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Greetings from Iceland

Terry

New member
My Gear:
Before leaving one of our fearless leaders was trying to convince me to take (which meant buy) a Think Tank backpack. I didn't give in and took Andy Biggs' Kiboko bag. Need to send Andy an email as the backpack is simply outstanding (we had 2 on the trip and a third who owns is regretted not bringing it along). It is so well thought out and sorted out I just love it. While the thought was that it was going to be too big, I didn't find that at all. In addition, the waist and chest straps made a huge difference in hiking with the bag. Walking in a lava field and lots of other places in Iceland is not simple.

1) I am glad I only went with one Sony body with the backup being a micro 4/3 system. Used the 24-70 and 70-300 a lot. Sigma 12-24 was important but not used that much. The 135 f1.8 could have stayed home. I left the 24-105 at home and probably should have taken it. When I look at the Canon equivalent lens the Sony is less than half the size. Love the in body stabilization. I have one Sony glitch that I need to sort out. It was user error but I filled the CF with puffins. To keep going I switched to the memory stick. When that was full, I pulled a new CF card. I think the memory stick actually got reformated by mistake as "card in use" probably wasn't switched back on the menus. Lesson learned is just use CF and make sure to get some really big ones.

Micro 4/3 - loved having it there with me. The G1 is much more practical with the articulating screen and EVF took the Pany 7-14, 14-45, 45-200, 25 lux. Also took the two Oly kit lenses and a Leica M mount 50 lux. Never touched anything other than the Panny 7-14, Oly 14-42 and the Panny 45-200. Kept trying to lift the E-P1 to eye level. I did enjoy having the video of the E-P1 which I started using too late into the trip. The small light body was easy to carry when the walking was more precarious. The 7-14 lens on both cameras is fantastic. I like ultra wide shots.

Grad Neutral density filters were a must and I had to borrow. Will be first on my list to acquire. A three stop is a must. (polarizer and ND are also musts for the many waterfalls/streams/rivers.

The "nexto" for backup seems to do a good job. Will be looking into one soon.

What I NEVER thought I would say....video! I have a couple of fun ones from the trip to work on learning iMovie (taken with Oly). There were definitely instances where video footage was fun to take and could be used creatively. After this trip (we did have a 5DII along as well), I can definitely see the convergence of stills and video.

More as I think of it.
 
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Bob

Administrator
Staff member
Terry,
OMG!
I wish I had some of those raws to process, all I have lately is a bunch of model shots that get me into trouble.
-bob
 

Terry

New member
Not sure if I should feel flattered or say "ouch" about my first attempt at processing. :ROTFL:
 

Stuart Richardson

Active member
I think you should feel flattered. I think the photos came out superbly, and of course, with time any file will improve, but I certainly did not see anything to make me think, "ooh, she really needs to work on these." I think what Guy and Bob were probably trying to say was that they look great as they are now, but they will be amazing after you have had a chance to sit down and work on them.

The first time I visited Iceland, I spent nearly six months processing and tweaking the images I took in 5 days. The country is very fertile photographic ground! Now that I live here, I have given up on processing images completely. I just take them now. I have a backlog of thousands of images I just have not gotten around to doing!

I also found it interesting that you noted video -- I have been intrigued by the possibilities of it on the EP-1 -- it seems to work very very well, and of course you have all those manual focus Leica lenses working great for video. It is an interesting possibility....There are times when it is very difficult to demonstrate something in a photo that would be simple with a video. The best example I can think of is being out in the country here some times, you just want to spin around and show that in every direction it is amazing.
 

Terry

New member
I think you should feel flattered. I think the photos came out superbly, and of course, with time any file will improve, but I certainly did not see anything to make me think, "ooh, she really needs to work on these." I think what Guy and Bob were probably trying to say was that they look great as they are now, but they will be amazing after you have had a chance to sit down and work on them.

The first time I visited Iceland, I spent nearly six months processing and tweaking the images I took in 5 days. The country is very fertile photographic ground! Now that I live here, I have given up on processing images completely. I just take them now. I have a backlog of thousands of images I just have not gotten around to doing!

I also found it interesting that you noted video -- I have been intrigued by the possibilities of it on the EP-1 -- it seems to work very very well, and of course you have all those manual focus Leica lenses working great for video. It is an interesting possibility....There are times when it is very difficult to demonstrate something in a photo that would be simple with a video. The best example I can think of is being out in the country here some times, you just want to spin around and show that in every direction it is amazing.
Thanks Stuart! There are thousands of more shots to play with. I have a lot of material for a very long time. In my spare time at the airport I was also looking through the Iceland books and it made me also think more about the opportunities I have for some serious cropping (accentuating smaller vignettes) with some of the files. We had a lot of time at the Glacial lagoon but now that I have time to reflect on what I shot oh how I wish to spend even more time there both on the beach side with the moving water, and the lagoon side with the changing patterns. We saw a HUGE iceberg break in half and that in turn forced another enormous piece of ice to emerge from the water. I can only describe it like a huge stunt from a James bond movie.
 

jonoslack

Active member
HI Terry
Have a great trip home.
I specially liked the ice duck, and the last landscape with the geothermals.
Interesting kit talk too - I'm not surprised about the 135 - it's great if you need the speed or want the narrow dof, but if you're trecking it's either a zoom or a lot of lens changing.
 

