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FollowThe Waterfall Kirkjufellsfoss near Grundarfjordur, West Iceland
The Waterfall Kirkjufellsfoss near Grundarfjordur, West Iceland
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Behind The Lens
Location
This is taken at Kirkjufellsfoss, which is st Snaefellsnes peninsula in the west of IcelandTime
This is taken just before midnight.Lighting
There was a bright moonlight lighting up the scene giving a shimmer of light reflecting from the ice and snow.Equipment
I used a Canon EOS 7d with a Canon Ef 24-70 f2.8 USM L and a Manfrotto XPROB055 tripod.Inspiration
I wanted to get a low viewpoint on the ice hanging from the waterfall with the starry sky as a background. This meant I had to crawl along an edge of very slippery ice covering the river beneath the waterfall to get to the point I wanted. I knew if I fell in the river is not very deep at this point so I could get myself out. The only risk was getting myself and the equipment wet. I know I would survive but the gear probably would not.Editing
I processed it in Lightroom, sharpened it, lifted the shadows a bit to get more detail in the rocks and gave it a bit of clarity to get more texture in the ice and rocks. I also used the colour sliders to get the balance I wanted in the colours, trying to get across the extreme cold. Being a long exposure on a crop sensor it of course meant using a fair bit of noise reduction in post.In my camera bag
I usually have my Canon 7d along with three lenses, a flash, a remote trigger and a Lee filter set. I always have a rocket blower, some microfiber cloths and usually my tripod is within reach. The lenses I use most are a Canon EF 70-200 f2.8 USM L, with and without a 1.4 extender, a Canon EF 24-70 f2.8 USM L, a Canon 16-35 f2.8 USM L and a Canon EF 100 mm f2.Feedback
This takes a a bit of planning. The weather is a key factor so you have to know or get information about the location and the conditions. Upon arriving on the location you have to take some time to look around and prepare the shots you want and of course recognize potential hazards. This shot was on the other hand not planned. The Aurora forecast for this night was very promising but upon arriving the aurora was very quiet. The waiting made me look around for other possibilities and this popped into my head. And being a bit impulsive I went for it, but knowing how treacherous ice can be had two of my fellow photographers waiting ready to rescue me if the ice would break. Photographing the night sky I try and have the exposure as short as possible to minimize star trails which usually means having to bump up the ISO and using the widest aperture I have at my disposal. This sometimes results in noise, but I for this kind of photos I find it more important to get the atmosphere across than having squeaky clean images. That may mean a bit more post processing, but hey... this is what all this fancy software is for.