided to give a little sneak peak at what folks might learn there. I’m posting the write-up here as well, because I think you will enjoy it.
• • • • •
I’ve been to Iceland several times and the reason I keep returning is that it truly is one of the most magical places I’ve ever seen. I’m sure you can tell by the photos that this year’s trip is going to be a visually-rich journey. What the photos might not explain, however, is how our Iceland trips are also a journey into your own creativity and photographic education. When I was asked by Focus on Nature to write a blog post about my upcoming June 2012 trip, I decided that, instead of telling you how beautiful it’s going to be (you can see that for yourself), I would actually share some of the things you might learn in my workshop. We don’t have the space to cover everything I might teach, so I thought I’d just pick one topic and give you an example of the type of things you might learn.
Shooting Waterfalls
In Iceland, there’s one thing you simply can’t avoid seeing a lot of: waterfalls. There are so many that, when you start your trip, you’ll be excited about every one you encounter, but then over time you’ll start to take them for granted and only seek out the ones that offer something overly unique to capture. Here are a dozen tips that I use when shooting waterfalls. I hope you can come to Iceland to learn some of these techniques in the field with me.
Single capture of a waterfall
Multiple exposures combined to increase the amount of white water, reduce mist and produce a detailed sky
1) Fast Shutter Speeds
Your choice of shutter speed will have most dramatic effect on how your waterfall images will look. Shooting with a fast shutter speed will freeze every drop of water and produce a lot more fine detail than using a long exposure. There’s a trick I often use when shooting this way that will cause a waterfall to look as if it has a lot more whitewater. I shoot multiple exposures using a fast shutter speed and then composite them in Photoshop. I might take 10-12 images and then select the resulting images in Bridge, choose Tools>Photoshop>Load Files into Photoshop Layers to stack the images in a single file, then click on each layer and change the Blending Mode pop-up menu (found at the top of the Layers panel in Photoshop) to Lighten mode. Setting all the layers to lighten mode has the effect of filing in most of the gaps in the waterfall, which makes it look like there’s more water going down it.
A slow shutter speed resulted in the silky look to this waterfall.
2) Show Shutter Speeds
For the traditional silky look in a waterfall, I’ll set my F-stop to f22 and my ISO setting to the lowest setting it goes to. If that doesn’t produce a long enough exposure, then I’ll add a two-stop neutral density filter to the lens to further slow my exposure.
3) Multiple Shutter Speeds
The problem with shooting a waterfall using a long exposure is that any foliage that surrounds the waterfall can end up being blurry if it’s windy. When that’s the case, I end up shooting a few long exposures to get the silky look with the waterfall and then I’ll increase my ISO setting to ISO 200 and change my Aperture setting to F8 to end up with a much faster shutter speed to freeze any motion in the greenery that surrounds the waterfall. Once I’m in Photoshop, I’ll stack one of the fast shutter speed shots on top of a slow shutter speed image and then add a layer mask to the top layer and paint with black over the waterfall so that the slow shutter speed shot is used in that area while the fast shutter speed is used on the surrounding image.
4) Wide Angle to Expand Space
If I can get close to the stone wall that is behind a waterfall, then I’ll end up shooting with a very wide angle lens. That will have the effect of visually exaggerating the space between near and far objects in a scene and can make the waterfall feel like it is farther away from the wall.
5) Telephoto to Pull Things Together
If I have objects that are far away from the waterfall that I’d like to incorporate into a shot, then I’ll consider using a telephoto lens. Longer lenses visually compress the space between near and far objects in a photograph. That way, I can make it look as if a church is much closer to a waterfall compared to shooting the same scene using a normal or wide angle lens. I’ll simply back away from the church as far as is practical considering the landscape and my view of the waterfall, then I’ll find the longest lens that will allow me to include both the church and waterfall in the shot without cropping out anything essential. By doing so, I’ll make the church feel much closer to the waterfall compared to how it would look if it was shot from up close.
6) Removing Mist
If there is a breeze at the location of a waterfall, then the area to the right or left of the waterfall can become obscured by the mist that’s coming off the waterfall. To reduce or eliminate that mist, I’ll take multiple exposures using the same exposure settings. I’ll end up with 10-12 images that look very similar, but the position of the mist will vary slightly. I’ll then stack the resulting images and then blend them using Darken mode in Photoshop, which will help to break through the mist by allowing the gaps in the mist to add up from each shot. The technique is very similar to what I mentioned in tip #1 above.
