I love Puffins. Puffins are incredible little birds with a big attitude. These birds are usually found in the arctic regions and I have photographed them in Iceknd and Svalbard. They are known for diving off of cliffs, catching krill and returning to their burrows where they feed their young. These birds can fly like no other bird. they have a unique sound and they are just plain cool. If you get to Iceland you should definately make viewing puffins high on your list.
Iceland is one of my favorite places to visit on the planet. I have been visiting Iceland since 2005. A lot has changed in Iceland mainly tied to the increase in tourism. One thing that hasn’t changed is the incredible beauty. Iceland has so many amazing places to photograph. There are dozens of waterfalls. This image is one of them. This location is far from the normal tourist traffic so usually it is not so crowded. If you arrive early no one else should be there and you ahve this location to yourself. The name of this waterfall is Goðafoss falls.
I have said it before and I’ll say it again. Greenland is the land of imensity. This image is a good example. This gigantic glacier winding its way down to the sea and a giant iceberg most likely from another glacier in front of it. It seems everywhere you point your camera in Greenland you see images like this.
Once again I am looking for the picture in the picture. I will say this is an abstract image of a close up of a really pretty iceberg in Greenland. I shot it from a zodiac handheld with a Sony a9 and 100-400mm lens. I found a ton of cool looking ice in Greenland I did this with. I’m going to make large prints and see how it looks on the wall.
Lately I have been using a long lens a lot and exploring the bigger landscape looking for what I call the picture in a picture. These two images are good examples. While in Icleand we visited this amazing wall of rock formations. Using my 100-400mm lens on the Fuji XT-2 I explored the wall and came up with numerous images like the one above. I did the same on a large waterfall coming out with the image below. Sometimes you have to look at the big picture and see what you are missing in the small picture.
It’s kind of a joke with my friends that every time I pass these falls when in Iceland I have to stop and shoot the, Sometimes it is the simple shot that just works and I have been shooting this location for 12 years on every trip to Iceland. I converted this image to BW and think it works quite well. Shot with a Fuji XT2, and a Winne Country Filter system with a 10 stop ND filter.
I am now back in the office and in catch up mode. The Luminous-Landscape workshop I just finished running in Iceland was a success. I did this workshop with my long time friend Daniel Bergmann who is one of the premier guides for Iceland. He is also a great photographer and wildlife expert.
Iceland has gotten quite crowded with tourists over the last several years. While this is good for the country economically it is a burden on many visitors as there are now so many people. On our trips, we won’t even go near the tourist spots. Too many buses and crazy people. Instead, we travel to the remote and more picturesque areas of Iceland that tourists don’t visit. This year we visited some places I haven’t visited before. The bottom line if I came home with a ton of nice images. Some of which I share below.
I used a Fuji XT2 with a wide variety of lenses to capture these photos.
I always have my camera with me. When visiting a hotel in Iceland I went to the elevator bank and while waiting looked down the stairway there. This is what I saw. what a great abstract. I shot it and then converted it into BW for this image.
Ladders are cool. Back in my firefighting days, I was the first to line up to climb ladders. The 50 foot and 100-foot ladders were the best. I’m not or maybe when I was younger wasn’t afraid of heights. I now have a slight fear of heights. Maybe because I have gotten a tad smarter in my old age. These ladders were shot on Deception Island, Antarctica. They are attached to what were old Whale Oil tanks. There is something about the repeatability of pattern and of course the rust that works for me in these images.
Sorry, it has been a little while since my last post. I was away for a few weeks running a workshop and then in major catch-up mode. Today’s image was made in Chicago a few weeks ago. I love this classic shot but maybe not the big letters spelling TRUMP on the beautiful building.