Breakwater Waves
Shot on the beach at Vik, Iceland. The weather on this day was difficult. There was an extraordinarily strong wind heading out to sea. Sand was blowing into eve...
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Shot on the beach at Vik, Iceland. The weather on this day was difficult. There was an extraordinarily strong wind heading out to sea. Sand was blowing into everything. And the temperature was hovering around -1°C. Regardless of these challenges i bundled as best as I could and endured to get a few fun shots of the waves and the wind ripping at the wave peaks. The sea birds undaunted by the conditions, soaring between the waves and riding the wicked winds
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Feb, 2019Views
213
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Awards
People's Choice in Ocean pictures In Colour or Black and White Photo Challenge
Peer Award
Top Choice
Absolute Masterpiece
Outstanding Creativity
Superb Composition
Magnificent Capture
Emotions
Impressed
Happy
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Behind The Lens
Location
I shot this photo hiding from the atrocious wind behind a bank of black sand near the city of Vik, Iceland. My hope was to keep the motion caused by the wind to a minimum while using a 600mm lens to bring the scene closer to the eye.Time
Mid morning was the setting for this shot. Much earlier and it would still have been dark as the season was Winter so daylight is short.Lighting
lighting was really at the whims of nature. the sun was to my left which why I chose to sit where I did. I wanted the sunlight to reflect off the wave sprayEquipment
Due to the strong, gusting winds I mounted my Nikon D500 with a Tamron 150-600mm f5-6.3 lens on a Manfrotto tripod with the hope to get as much stability as possible.Inspiration
The weather in Iceland can be severe and I wanted to capture this fact during my short visit in February. A second reason this ocean scene was inspiring for me is because I grew up in coastal central California where beaches are rare, replaced with cliffs and breakers causing constant undertows. This scene is the coast I have grown to love. the scene in this photo reminds me of those years spent on the cliff edge watching the waves crash into the rocksEditing
There is no post-processing for this photo. I don't have any software or knowledge to do this so what you see is right from the camera as I shot it in February of 2019In my camera bag
My kit contains a Nikon D810, which has been my goto setup with a Nikkor 105 mm f2.8 lens. My second body to a Nikon D500. I bought this body for it's lowlight capabilities. Normally the Nikkor 16-80mm f2.8-4 lens resides on the D500 and is the setup I carry when I want to travel light. Also in my kit is a Tamron 10-24mm f3.5-4.5, a Tamron 150-600mm f5-6.3 helps me reach out long and far for those subjects that don't like us getting close or the animals that might cause severe bodily harm, and my most recent acquisition the Tamron SP 13-30mm f2.8 a beauty of a lens I am still learning. The Nikon speedlight system works wonders for all my supplemental lighting and I carry a small folding reflector for those times when the flash doesn't do what I want. I use a Manfrotto tripod when needed.Feedback
To get an image like this the very first thing I would recommend is to buy the appropriate clothing to sit in 40+ mile an hour winds that are sub-freezing. Don't be afraid to face the difficult weather conditions. Patience is another attribute here, not just for the timing to get such a shot but also for the conditions that will bring on their own challenges such as blowing sand which gets in everything and gusts of wind that will wiggle your set up right at the worst possible time.
