photography – Page 2 – A Tangled Mind In Motion

Chewing Up Icelandic Scenery Is Tough If You’ve Got Bad Dentistry

October 14, 2018October 14, 2018Posted in IcelandTagged autumn, clouds, fall, glaciers, Iceland, landscapes, lava rocks, Mountains, nature, photography, photos, pictures, snow, travel, VatnajökullLeave a comment

The mighty Vatnajökull glacier is, in fact, SO mighty that it has a number of outlet glaciers that are themselves quite epic…miles across, in some cases. This white beast is the greatest glacier in all of Europe by volume and spans 9% of Iceland. Our minibus stopped in the middle of a gigantic glacial floodplain that had dropped miles of lava rock and ash and had mangled a nearby metal bridge into a twisted ruin. Light played on the far mountain tops and the epic landscape and broad colors of fall that dotted the floodplain enhanced the feeling of being a small dot on a vast planet which itself is a pale blue dot in a seemingly infinite universe. Thinking large as I chewed on dried fish jerky was admittedly not my most original moment. Get to Iceland, people. It’s purty.

Icelandic Glaciers, Hairless Cats, Pumpkin Spice Oreos; The World Is Full of Pressing Subjects No One Consults Me About

October 13, 2018October 13, 2018Posted in IcelandTagged dream destinations, Fuji, glaciers, Iceland, images, Mountains, nature, photography, photos, snow, travel, valleys, volcanoesLeave a comment

We strapped on the crampons, swung the ice axes, ambled up Falljokull, the lava dirt outlet glacier of the mighty Vatnajökull glacier and looked deep into the valley of the mountain’s throat, its tiny meadow-like green patch that would make for difficult golf, the slopes in the far background that seemed almost Shangri-la, with a kind of mist that hung over them in the on an off sprinkle of rain. It was a contrast in earthtones, so I snapped it. Think I’m happy. “The glacier melts are always cycling forward and back,” said our UK glacier guide, “but in the past 5 years since I’ve been leading these hikes, they’re receding much much faster than any of us have ever seen before.” He paused, nimbly avoiding the hot stone topic of why. “It’s kind of sad, really.” You have to be here, in Iceland, in the Himalayas, in Tanzania–anywhere outside–and be surrounded on all sides by this kind of landscape to feel dread at the possibility that it might slip away in ours or our children’s lifetime.

Clouds Like Bitter Puffy Pills Bust A Cap On the Light of the Sun

October 12, 2018October 12, 2018Posted in IcelandTagged dramatic, farmhouse, Fuji, Iceland, images, Landscape, nature, photography, photos, pictures, prairie, Seljalandsfoss, tall grass, travel, waterfallLeave a comment

Deceptive, I was, tagging this picture with things like “waterfall” when, in fact, it’s clearly L’il House On the Prairie. But my point–and I do have one–is that sometimes when you’re visiting Iceland focused on waterfalls, you should turn around a bit a look behind you. The waterfall in this case was Seljalandsfoss in southern Iceland, the infamous falling water you can walk behind. I waited my turn in a long muddy line of tourists dressed in bright unnatural hues and and getting soaked. When I walked behind the falls, I looked out and saw this lonely farmhouse, looking like an obscured 19th century oil painting beyond the moving water. And I saw the odd, tall grass. And in the very far distance I saw glaciers and knew I wasn’t in Kansas.

Gloomy Dettifoss Pounds A Little Humility Into The Best of Us

October 11, 2018October 11, 2018Posted in IcelandTagged clouds, Dettifoss, dream destinations, Iceland, images, landscapes, nature, photography, photos, pictures, travel, waterfallsLeave a comment

We unloaded the minibus to 30-50 mph wind gust hammering rain sideways into our faces, and as we tromped a couple kilometers through a flat lava debris field, we could hear mighty Dettifoss of northeast Iceland, said by Icelanders to be the most powerful waterfall in Europe. A waterfall that incidentally had a notable cameo in the opening of the movie Prometheus as the Engineer swallowed some bad alien juju that ate him from the inside out standing over Detti’s waters. The water was roaring beneath the gloomy canopy of clouds, and I took some super telephoto shots of people who made the trek down slippery rocks to get sheeted by the falls down on the cliff closest to them ; I chose to go the high-looking-down route. Wunnerful watery stuff, people. Get to Iceland.

No Life or Geothermal Pool Without Radioactive Decay, No Apple Pie Without Ice Cream

October 10, 2018October 10, 2018Posted in IcelandTagged geothermal, geysers, geysir, Iceland, Landscape, nature, photography, photos, travel, volcanoes1 Comment

The third pillar of Iceland’s Golden Circle is Geysir, pronounced “geezer”, for those who care about old cranky dudes, which apparently the old Norse do. Although the major geysers were spouting off every 8-14 minutes, it was the littler pools that were far more interesting to me. These quietly bubbling, steaming beautiful aquamarine ponds were liquid glass situated above craggy red rocks and reeking of sulfur. You could see all the way into the jagged crevices that fed them. The landscape behind them was vast, and we had an hour of sun and dramatic clouds floating over for good images. Lovely stuff.

