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FollowThe burning sunrise shone its warm rays into the frozen ice cave in Vatnajokull glacier, creating these amazing contrasts so of course I couldn´t resist taking...
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The burning sunrise shone its warm rays into the frozen ice cave in Vatnajokull glacier, creating these amazing contrasts so of course I couldn´t resist taking a selfie... =D
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Contest Finalist in Never Stop Exploring Photo Contest
Peer Choice Award
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Contest Finalist in Unforgettable Landscapes Photo Contest by Zenfolio
Contest Finalist in Image Of The Month Photo Contest Vol 18
Peer Award
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jymbraun
March 06, 2017
The Mark VI is a "want it" camera body. Did you HDR or is this, basically, RAW unedited?
marcoimmervoll
March 28, 2017
you should wear a spacesuite! this looks like its from another planet!
BillC
October 23, 2018
Beautiful! Are these formations naturally occurring? Never seen anything like this. Stunning!!
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken in an ice cave called the "Crystal Cave" which is located under Vatnajokull glacier, Iceland. The ice caves are made by blue ice, ice that the glacier has squeezed the oxygen out of with its weight, leaving the ice incredibly blue.Time
We got up early that day and met up with a local glacier guide by the glacier lagoon while it was still dark outside. From there we drove the rough trail up to the glacier for about 45 minutes and got there in good time before sunrise and well ahead of the crowds.Lighting
As the sun rose, it lit up the cloudy skies outside with a fiery red color while at the same time shining it´s warm rays on the glacier, thus lighting up the deep blue ice dome of the cave. There were big contrasts between the darkness inside the cave and the sunrise outside so I had to shoot two seperate images and put them together to get balanced lighting. That´s why I shot the inside of the cave at 5sec and the outside at 1/30sec.Equipment
I used a Canon 16-35mm lens at 16mm on a 5D Mark IV camera on a tripod.Inspiration
I was there running a small photography workshop and when I saw where things were heading with this massive sunrise, I couldn´t resist taking a selfie. Then I realized that I had forgotten to bring my wireless remote trigger so I had to put the camera on a 10sec delay and run to the entrance to pose for the shot. I knew right away that it was going to be one of my best shots to this date as everything seemed to be coming together just right.Editing
I had to do a 2 shot composite to get the shot right. One for the outside of the cave and one for the inside. First I did some basic editing in Lightroom on both shots before throwing both images into Photoshop and layering them up. Alot less processing than usual but then again it´s almost impossible to get a bad shot in these ice caves and the crazy blue ice dome.In my camera bag
I like to travel light so always have just one camera in my bag, my Canon 5D Mark IV although I have a Mark III sometimes with me in the car. 2 Lenses. The Canon 16-35mm f/2.8 Mark III and the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS Mark I. Wireless shutter release that reaches up to a 100 meters. A remote flash. Batteries for the camera, remote and flash. A polarizer filter for the 70-200mm and a couple of Lee filters for the 16-35mm. An extender (X2). Cloth for the lens and a lazer pointer to point out objects in the night sky during low light photography and to help focus on infinity at night.Feedback
Go for a small local company that is flexible and willing to take you to the ice caves in the off hours. As I stood there taking that very shot, there were 2 buses filled with people putting on crampons out side and getting ready to flood the caves with people.