A multi-shot panorama
7) Shooting for Large Format Output
If I know that I’ll want to make a huge print of a waterfall, then I’ll shoot it as a multi-shot panorama and stitch the resulting images. That way, I’ll end up with a much higher resolution image than what I could get from a single shot. To get a really clear and sharp image, I’ll manually focus using the LiveView feature of my camera at 10X magnification. I’ll also use a cable release to insure that I don’t bump the camera when pressing the shutter and use the mirror lockup feature to further reduce camera movement. I’ll also use an aperture setting of f8 or f11 because that’s the range where your lens is the sharpest. All those things put together will allow me to produce a huge image that is extremely sharp.
8 ) Show off Scale
A waterfall all by itself is OK, but getting a human element in the scene gives the viewer a much better sense of scale. In that kind of setup, I’ll try to make sure I don’t shoot from a position too close to the human subject. If I stand close to them, then they will appear huge in the frame which can cause the waterfall to feel smaller. Shooting them from further away can help to make the waterfall feel larger since the person will not look as large in comparison.
In this scene, I couldn’t get correct exposures for both the waterfall and the sky all in one shot. Therefore, I bracketed my shots and merged them later in Photoshop.
9) Bracket for a Blue Sky
I often need to vary my exposures in order to retain detail in the sky. Let’s say I run across a waterfall that is in the shade and surrounded by a dark cliff. Once I get the exposure so that the waterfall is rendered satisfactorily, there is a good chance that the sky will end up blown out as a solid white mass. After capturing a good looking exposure of the waterfall, I’ll take my next shot about two stops darker in order to capture detail in the sky. I can then stack the two images as separate layers in Photoshop and then mask the darker image so that it only shows up where the sky should be. That way, I get detail in both the waterfall and the sky.
10) Sunspots
If I ever include the sun in a shot of a waterfall, I’ll take multiple shots and vary the aperture setting to change the way the sun is rendered. When shooting “wide open” at f2.8, the sun will look like it does to my eye in the field. Stopping down the lens to f22 will cause the same sun to become a starburst. Shooting both versions will give me two options. I can either call attention to the sun (by using the starburst version) or simply make it look normal. When including the sun in a shot, I always take a look at the front element of my camera lens. If the sunlight is falling on the front glass of my lens, then I’m going to end up with a lens flare in the image and lower contrast in the scene overall. To prevent the flare and increase contrast, I’ll position my hand so that it casts a shadow on the front of the camera lens while it’s just outside of the camera’s view.
With this image, it took more than one exposure to both the foreground and background elements in focus.
11) Near and Far, Both Sharp
I often try to get my camera extremely close to the pool of water that is found at the bottom of a waterfall. By doing so, the viewer will often feel more connected to the experience. That often involves putting my tripod in the water and getting the camera lens within an inch of the water’s surface. When something is that close to the lens, it can be difficult to maintain sharp focus across the entire distance between the pool water (that’s close) and the waterfall (that’s far). That’s when I might choose to take multiple exposures with different focus points and use an aperture setting that limits the depth of field and therefore renders areas that are far away from the focus point as soft. In one I’ll focus on the water near the camera, in another, I’ll focus 1/4 of the way between the near and far areas, in a third, I’ll focus a bit closer to the waterfall and in another I’ll be focused right on the waterfall. I can then stack the resulting images in Photoshop, select the resulting layers and then use the Edit>Auto-Blend Layers command to have it combine the sharp areas from each shot into a single image.
When you’re shooting a waterfall like this one with a lot of spray, it’s always good to carry a towel with you in addition to a lens cloth.
12) Water on the Lens
I always keep a towel nearby when shooting waterfalls. Any mist coming off the waterfall can easily collect on the front element of the lens and cause blurry blobs to appear on the resulting captures. I drape the towel over the camera when I’m moving around the scene and getting set up. I also use it along with a lens cloth to clean off any water droplets that accumulate on the lens. If I simply can’t avoid getting a few drops on the lens, then I’ll shoot “wide open” at f2.8 and make sure that I’m focused on an area far away. That will reduce the impact of any droplets on the lens and produce a cleaner looking image compared to shooting at a higher f-stop setting.
