Hello to all and welcome!
I can't really say what you should expect to see here as I've never before tried blogging or anything similar. It'll have to be a work in progress. I'll probably talk about photography in general (and mine in specific) as well as point out different things that are going on that I find interesting or worth commenting on. If anyone (assuming anyone actually ends up reading this) has questions or suggestions on topics, feel free to let me know.
I'm here you're with me, here at the beginning of all things.
Roger
p.s. Comments and feedback are very welcome.
Iceland: Day 10 - Looking back
Nothing of interest happened on Day 10. Slept in, lazy breakfast, went for a walk without a camera, finished packing, got to the airport, and flew home.
And, once you get back from a trip like this, there are three questions that get asked multiple times. Was it fun? Are you glad you went? Would you do it again? The easiest to answer is the second. Yes, I'm glad I went. I've wanted to visit Iceland for so many years and was just looking for something to push me to go. The possibility of a total eclipse was just that impetus. I said many times since booking the workshop, "Let's take an absolute worst case scenario...it's overcast or stormy during the eclipse. Well then, damn, I'm stuck making photos in Iceland for 10 days." That's what actually happened and I can't say my attitude changed, even in retrospect.
Would I do it again? A qualified yes. I wouldn't do this exact trip again, mostly because I have already done it. I would certainly go back to Iceland to shoot some more, but under different conditions. There are a few places I would happily revisit (like Goðafoss) because I really didn't get the photos I'm sure I could. I'd want to look more closely at weather likelihood because a bunch of locations (like Diamond Beach) would be very different in sun vs. overcast. There also a lot I didn't do. I'd like a chance to explore Reykjavik (although part of not doing so was my fault because I screwed up my flight over by not equating an overnight flight with landing the next day). I'd like to stand in Europe and North America at the same time. I'd like opportunities to shoot the Aurora Borealis over the mountains. I'd like try some of the locations without crowds (so much earlier or later than we were able to). And, just to be absolutely clear, I'd do all of that with the same people who were on this workshop (although with fewer people since 18 was too large).
So, was it fun? That's hard to answer. Part of the reason why it's hard is because all the previous photography workshops I was on were with my parents (except Prague/Southern Bohemia, which they had to pull out of). I really missed having them to share the experience. So I'm pretty sure any future workshops would be more enjoyable if I had friends/family who were there as well. Along with that, I'm generally less comfortable with people I don't know. It's hard meeting and getting to know strangers, and I'm not really good at it. So, having someone I know would help there as well (even if they are people I met on this trip, the bit of shared history makes a big difference). And, it has been a really long time since I've been away from home for 10 days. I'm generally a homebody and have undoubtedly become more of one as I've gotten older. By Day 10, I was more than ready to get home rather than wishing I had an extra day to do something or see someplace.
So was it fun? Maybe as much as can be expected, which was probably a little less than I was unrealistically hoping.
Iceland: Day 9 - Unexpected Fun
NOTE: I'm only including a small selection of photos from any particular location in these travelogues. The full set of photos can be found here: https://www.pavellephoto.com/f498485929
Vatnajökull National Park Visitor Center
We stopped here for some drinks, bathrooms, etc. What made it unusual is that the visitor center is designed with slanting turf roofs which let you go on top in order to enjoy the view and take pictures. The view itself is almost quintessential Iceland...mountain, waterfalls, small town at the bottom to show scale. Unfortunately, I've been unable to find out what the town is called.
Black Beach (Reynisfjara) and Dyrhólaey
Part of this was planned, and part was an unexpected treat. We were always going to Black Beach because it has some spectacular waves and cliffs and sea stacks. However, puffins were not on the agenda. Puffins go to Iceland to breed. It was expected that they would have left by the time we to this stage of the workshop. They weren't.
Here's Black Beach. You have to be very careful here as the waves can be treacherous and the undertow deadly. These first couple of shot are from Dyrhólaey. The others are from near the cave but were taken in such a way as to eliminate all the other people who were walking around.
So, huge waves crashing against the cliffs.
And here's more basalt pillars piling one on top of the other, all the way up the cliff.
Here's one from Black Beach looking towards Dyrhólaey. How many times have you seen waves going towards and away from shore simultaneously. The wind blowing offshore WAS that strong. At times it was hard to hold on to the camera and take a photo because the lens would be blown to the side.
But, everyone wants to see puffins. And no one can be blamed. They are smaller than I had expected (8 inches or so from bottom of the feet to top of the head), faster, and cuter than I had imagined.
When we first got to Black Beach, some people said, "You see those black dots flying up there? Those are puffins." They were all over the sky. All over the cliffs. Hundreds of them. Maybe thousands for all I know.
But we went to Dyrhólaey for closeups.
All those little holes on the right and top of this image are burrows. Sometimes they would pop out and then fly off to do some fishing. Other times they would fly back. As I said above, they are shockingly fast, so I don't have any shareable images of them on the wing (but others in the workshop got some that are incredible, with multiple small fish in their beak).
There was a burrow right next to an observation platform. This cutie came out to pose. It was close enough that I was able to also get a shot with my cellphone.
Also brought a friend.
Skógafoss
We made one more photographic stop on the way back to Reyjkavik. One last really powerful, really crowded waterfall.
I like the sheets of falling water.
