Resistance

"If the river of life is running frantic and impatient, crushing order and impetus in ruthless ways, step aside to the margin and just watch, as growth will blossom spontaneously."

Image made on the third day of my trip to ICeland. After spending several hours in Godafoss, and trying to resist the impulse to stay there all day in sensory extasy, I decided to leave this spot if I still wanted to witness from up close the power of the waterfall with the strongest water flow of all Europe - Detifoss.

The trip distance was relatively short, but I wasn't certainly expecting the final 20-30km of harsh gravel roads! Fortunately the scenery between the two waterfalls was probably the most incredible of the whole trip, with amazing geothermal areas filled with huge smoke columns, as well as Mars-like landscapes, where gigantic black mountains would suddenly unfold.

We arrived to Detifoss right before sunset, with rain still pouring strongly, and rushed to the top of the waterfall. After watching videos of this place, I would finally be able to step on those rocks, with absolutely no barriers between the power of the waterfall and its visitors.

As the place is incredibly remote, and there was strong rain and cold weather, there was no other human being there besides us! Only in Iceland would it be possible to be alone in such an unique place! The sky was totally covered in dense dark clouds but, once more, the beauty of the location would be worth for itself, not needing any exquisite sunset lights.

After doing some long exposures between 5 and 10 seconds, again following the usual constant filter cleaning and camera drying routine, I ended up chosing this image for publication. This shot was made on the area previously defined by my companion as the "forbidden" zone, but I could not resist shooting from this spot, putting my tripod right on the ledge of the 45 meter fall.

This was the only way I would be able to do a vertical image where I would be able to show the whole height of the waterfall, and still be able to capture the only surviving plants in that area.

Technical data:

Sony a77 + Sigma 10-20mm
Exposure: 5 seconds
Aperture: f-9
ISO: 200
Filters: Formatt Hitech 3 stop soft ND Grad
Wireless remote shutter
Manfrotto MT055XPRO3 tripod + MH055M0-Q6 ballhead
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