Stuart Richardson

Active member
It's really about how you like to shoot too. I tend to like primes. Since I bought the 135/2 AFD, I have not picked up the 70-300, or frankly any of my other lenses longer than 70mm.
And after seeing that Gura Gear bag when I met you, I really want one. It reminds me a bit of a deconstructed lowe-pro nature trekker. That is the best carrying photo backpack I have had, but it is bulky, heavy, and slow to work out of. But for lugging something on an actual hike, particularly on the rocky landscape here, none of my other photo bags come close. The gura gear looks like it would have the same stability as the nature trekker, but be so much lighter and easier to work out of. I would get one, but the shipping to Iceland and 25% tax on an already expensive bag don't strike me that well. I'll just wait until I get a chance to leave the country again...
 

Joan

New member
Terry, reading this is like viewing a super "travelog" and practical photography report all in one! Very interesting and informative, it's terrific that you got to see and capture so much of Iceland.

Completely in love with SO many of your shots, just can't say enough great words about them. Really love the ice duck and the sheep at the foot of the mountain ... all the landscapes are magnificent. :clap: :clap:

Happy you were so pleased with your new bag, too, despite having to pack it in NY!

Be warned, I'm going to be hounding you to sell me some prints! :)
 

Diane B

New member
Terry, I know you used the Y strap with the G1 on the southwest workshop. I wonder if you did the same during the Iceland workshop or if you carried the cam in your bag and pulled it out as needed? Probably should ask this in another thread but since you've brought up gear, etc.--thought it would be appropriate.

Also wonder--do you have additional clip to attach/detach from Y? I'm thinking of the 'hook' from Leicagoodies.

Diane
 

Terry

New member
Well Diane,
I woulda if I coulda !!!!! I made one idiot packing mistake and that was forgetting the Y strap! Arrrgh. Part two I always use the Leica goodies hook with the Y strap. They are a very good combo together.
 

Terry

New member
Joan,
It is a great place. Very high up on the list of where I want to return to. I would want to do the trip with someone like Daniel Bergmamn our leader. He is intimately familiar with every area and is expert at traversing the streams and rivers we needed to cross. I can't wait to get to my big monitor with these and to put a reall slideshow together and tackle a blurb book.
 

Terry

New member
Terry, you're a star. These are all really really good. Kudos!

T
Thanks Tim,
After knowing what you went through with a tripod, there were definitely moments that were so windy a tripod would have been useless. A braced handhold was the only way to go. Ahh I just got home and there are so many spots that I want to revisit and have another go at. :p
 

Robert Campbell

Well-known member
Very impressive set, Terry; you clearly has a good time -- Iceland has been on my 'wish list' for years, I just didn't realise how windy it is.

Next week for the PPed pix?
 

tashley

Subscriber Member
Thanks Tim,
After knowing what you went through with a tripod, there were definitely moments that were so windy a tripod would have been useless. A braced handhold was the only way to go. Ahh I just got home and there are so many spots that I want to revisit and have another go at. :p
That's what I felt after my trip. I also felt something harder to define, which is that the 'facts' of the landscape are incidental, often, to the quality of the light and that, as I have often felt in Cornwall.

I would prefer to be an 'abstract photographer' in places like Iceland, rather than one who is interested in the specifics of the scene. Sort of like Turner in the first case, and then people like Patrick Heron, who worked hard to escape the figurative and work only with the effects of colour, light and basic form. When I go back to the shots I took there I want more and more not to have detail, just light and shape - and that is ironic given the gear I was trying to use!

Best

t
 

Terry

New member
Tim,
I think I understand what you are saying. So much of what I like and am trying to work with are they layers of texture and color. For instance I have shots standing a lava field that go into green hills and then glaciers etc. the texture and color all different in each layer. Also, the textures in some to the geothermal areas I haven't even begun to deal with yet.

I know this needs a lot of processing but where have you ever seen such naturally forming colors....

 

jonoslack

Active member
That's what I felt after my trip. I also felt something harder to define, which is that the 'facts' of the landscape are incidental, often, to the quality of the light and that, as I have often felt in Cornwall.

I would prefer to be an 'abstract photographer' in places like Iceland, rather than one who is interested in the specifics of the scene. Sort of like Turner in the first case, and then people like Patrick Heron, who worked hard to escape the figurative and work only with the effects of colour, light and basic form. When I go back to the shots I took there I want more and more not to have detail, just light and shape - and that is ironic given the gear I was trying to use!

Best

t
Hi Tim
for me, you have nailed 'the landscape problem'. Which is that the more beautiful / remarkable the scene is, the less I can find to say about it.

In the final analysis, it's why I'm not really interested in MF or LF - because it's all so deliberate; and whatever I find in landscapes is much more like the madeleine biscuit - intangible and ephemeral - grasp it before it's gone. The first shot is always the best - the minute conscious thought is applied, whatever magic there might have been is gone.

On the other hand, give me 8 am on Pednevounder beach and I can get strangely literal!:ROTFL:

Terry - that shot has the makings of a wonder, and it looks as though you've got the exposure just right to make a wonder!
 

tashley

Subscriber Member
Terry, here's a Heron stripe painting.



Jono and I both live part time near each other in Cornwall, which is where Heron made this work, and where the light is quite similar to Iceland - ever changing, often both dramatically and subtly at the same time.

There's a great story attached. He spent years trying to escape the figurative and worked very hard both aesthetically and critically to move towards form and colour and away from the literal: after a while he made the stripe works and felt that they somewhat achieved his aims. Then he woke one morning, looked at the view from his house and realised that the stripe works were entirely figurative representations of the layers of sea and cloud he saw every day. Back to the easel!

Your Iceland work is really nice because it uses, very well, the tendency of those landscapes to dissolve into semi-abstract. I loved the M8 more than the Phase gear for this because of the way it is both accurate and lyrical!



Best

Tim
 
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