4 Panoramic composites from the first few days and no ice in sight! In fact all our jumpers stayed packed away as, while the UK was having a shocking summer, Iceland was having a relative heat wave, basking in the 20s (celcius) thanks to the northerly shift in the gulf stream.
To say the landscape varies a lot in Iceland is kind of like saying "clouds come in different shapes". As demonstrated by the first four panoramic images I've processed so far. All from North West Iceland, but looking like they came from different planets!
The first is a black sand beach, baking in the 23 hours a day Sunshine. An amazing sight and not a sun lounger or donkey within a hundred miles. Eagle eyes will spot that I did tell a small lie about the lack of ice, since there is some ice capped mountains in the far distance!
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| Black sand beach, with en-suite waterfall ISO400, 16mm, f/18, 1/100s, circular polariser, composite |
The second is the Viti crater (Hell Crater) near Myvatn. Part of the Krafla caldera, the most active region of the North Atlantic Rift, between the North American and European tectonic plates.
It's a fantastic road to ride up, carved through lava fields, up a valley - one side barren - one side lush green vegetation, then straight through the geothermal power station and up to a great view point.
Apparently it's rare to great a calm weather day there - guess we were lucky!
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| Viti crater. A 300m wide lake, formed after an explosive eruption in 1724. ISO400, 16mm, f/9, 1/80s, circular polariser, composite |
Third is the monsterous Dettifoss waterfall, my favourite of all the falls we visited.
The approach is pure drama, walking through molten rock formations toward a distant column of steam and mist. Then you hear it thundering from over a ridge ahead, glimpses of a massive river between the rocks on to the south. As you ascend the ridge you feel it vibrating the earth beneath you, then as you crest the ridge it just takes your breath away. One of the most amazing things I've ever seen and it's a true natural wonder.
100m wide (see small specs of people on far bank), it averages around 200 cubic meters of water per second, with upto ~600 during the spring melts. Pure raging awesome power. I took a couple of panoramics, while trying not to get soaked by the spray, luckily this one with the rainbow didn't have too much water on the lens.
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| The mighty Dettifoss - biggest waterfall in Europe, complete with rainbow. ISO100, 16mm, f/8, 1/100s, composite |
Last but not least, a panorama of Mars... aka Hverir, Namafjall.
Fumaroles, volcanic vents and bubbling mud turn the landscape acidic and coat it with colourful minerals and chemicals. Another great road to ride (not sure there was a bad one - at least not for scenery anyway!) and another Sunny day. I definitely didn't pack for climbing volcanoes in 20+ heat, but it was well worth it for the views though...
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| Alien landscape, Namafjall. ISO400, 35mm, f/13, 1/200s, circular polariser, composite |
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