Magical Iceland
Here is one more amazing spot from Iceland. Those basalt columns are just incredible.
Here is one more amazing spot from Iceland. Those basalt columns are just incredible.
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Apr, 2019Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I shot this picture at Kalfshamarsvik, Iceland. Marvelous location On Norther side of this magical country. Kalfshamarsvik is still flying little under radar so to speak and cannot be found on every "location map" from Iceland. Getting to location is rather straight forward. But i did have to leave my trusty 2WD rental car behind for the last kilometer or so, since harsh winter conditions made driving al the way to location impossible.Time
Shot was taken at beginning of April. Sunset sets around 8pm i arrived to location around 7pm and kept on shooting until 9pm as conditions were constantly changing.Lighting
Iceland is famous about the constantly changing weather conditions. During the ride towards this location i already saw pretty much everything from total grey skies to lovely breakage in the clouds with amazing rays of light. Once i got to location it was very stromy conditions and wind was blowing snow horizontally changing to water every now and then. While light was not great when i arrived, i also knew (well more hoping) that it would only be question of time when those clouds would have some breaking. While stromy clouds really create that mood, that lovely light leading eye towards lighthouse is what really makes this shot for me.Equipment
Shot was taken with Nikon D750 which had Tamron 15.30mm attached to it with Haida 6 stop ND filter - This large sized square filter acted almost as sail in these wind conditions, but luckily my trusted Sirui Tripod was sturdy enough to keep it alltogether.Inspiration
While Iceland is known for waterfalls and mountains, not to speak Northern Lights. I wanted to shoot something different and yet icelandic. For some reason Lighthouses have always been fascinating and when you add those basalt rocks you got just pure magic. I found out this place well before my trip when i did typical location scouting. i saw some daytime shots form the location and instantly knew that i want to visit this spot. Getting that rough moody storm weather was great plus.Editing
This shot is finalized from one raw image. I followed my typical pretty straight forward Workflow and Started from Lightroom for very basic adjustments. From there i take shots to Photoshop where more precise work is done with details and loca adjustments. I do use few add-onns from NIK Collectiona and RayaPro to speed up my workflow. Most time consuming job on this shot was to clear up softness that came from those big snow flakes flying horizontally.In my camera bag
I am currently running around after that magical light with Nikon D750 and "Holy Trinity" lense setup from Tamron - 15-30, 24-70, 70-200 which all have maximum aperture of 2.8. This set up is little too heave for my liking and depending on location, that 70-200 lense is often staying in car. These lenses can cover pretty much everything i am after on my photography trips. On top of those i got all sort of filters, From Haida and Formatt which are allways handy for different light situation or depending the outcome i am after. I am often shooting seascapes so always bring enough high quality lens cloths.Feedback
Always study ahead couple of things. These things can be done on different times. Scout for locations early and plan your trip accordingly. On country like Iceland make sure you leave flexibility to your itinerary since weather can have big impact where the best light is probably happening - so make sure you follow weather forecast and don't hesitate to switch up your plans if needed. While it is good to look in advance what kind of shots other photographers have taken, remember that there are often more compositions around than the obvious one. I try to be on location early and look for multiple composition and when that light happens i got few spots to shoot. Once on the spot, have patience - in many cases it really rewards to wait the right light or moment. But if conditions get really rough, make sure to stay safe.