Hanging out with me in the field is the only time when you’ll get first-hand experience on how all these ideas can be executed. We only have so much space here on the blog and it’s much easier to understand when you’re actually using these techniques in an environment where you can ask questions and I can review your results. That’s why you should join me in Iceland this year! Our trip will be June 24-30, 2012 with Focus on Nature.
Another Icelandic waterfall… I could post 20 more, but I think you get the point.
If those are the ideas I might share when shooting waterfall, then imagine how much more you could learn when we explore other subject matter in Iceland. We’ll talk about getting the most compelling compositions, using the most ideal camera settings and the post processing techniques that are essential to producing dramatic images.
The June 24-30 trip will be my sixth visit to Iceland. I know what to expect and have a lot of experience shooting this unique landscape. There is no doubt you’ll leave Iceland a much better photographer than you are right now. You can sign up for this workshop on the Focus on Nature site HERE.
If you can’t make it to the Iceland workshop, we’ve got plenty more coming up in places like Namibia, Zion National Park, the American Southwest, and more. Check them out HERE.
Hi everyone! I’ve got a lot of great workshops and events going on in 2012 and would for you to join me on some. Here’s what’s coming up:
Discover Iceland: A Photographer’s Paradise
June 24-30, 2012
Get ready to discover one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Iceland features black sand beaches, waterfalls, geysers, volcanos, geothermal features, glaciers, icebergs, lighthouses, turf houses, storybook horses and interesting architecture, all packed into a country that is 1/95th the size of the United States. Its unspoiled countryside offers breathtaking vistas, dramatic weather and such a diversity of subject matter that after a week’s time, you will feel like you’re just scratching the surface. You’ll see so many waterfalls (including the largest in all of Europe) that they’ll become ubiquitous enough that you might even start to ignore them. This will be my fifth visit to Iceland in the last seven years!
Master the creative tools of Photoshop . . . in Hawaii.
In the first day, gain a deep understanding of the fundamental foundation of how Photoshop’s adjustments work. See how you can substitute curves for almost half of Photoshop’s adjustments since many of them use curves behind the scenes. Learn what’s special about camera raw and find out how to best apply adjustment layers and layer masks to make your adjustments more versatile.
In the second day, learn how to creatively alter your images to make them look more appealing. Topics covered include blending modes, working with color globally and selectively, colorizing B&W photographs and learn to apply antique color, soft contrast and painterly effects. Learn how to Influence what a viewer is attracted to within your image, stylistically unify a group of photos, and apply certain tricks to help your viewer stay with your image longer. Employ unique effects to help develop your own personal style.
Learn to make better captures – starting with equipment choices and camera settings. In this jam-packed day of photography and Photoshop, I’ll share my techniques for quickly evaluating shooting locations and creating compositions that are dynamic and interesting. You will learn how to think about post-processing techniques in the field to capture the most ideal images for later digital enhancement. Then, I will demonstrate my favorite post-processing techniques for enhancing and fine-tuning images on the computer. You will learn how to use digital processing tools to create images with more visual impact so you can develop your own style and take your creativity to the next level.
The must-attend conference for photographers and Photoshop Users
Designed to help you boost your skills, Photoshop World offers three days of pulse-pounding training with classes from renowned experts in the fields of Photoshop, photography and lighting and a once-in-a-lifetime experience guaranteed to enhance your skill set and help your work soar to new heights!
My Photoshop World sessions are: Mastering Adjustment Layers, Understanding Color Adjustments and Panorama Stitching.
Page, Arizona is a little-known spot with great photo opportunities. This small town, located on the Colorado River and overlooking the Glen Canyon Dam, will be base camp for our photo adventure. During the course of the workshop, we will photograph the Slot Canyons, Monument Valley, Horseshoe Bend and Lake Vistas, just to name a few.
Our location is ideal for exploring many of the American Southwest’s renowned national parks and monuments, and discovering the unique culture of the Navajo Nation.
UPDATE: As a special bonus for attending this workshop, OnOne Software is giving each participant a FREE copy of their award winning software, Perfect Effects! (a $99.00 value)
The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is a world-renowned attraction and destination for balloon pilots and photographers. For more than three decades, the first week in October brings the smell of roasting chiles and the beautiful, magical moving picture show of hot air balloons sailing silently through the crisp fall air.
