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Isolation in Iceland
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Isolation in Iceland



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A lone church stands atop a hill in Iceland with sunbeams breaking through the storm clouds.

A lone church stands atop a hill in Iceland with sunbeams breaking through the storm clouds.
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cameraCanon EOS 5D Mark III

settings Aperture 8/1 ISO 250 Shutter 1/640 Focal Length 175/1 

upload_dateJan, 2017

Views

1743

Likes

Awards

Contest Finalist in The Clouds And The Sunlight Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Rule Of Thirds Photo Contest v3
Peer Choice Award
Featured
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Peer Award
mariestojanov richardeaton_9707 davidjprosser TonyGuzmanG Vorster arcrem gman176 +208
Superb Composition
rodmadill photojeanne swapnilpanganti todjones Dhinagar_aruchamy KasaiNazo timothynelson_8490 +33
Absolute Masterpiece
James-Evans tonibeser Tabbiesmin Avantgarda Gmoglezt krnaik AdriaanSwart +12
Top Choice
Trotts Whuff tonysextonofficial Aarti_Sachin_Soman Ahniwake paaluglefisklund Bex81 +1
Outstanding Creativity
maska11 brendaglen andybonnard DhruvNegi7316 pranaya DDelaplain
Magnificent Capture
jean-pierreCharbonnel KevinKrueger caseykell21 JacquesH60 dianarainbow
All Star
peterburu JePePhoto Maadhatter rickmcfadden
Virtuoso
keb clarieharrington

Emotions

Impressed
giants2856 KonstantinSokolov

Top Ranks

Creative Landscapes Photo Contest vol11Top 10 rank
Creative Landscapes Photo Contest vol11Top 10 rank week 1
Cloudy Days Photo ContestTop 30 rank
Rule of Thirds Photo Contest vol6Top 10 rank
Rule of Thirds Photo Contest vol6Top 10 rank week 1
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The Clouds And The Sunlight Photo ContestTop 10 rank
The Clouds And The Sunlight Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Experimental Light Photo ContestTop 30 rank
Experimental Light Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 1
A Place of Worship Photo ContestTop 10 rank
A Storm Is Coming Photo ContestTop 20 rank
A Place of Worship Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
A Storm Is Coming Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 1
A Place of Worship Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Compositions 101 Photo Contest vol4Top 10 rank
Compositions 101 Photo Contest vol4Top 10 rank week 3
Isolated Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Isolated Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
Compositions 101 Photo Contest vol4Top 10 rank week 2
Rule Of Thirds Photo Contest v3Top 10 rank
ViewBug Photography AwardsTop 10 rank
ViewBug Photography AwardsTop 10 rank week 1
Isolated Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Rule Of Thirds Photo Contest v3Top 20 rank week 3
Compositions 101 Photo Contest vol4Top 10 rank week 1
Rule Of Thirds Photo Contest v3Top 10 rank week 2
Rule Of Thirds Photo Contest v3Top 10 rank week 1
Compositions 101 Photo Contest vol3Top 10 rank
Compositions 101 Photo Contest vol3Top 10 rank week 2
Compositions 101 Photo Contest vol3Top 10 rank week 1
Rule Of Thirds Photo Contest v2Top 10 rank
Show Minimalism Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Show Minimalism Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Rule Of Thirds Photo Contest v2Top 10 rank week 2
Rule Of Thirds Photo Contest v2Top 10 rank week 1
The Sunlight Photo ContestTop 20 rank
Pastel Tones In Nature Photo ContestTop 20 rank
The Sunlight Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 1
Pastel Tones In Nature Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 2
Pastel Tones In Nature Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 1

Categories

5 Comments |
kathyk_abq
 
kathyk_abq May 20, 2017
Lovely! I loved all of the little churches in Iceland!
Deblgood10
 
Deblgood10 May 25, 2017
Just Wow
paulker
 
paulker January 10, 2018
I know this church. I was just there last month. Great capture!
samikohonen
 
samikohonen October 02, 2018
Love the mood on this one. Well seen
DNproSTUDIO
 
DNproSTUDIO March 04, 2019
very amazing photo

Submitted to Photo Contests

Tags

#church #religion #religious #iceland #building #hill #sunbeams #stormy #storm clouds #clouds
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Behind The Lens

Location

We were driving east from a beach to Vic, in Iceland. We drove round the corner and there was the lovely, lonely church of Vic, on the hill. There was a snow storm brewing, the wind was so strong - just as we jumped out of our bus, the sun came out and its beams pointed towards the church and illuminated the sky and sea. Moments later we beat a hasty retreat as snow pellets stung our faces and pinged off our cameras.

Time

We had risen early to catch the sunrise at a beach just west of Vic, Iceland. Well, you can see the cloud cover so no sunrise - instead thick clouds, gale force winds, snow pellet showers that stung your face. This photograph was taken at about 9am.

Lighting

This photograph was taken just before a fierce snow pellet storm. The light was a bit eerie as you can see. But just before the snow pellets arrived, the sun came out and the beams pointed towards the church.

Equipment

The photograph was taken hand held using my Canon 5D Mk III. The ISO was 250, with a shutter speed of 1/640th of a second at f/8. Focal length was 175mm. The shutter speed had to be fast because of the high wind buffeting me and my camera.

Inspiration

Driving round a corner the church on the hill was a huge surprise - we stopped our bus and jumped out - it was a must photograph.

Editing

As the original photograph was taken in RAW format, the photograph had to be processed - this was carried out in Lightroom. The basic adjustments section was used and this is the final photograph - basically making the photograph look the same as the scene as I remembered it.

In my camera bag

Canon 5D Mk III, Lee filters and holder, 24 - 105mm lens, cleaning cloth, spare batteries (they don't last long in the cold), spare media cards.

Feedback

There was no need to use any filters for taking this photograph because the fast shutter speed (due to the high wind), together with a darker sky, stopped the photograph from being over exposed. In this particular composition, the church is the star but the sky and sunbeams certainly share the limelight. If the weather had been kinder, with a brighter sky, then I would have had to use a strong ND filter to stop the sky from being over-exposed. But on saying that, I probably wouldn't have composed the photograph in the same way, I'd have tightened the composition and filled more of the frame with the church - who wants a boring sky to share space with the star? I think this photograph works well because of the stormy, threatening sky and bursting sunbeams.

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