Photographer in Colorado

Two weeks ago, I headed down to Socorro, NM, to spend some time developing skills at photographing birds. At the entrance of Bosque Del Apache (a National Wildlife Refuge site), is a pond where many Sandhill Cranes and thousands of Snow Geese spend the night. The cranes usually gather in quiet family groups. The geese are always chattering away, creating a cacophony of sound. About sunrise, these birds leave the safety of the ponds to feed at other parts of the wildlife refuge. I made the following image of a pair of cranes as they took flight, leaving the cacophony of the ponds.

Sandhill Crane Pair, Bosque Del Apache

As a pair of cranes passed in front of the mountains, I made this image of these magnificent birds in flight.

Sandhill Cranes In Flight, Bosque Del Apache

Later in the afternoon, I found a Pied Grebe, swimming and feeding in one of the ponds. These birds dive to find food under water. After surfacing, I made this image as it looked at me.

Pied Grebe, Bosque Del Apache

On the second morning at the ponds, the water was lit by pink light reflecting off the mountains. I made this image of the Sandhill Cranes standing in the pond.

Sandhill Cranes Before Dawn, Bosque Del Apache

Close to the main tour loop entrance, several White Crowned Sparrows feed around the bushes. One of the sparrows was perched on the bush, catching the morning sunshine.

White Crowned Sparrow, Bosque Del Apache

That completes the first of the images that I captured.

Most of the day trip to Djupavik and back was under overcast skies. Skies started clearing on the return trip to Saeberg. As the sun dropped in the evening sky, I knew that we would have a spectacular evening. Looking south along the fjord, the moon was lit by the setting sun. Spectacular!

Moonrise Over Fjord, Saeberg

At the hostel, just as the sun was setting, we were talking about northern lights. I then looked out of the window, and there were the lights. That was the signal for all of us to head outside! I made this image looking out from the east side of the hostel, where the lights filled the frame.

Northern Lights, Saeberg, No 1

I grabbed my Fuji, that had a 12mm lens attached and headed out to the west side of the hostel, looking out over the fjord. The lights swept up vertically above in this image.

Northern Lights, Just After Sunset, Saeberg

There was still plenty of light remaining from the sunset, just above the horizon. It was most unusual to see the northern lights with such a bright sky!

For exposure settings, the first image was made at 640 ISO, 20 seconds, f/5.6 with a 24mm lens on full-frame sensor. The second image was made at 800 ISO, 30 seconds, f/5.6 with a 12mm lens on APC sensor. During previous visits to Iceland, I made images at 400 ISO, 20 seconds, f/5.0 with 24mm on full-frame sensor. The key to making these images is to use an exposure of no longer than 20 seconds. A wider lens would allow longer exposures without star trails.

These images really made for another great day in Iceland.

After the first night in Saeberg, I headed out for a day trip to the north-west fjords. I had read about the old fishing village at Djupavik. Driving in the north-west fjords can add up a lot of mileage in the car — most of the roads follow the coastline. It took almost 3 hours to make this journey. As with all my trips, there are always a lot of the usual stops along the journey, to enjoy the scenery and make photographs. Most of the day was under overcast skies with plenty of rain, misty and low clouds.

Djupavik, Iceland

The old jetty in the fjord was covered with gulls.

Old Jetty in The Fjord, Djupavik

Apparently there are tours of the old fish factory in Djupavik. However, I arrived far too late to join one of these tours.

Old Fish Factory, Djupavik

I walked through the village, making my way around the fish factory. I included the two rusty steel fishing floats in this composition.

Rusty Fishing Floats, Djupavik

One corner of the factory has windows right in the corner, that I captured in the following image.

Corner Windows, Djupavik

The fish factory is no longer in use. However, there are many disused items lying around the building. I created this composition with the one steel wheel in the foreground with one of the circular tanks in the background.

Wheel And Tank, Djupavik

On the far side of the tank, I found an opening into the tank. I made this image looking into the interior. I decided against getting inside the tank!

Inside The Tank

One of the old fishing boats was beached at the edge of the fjord, just outside the factory. Much of the hull had rusted over the years since it was abandoned here.

Rusting Fishing Boat, Djupavik

On the other side of the boat, I made another image that includes huge rusted holes in the hull.

Rusting In The Fjord

Finally, I took a walk along the road, heading out of the village. I found two boulders that are included in the foreground of this image.

Djupavik And Waterfall

Soon after this, I made the return trip back to Saeberg. Along the way, I stopped along one of the other fjords to make this image of two rock pillars along the coast.