The colors and textures will boggle your senses and you will come away with some of the most incredible images you have ever taken. We’ll throw in enough HDR training if you want to get a bit crazy with your creativity.
Be overwhelmed by this seldom experienced spectacle and you’ll be amazed at the photos your creativity will find.
UPDATE: As a special bonus for attending this workshop, OnOne Software is giving each participant a FREE copy of their award winning software, Perfect Effects! (a $99.00 value)
Massive canyon walls ascend toward a brilliant blue sky. To experience Zion, you need to walk among the towering cliffs, or challenge your courage in a small narrow canyon. These unique sandstone cliffs range in color from cream, to pink, to red. They could be described as sand castles crowning desert canyons. We will be experiencing the beauty of this tranquil place when the trees are the most colorful.
UPDATE: As a special bonus for attending this workshop, OnOne Software is giving each participant a FREE copy of their award winning software, Perfect Effects! (a $99.00 value)
Left to right: Ragnar Th Sigurdsson (our excellent local photographer guide), myself, and Einar Erlendsson (The man behind Focus on Nature).
Our group stops to grill dinner in the midst of one of our photo shoots. Here, you can see the rugged vehicle we traveled in during the workshop.
Here I am shooting one of Iceland’s many geothermal spots. Iceland is situated in a location where there is a crack in the Earth’s plates and it allows the country to use the resulting heat/steam for energy.
One of Karen’s images from Skogafoss, an incredibly large waterfall on the south coast of Iceland. The group had a great time with this one, because you could actually climb up the hill on the right side of the waterfall to get interesting vantage points.
The two above images were shot in the town of Vik. We stopped here because the place is just so photogenic. There, you’ve got rustic buildings, Icelandic horses, the beach, and of course, that picturesque church on the hillside.
We stopped to shoot at two different locations where a glacier “flows” into a lagoon. Icebergs break off the glacier and float around, sometimes washing up on the land.
This is where one of the glacier/iceberg lagoons flows out into the ocean.
The two photos above were from a pretty comical shoot. As we pulled up to this field by the beach, Ragnar told us that we would be photographing these beautiful birds, and that it was great because, when you walk out there, they try to attack you! At first we were scratching our heads trying to figure out what was so great about this, but eventually, we found that you get some good shooting opportunities as they swoop down at your head! We got some good images, but the birds did get their revenge on some of us. Some people say it’s good luck when a bird poops on you. If that’s the case, we were a very lucky group!
If you know me, you know that I couldn’t let a whole week of shooting go by without doing some lightpainting! The tricky thing with this time of year in Iceland is that it never get’s dark. In order to keep our scenery dark enough, we had to use much shorter shutter speeds. This turned out to be ok because the type of lightpainting we did involved burning steel wool. When I spun the steel wool around it was bright enough to show up well with shutter speeds of 4-5 seconds.
In one of the above captions, I mentioned the iceberg lagoon that flows out into the ocean. Some of the icebergs eventually wash up on the shore and melt there, creating very interesting shapes and textures. Our group spent a while shooting here.
As a last-minute treat, Einar arranged for the group to take a boat ride out in the glacier lagoon.
We stopped to shoot at this charming little grass-roof church. Iceland has a lot of adorable buildings like this.
These pools were full of a funky green algae that almost gave them a glowing appearance. This was definitely one of those “off the beaten path” locations that you can only get to with a pretty rugged vehicle.
There was one day where we spent a bit of time in the vehicle waiting for a rain storm to pass by. (This wasn’t really a bad thing, because we covered some more shooting tips while we were waiting.) When the rain subsided, we were rewarded with this beautiful full rainbow. This is a rather unique group shot, wouldn’t you say?
This waterfall is called Seljalandsfoss and was the perfect spot to wrap up a full day of shooting. The falls are extremely picturesque and you can even walk behind them!
These very generous Icelandic horses allowed us to photograph them from up close in their pasture. They even had some foals with them that were very curious about our cameras.
Here is Karen, shooting at the Blue Lagoon, which is another geothermal location. These pools were probably 85-90 degrees F! If you’ve been to Iceland you know that the Blue Lagoon is actually a geothermal spa where you can go and swim or get treatments. The area you see above is not part of that spa but it’s still part of the same body of water.