Chasing Rocks That Regret Waterfalls Is A Zero Sum Game

October 7, 2018Posted in IcelandTagged beautifuldestinations, dream destinations, Iceland, landscapes, nature, photography, photos, pictures, rivers, travel, waterfallLeave a comment

“I’m number 3, Mom!” So says Hengifoss with not a little irony, lauding herself for being the 3rd highest waterfall in Iceland, located in the northeast interior. Do waterfalls have an identifiable gender? The parking lot was overloaded, and our guide Biggi said he was surprised there were this many tourists this far east. We had 60 minutes, so I hauled ass out of the minibus and sprinted up the trail, hauling up the 25 lb camera bag slung over my back, using my three legged tripod as a proxy hiking stick. Crossed somewhat treacherous algae strewn slippy rocks over a creek, slogged through mud, waited for an Argentinian tour group to clear the field of view, snapped a photo. Well….a helluva lotta photos, tbh. The view didn’t suck.

When The Mountain Claims Your Limbs, Only Then Will You Begin To Dance

September 5, 2016September 4, 2016Posted in ScotlandTagged clouds, heather, landscapes, Mountains, nature, outdoors, photography, road, Scotland, viewsLeave a comment

More of the magical Isle of Skye, Scotland and the weather drops in a little bit of drama. The Black Cuillins are incredibly dramatic igneous mountains, and the stretch of empty road surrounded on both sides by fields of purple heather gives a nice perspective. The truth is, there isn’t a single image that can capture how magnificent the landscape on the Isle of Skye is, and what dynamic views it offers. Magical. Am I gushing too much? Probably.

With Monuments As With Men, Position Is Everything

September 3, 2016September 3, 2016Posted in ScotlandTagged clouds, Fuji X-Pro2, history, landscapes, monuments, Mountains, nature, outdoors, photography, Scotland, Wallace MonumentLeave a comment

First day of our Scotland tour, you may recall from an earlier photoblog post we climbed up to the Wallace Monument, then climbed up its ever skinnier turret steps to reach the top spire. Last day of Scotland, here we are at Stirling Castle, looking across at the very same monument, and really see how well it was positioned when it first opened in the mid 1800’s. The houses in the village below looks like little toys, the green mountains behind the perfect backdrop. So then, I say again, Scotland is lovely and polite and has wrangled its tragic history into a stunning and diverse geographic landscape. 4 weeks wouldn’t be enough to take it all in, so I got the Cliff Notes version. Better than nothing.

May The Bridges I Burn Light The Way To The Last Dodo Bird Standing

September 1, 2016August 31, 2016Posted in ScotlandTagged beautifuldestinations, bridge, cantilever, clouds, Forth, Fuji X-Pro2, outdoors, photography, rail, waterLeave a comment

This 1890 red engineering marvel is the Forth Bridge at Queen’s Ferry in Scotland, the 2nd longest cantilever span in the world, still carrying a steady stream of rail traffic while two other bridges nearby handle the auto traffic. It doesn’t hurt much that it’s beautiful to look at–I feel reasonably qualified to say that coming from San Francisco, where we have both the beautiful Golden Gate and the LED art piece that is the Bay Bridge. In any case, the water is reflective glass, so it’s yet another point-and-shoot-and-get-great-pic opportunity in Scotland, which continues to be not boring in the least. Feast your eyes, friends. I know I did.

We All Have Our Own Twilights, Isles, and Abysses To Return To…After 7 Shots of Single Malt.

August 30, 2016August 30, 2016Posted in ScotlandTagged clouds, Fuji X-Pro2, heather, Isle of Skye, landscapes, nature, ocean, outdoors, panorama, photography, Scotland, sea, sunbeamsLeave a comment

Morning, Isle of Skye, the bus rolls on and stops at Kilt Rock/Mealt Falls, but busdriver Dave leads us up to the edge and points the other way, down to the rocks below, where we see this epic view. “An episode of Game of Thrones was filmed here,” he says, pointing the opposite way of the falls. Several folks on the bus start freaking out and peppering him with questions, but not me. “I’ve read the books,” I say to one lady. “But never seen the series.” As soon as her voice rises “OMG, OMG, you have to see it!!”, I immediately phase out into my happy place and put my eye up to the viewfinder and see if I can capture the epic view.

But I can’t, or not with something as simple as an image. The views on Isle of Skye feel expansive, stunning land and seascapes built for movies that go beyond the farthest edge of your peripheral vision, and degrees of contrast no HDR can truly represent. With the sun out in force, purple carpets of heather are everywhere. Another day in Scotland, blowing through time like it doesn’t exist. 2.5 hours pass and it feels like we just got here, then we’re back on the bus and off down the road again.