Rock-Pillars-At-Kollafjordur-High-Tide

Soon after this, the weather started to clear. A few miles along the road and the setting sun cast long shadows on a church and farm buildings located at the edge of the fjord.

Church And Farm Buildings, Bitrufjordur

Eventually, I arrived back at Saeberg as it was getting dark.

It was Angela’s last day in Iceland before returning to Denver. We headed east on Highway 1 and stopped at the geothermal power generation station, located about 20 miles from Reykjavik. There are guided tours of the power station, but we missed the last one of the day. However, we did get to see the presentation materials and also the turbine halls located in the main building.

Angela also wanted to make some photos of sheep and horses. Both animals can be seen in great numbers in the fields along the roadsides in Iceland. We headed to Hveradgerdi and left the highway for one of the side roads. After a few miles, we found one field that had both sheep and horses. Both Angela and I made started making some photographs of the horses.

Icelandic Horse No 1

When the horses saw us, they headed over to see us for some attention. These horses are really sociable — both among themselves and also near people — and enjoy the attention of visitors.

Icelandic Horse Close Up

This horse started nibbling my jacket!

Icelandic Horse No 2

These two horses were lined up behind one another. I captured both pairs of ears in this image.

Icelandic Horses, Two Pairs Of Ears

The remaining images are of a pair of horses having some fun.

Horses, Having Fun

I like this image of the pair.

Horses, Having Fun, No 2

And this one.

Horses, Having Fun, No 3

Angela headed over to make some images of the sheep. In contrast to horses, Icelandic sheep are very skittish. Of course, as soon as they see, the sheep run away!

It was a Monday morning and we decided to visit the Hallgrimskirkja. This church is one of the highest points in Reykjavik. The building also happens to be on the top of the above the city. We took the elevator up to the viewing deck. Here is an image made from the viewing deck, looking out across the harbor and the North Atlantic ocean. In the distance, across the bay, is the headland where the town of Arkanes is located.

View From Hallgrimskirkja

Looking down from the other side of the church, I noticed the dome at the end of the church.

View Above Church Roof

The church is constructed from concrete. Here is an image from one side of the main entrance. The viewing deck is behind the arched windows, just above the clock faces. The clocks are no longer functional.

Hallgrimskirkja Church Tower

After leaving, we headed down the street in front of the church, where we stopped for coffee at one of the cafes. There are some colorful buildings in this street. I found a mural on the side wall of one the cafes.

Cafe Mural, Reykjavik

Overcast weather was starting to build up behind the colorful Cafe Babalú.

Cafe Babalú, Reykjavik

Further down the street, I found the Joylato. There were two people inside gazing out through the window.

Joylato, Enjoying Waffles, Coffee

Later we headed down to the harbor area and then walked to the Harpa Concert Hall. The outer walls of this building comprises hexagonal honeycomb shaped windows. Occasional panes in the wall have different colors, as can be seen in the image below.

Harpa Concert Hall Glass Wall

Looking up, the hexagonal honeycomb pattern is repeated in the mirrored ceilings. The honeycomb theme is actually based on basalt. When molten magma cools, it crystallizes into hexagonal columns as basalt rock. Basalt may be found in many locations in Iceland; hence the theme for the Harpa.

Looking Up At Harpa Ceiling

While waiting inside Harpa, I made this image of a visitor waiting outside.

Waiting Outside Harpa

There were several people gathered inside. Looking down, I noticed several reflections from the floor. One of the images I made was this pair of shoes. Having a meeting?

Shoes Meeting, Harpa

After the weather lifted, we headed out for another location.

After the Golden Circle tour, we spent the Sunday in Reykjavik. Tomas, our walking tour guide, recommended having hot dogs at the BBP hot dog stand. Tomas stated that this was the “most popular restaurant” in Iceland!  It is also the best hot dog stand in Iceland. President Bill Clinton even had a hot dog here. Check their web site at www.bbp.is. Every day that we were here, there were always lines of people waiting for hot dogs. So we waited for ours too. That is Angela on the right hand side of the image.

BBP, Best Hot Dogs In Iceland

One other attraction of Reykjavik is the Flea Market, that Tomas recommended to visit. This market is only open at the weekend, so this was the only opportunity that we would have. There is wide variety of different vendors in the indoor Flea Market, selling goods such a wool sweaters, clothing, used books (in Icelandic), vinyl records, videos, fish and some other foods.

