skoga nat
Picnickers at Skogafoss in Iceland
Picnickers at Skogafoss in Iceland
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Jan, 2014Views
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Awards
Zenith Award
Fall Award 2020
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Outstanding Creativity
Peer Award
Jaw Dropping
Magnificent Capture
Superior Skill
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
Skogafoss, Iceland. For anyone who loves waterfalls, dynamic landscapes and total absence of mosquitoes needs to travel to Iceland. Normally I don't love people in my landscape shots, but the picnickers relaxing in the foreground just added a sense of the place.Time
This was midday in August, with full sun hitting the falls and causing rainbows at its base. Usually I shoot waterfalls in the shade and go for a long "silky" exposure, but with falls as big as this one, freezing the action turns out just fine.Lighting
Usually I shoot waterfalls in the shade and go for a long "silky" exposure, but with falls as big as this one, freezing the action gives a sense of its power.Equipment
Nikon d90 and a Nikkor 55-300mm telephotoInspiration
I'd been traveling all over Iceland taking waterfall photos. I have several of Skogafoss; just the falls without people, an abstract frame of just water and mossy rock, a dizzying birds-eye from the top of the falls... as I was heading back to the road I looked back at the falls and saw this rainbow, and the picnickers and just thought it looked so idyllic, despite the crowd.Editing
I enriched the blacks, which I find myself doing a lot. I desaturated the photo a bit and clearly you can see the darkened vignette which in this case I feel gives it a bit of a nostalgic feel.In my camera bag
A Tamron 17-28mm wide, the 55-300mm telephoto and a fixed 50mm Nikon from 1973. The fixed lens doesn't work with the light meter on the camera so it forces me to revert to my film-day skills, which I really like - it keeps me sharp and thinking about light and exposure. It also takes the cleanest photos of any lens I've ever owned. I have a set of square filters (mostly grads) and a circular polarizer for each lens. When I know I'll be finding waterfalls, my travel tripod is also a must.Feedback
As I mentioned, I really like my landscapes people-free, but sometimes when the subject is quite large, it's nice to have people in it for scale. I feel like Skogafoss is so beautiful that you can't take a bad photo of it, but as with any picture, be conscious of your foreground and framing before snapping. The less you have to do in post-production, the better the photo tends to be.
