Dashed :: Iceland

Dashed :: Iceland

 

I’ve not taken a poll, I’ll admit. However, I suspect most photographers who set foot in Iceland want to see Vestrahorn. Sure, it may not fit into the itinerary…it’s a car rental and six hours from Reykjavik, after all. But that doesn’t mean they don’t *want* to see it. It’s friggen majestic.

I’m no exception. Vestrahorn was on my radar, so despite the absurd driving time and car rental and the gas station/food/bathroom/waterfall and glacier lagoon stop logistics, I was going.  Unfortunately, I brought the extreme wind and sideways hail with me. But damn it, my friend Melissa and I drove all that way and we were going to photograph it.

We bundled into our rain clothes -some for us, some for our camera bodies-and stepped into the tempest. The wind howled, and ripped at our clothes and I spent more time wiping my lens dry than actually shooting. Hunker, wait for a lull, wipe the lens, wipe it a second time for good measure, focus, shoot, repeat. But, you know, with more hunkering. And more numb fingers.

In the end, I let this photo sit in the archives for years because…well, truthfully, because hypothermia may have done long term brain damage and affected my judgement. Oh, and also because I thought I hadn’t gotten anything worth editing. Especially not worth editing the raindrops out.

But hey, we can’t be right all of the time, I guess. So I present to you, several years later, my dashed hopes for a sunset at Vestrahorn! Or maybe it was sunrise. I can’t remember.

It’s been quite some time since I remembered to update my website….2020 has messed up all of my schedules and habits!  I’ve been better, slightly, about posting on my instagram account.  You can follow me here.

Fire Water :: CT

Fire Water :: CT

Fact: Lightning is powerful, awe-inspiring, scary, dangerous and beautiful.

To nature and landscape photographers, that’s often an irresistible combination of traits for something to have.  And, like most things we photograph – the ocean filled with rogue waves and sharks, the frozen lake we pray doesn’t crack open while we’re on it, the mountain view at sunrise that required a hike in the dark through bear country –  the question is always, “How do we make a beautiful image without getting dead?”

2016 was a year of expanding my skills.  One of the things I tried my hand at for the first time was lightning photography and IT.WAS. AWESOME!  Of my three lightning season trips last year, this shot is my favorite.  There is a lot to improve upon still, but the experiences of being one with the storm, so to speak….those memories are just about perfect!