Reykjavik Flea Market Woolens

Here is another booth lined with coats and jackets.

Coats And Jackets In Flea Market, Reykjavik

After spending a couple of hours in the Flea Market, we headed back along the Old Harbor walk. There are many very colorful buildings along the walk. I stopped to make this image of the teal colored building. The red stripes and orange paving provide a great color contrast.

Harbor Walk

I found one “porthole” in the wall by the harbor. During previous visits to Reykjavik, several boats were hauled out of the water and up the ramp at this location. This included cleaning the hull and repainting. Not much activity on this day.

Reykjavik Old Harbor

It had rained earlier in the day, so there were puddles of water that allowed me to capture some reflections along the harbor walk.

Reflections Along Harbor Walk

I had mentioned to Angela that there was a pretty drive along a nearby fjord. Hvalfyorður is located about 25 kms (15 miles) north of Reykjavik on Highway 1. The highway to Arkranes bypasses the fjord through a tunnel below the fjord. With the tunnel handling most of the traffic, there is very little traffic around the fjord. One has to leave the highway before arriving at the tunnel. The road around the fjord is about 100 kms in length. However, we only had to drive a short distance to reach on of my favorite waterfalls along this road (Laxa I Kyos).

Waterfalls Laxa I Kyos, Hvalfjorður

These falls are located on private land adjacent to the road and are crossed by a short single lane bridge.

Waterfalls Laxa I Kyos, Hvalfjorður, No 2

During World War 2, the fjord served as an anchorage for allied ships sailing between the US and UK. After the war ended, most of the structures in the fjord and buildings along the shore were removed. Only the jetty remains, but is a fair distance from the road.

After spending about an hour in the fjord, we headed back to Reykjavik. The sun was setting behind some clouds hanging above the North Atlantic ocean.

Sun Setting Behind Clouds, North Of Reykjavik

I could not resist making these images of the setting sun, after a couple of overcast days!

Sunset, North Of Reykjavik

By the time we arrived back, it was dark… just in time for dinner.

A few weeks before leaving for Iceland, we made reservations for the Golden Circle tour. The tour includes a visit to Þingvellir, Geysir and Gulfoss. This is a popular tour that many visitors make because of the close proximity of these locations to Reykjavik. Þingvellir is the site where the first democratic parliament was formed in the year 930. The Geysir Geothermal Field is the location where geysirs (or geysers) got their name. Gulfoss is a spectacular waterfall.

Most of the day was overcast with lots a rain — nothing unusual for Iceland during September and October. Iceland is located on the junction of the North American and European tectonic plates. Þingvellir is located right on the rift that is formed by these tectonic plates. We stopped here at the Visitor’s Center where the wind was howling! We then moved on towards Geysir, arriving at about noon. Angela and I made our way to the geysir “Strokkur” that typically erupts every 5 minutes. I set the camera for continuous shooting and managed to make an image of peak of the action.

Geysir “Strokkur” Eruption

This was my third trip to Iceland, so I was not concerned about missing any images. After having lunch, we headed to Gulfoss. The word “foss” is Icelandic for falls. The water flowing into the Hvita river is melting glacial waters from the nearby Langjökull glacier.

Gulfoss Waterfalls, 2017

The river flows down over a series of ledges that forms the upper falls and then flows over the edge of the huge lower falls the feeds into a chasm.

Into The Chasm, No 1, Gulfoss

Here is another image looking down into the chasm.

Over The Edge Of The Chasm, Gulfoss

The volume of water flowing through Gulfoss is astounding. The total annual precipitation in Colorado probably represents a few minutes of the flow at Gulfoss!

Upper Falls, Gulfoss

This volume of water can really only be appreciated by visiting the falls, as Angela soon discovered.

Angela At Gulfoss

Before leaving for Iceland, one of Angela’s friends had mentioned visiting the hot springs at Blue Lagoon. Investigating further, we decided that it was pricey. We selected this particular Golden Circle tour (operated by Sterna) because it also ended with a visit to the Secret Lagoon. Water in the pool is fed from geothermal springs that supply natural hot water to springs. I made this panorama of the pool area after we spent a 1/2 hour in the pool.

Secret Lagoon Springs, Fluðir

The hot springs are also used to warm greenhouses in the nearby town of Fluðir. Across the river are greenhouses where tomatoes are grown.

Greenhouses Along River, Fluðir

After our swim in the hot springs, we headed back to Reykjavik at the end of the day.