So, this ends the photographic portion of the trip. I left the next day (Day 10) without having taken photos that day. I'm planning on doing one more post, which be reflections on the trip, but it won't have pictures.
Iceland: Day 8 - Crystalline Dihydrogen Monoxide
NOTE: I'm only including a small selection of photos from any particular location in these travelogues. The full set of photos can be found here: https://www.pavellephoto.com/f498485929
Day 8 was all about ice. We went from a glacial bay to chunks of ice on the beach and in the ocean to another glacial bay.
Jökulsárlón
Another gray morning, sky full of fog (or low clouds). Then slowly clearing to just overcast. The bay full of icebergs of different shapes and sizes. Glaciers in the distance. Colors from black (from dirt) to white to blue in the ice. What's not to love?
A small river/stream/outlet lets the icebergs travel down to the ocean and our next destination.
Diamond Beach (Breiðamerkursandur)
The icebergs flow out into the ocean and the currents/tides break them up. Waves then wash the remains onto shore. Onto a black sand beach. Pure, clear ice. [Actually, the way the ice stands out against the black is probably why it is known as Diamond Beach] The hardest part was not having random people walk through the frame, stop, pose, shift things, repeat with different people/groups. Some of the other people in the group liked to take long exposures of ice being washed by waves. None of mine turned out (or turned out interesting).
Trying to frame distant iceberg using a beached one. I later tried framing it a little lower, but people kept wandering into the shot. Quite frustrating.
For some reason, I couldn't get this one to show in proper color. So, convert to black and white. I like the result (obviously...otherwise you wouldn't see it).
Fjallsárlón
After lunch we went to another nearby glacial bay.
After all the big landscapes, I decided to focus on some abstract shots of icebergs against the terminus (yes, I just looked up that word).
On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at the river where the icebergs flow to the beach (referenced above). This Common Eider was swimming along.
Iceland: Day 7 - East Coast
NOTE: I'm only including a small selection of photos from any particular location in these travelogues. The full set of photos can be found here: https://www.pavellephoto.com/f498485929
Stapinn (Stapavík)
Sea Stacks, low clouds (or is it considered fog...a debate I had with some people that I don't believe was resolved), early-ish light. And I got down to the beach before it was full of footsteps. This was also the first black sand beach we stopped at (although at least one previously was black stones).
I'm not sure if I tried this in black and white, or why I might not have done so. I like the textures.
Small caves have been carved into the base.
This is my Middle Earth shot. I know all the films were shot in New Zealand, but this bit really reminded me of the scene in Fellowship of the Ring where the Fellowship is first shows marching through mountain pass. It even comes with the path.
Eystrahorn
Gorgeous rugged mountain near the sea.
There's lots to see along the sea.
These arctic terns were flying all over the place...really quickly. I'm glad at least one was mostly sharp.
I'm not sure what this particular type of moss is.
Vestrahorn
Another spectactular mountain to the south of Eystrahorn, but still on the East Coast.
The black sand dunes nicely offset the green sea grasses that grow on them.
On the left side of the panorama (if you zoom enough) is an old farm. It has been used as a film location somewhat frequently, most recently in The Witcher.
The bones below is a whale spine. The other images have other whale bones.
Those are dried fish skeletons. Presumably the mean was picked off or eaten.
Iceland: Day 6 - Canyons and Waterfalls
NOTE: I'm only including a small selection of photos from any particular location in these travelogues. The full set of photos can be found here: https://www.pavellephoto.com/f498485929
Stuðlagil Canyon
Here we have someplace truly spectacular, on that was unimagined 20 years ago (see the details above) combining towering walls lined with natural pillars to wild waterfalls.
Here's the first waterfall you see, just outside the parking lot. It's also the first hint of what the basalt pillars look like.
And a first look at the canyon itself, while hiking closer. Just a hint of what is ahead (including the of massive crowds omened by the paths on the other side of the canyon).
I somehow wandered far ahead of the rest of the group, up to this promontory. It was full of people for a while, but they left shortly after I arrived, leaving me alone to enjoy the scenery and play around with different views.
Here's the view from the front of the promontory.
And sitting down slightly farther back and capturing both sets of falls in full.
Then the other end, looking back downriver. I found it fascinating how the pillars curved.
You can see people down a river level here. I found out after I got home that some of the other people in the group had the path down pointed out to them. Since I was ahead, I didn't know about that path. Maybe a regret (since they had some gorgeous shots) but maybe not because of the time I had with just the canyon.
This last waterfall was across the canyon, shot while walking back to the parking lot.
Hænubrekkufoss and Foladafoss
After leaving Stuðlagil we headed to the east coast. On the way we stopped to shoot a couple of waterfalls. Hænubrekkufoss was spotted while driving down a steep, somewhat twisty, two lane road (actually, all the roads I saw outside Reykjavik were two lane). Being photographers, we pulled over to the "side" of the road and started shooting as quickly as possible.
Down the road farther into the valley is Foladafoss. This translates to something close to "Young Horse Falls" (or Foal Falls if you prefer the tongue twister version) but I am unaware of any horses being harmed (or falling) here. This was another one of those locations that had a path down to the river, but I was feeling tired and it had started drizzling/raining, so shooting from the parking lot was my preference. Besides, I was very attracted to the way the layers were visible in the walls of the valley, and capturing those and the falls made for a fun challenge.
And then it was on to the hotel on the coast and a magnificent dinner