Blog

Capture the Northern Lights in Iceland

Martin Sammtleben, 1. December 2011

The Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis with their changing shapes and colours have fascinated people through the ages. They’re an electromagnetic phenomenon caused by the sun storm entering the earth’s atmosphere.

Just the other night we had quite impressive displays, so instead of going to bed we headed out photographing the Northern Lights. Luckily this has become a lot easier with todays cameras, that have increasingly better low-light performance.

A few tips…

• You will need a tripod and cable-/remote release, although instead of the latter you can employ your camera’s self-timer.
• Watch the weather – you’ll want a clear night.
• Follow the aurora forecast on sites such as Alaska’s Geophysical Institute – activity usually peaks between 23:00 and 2:00.
• If possible find a nice location in advance during daytime and take note of interesting spots that provide some foreground interest – images of nothing but light streaks across a dark sky can get boring.
• Keep yourself and your spare batteries warm, because you will spend a lot of time standing around waiting; bring a flask with a hot drink.
• As the lights can stretch across the entire sky, you will in general find wide-angle lenses – fixed or zoom – more useful than longer lenses.
• Aim for shorter shutter speeds of only a few seconds especially if the lights are moving quickly. In order to do so turn your camera’s ISO up to the highest value, that will still produce images without excessive noise and open up your lense’s aperture to let in as much light as possible. Fast, fixed-focal length lenses are ideal, but also a zoom with a modest f4.0 can be used with good results.
• Shoot RAW and enable long-exposure noise reduction in your camera. Also explore the noise reduction features of your software when developing your RAW images.
• Experiment with the white balance of your images. Northern Lights often look rather greenish straight from the camera and they can change appearance dramatically as you adjust the colour temperature and tint controls.

There’s also a great article on DP Review, that covers everything in more detail…
Auroral photography: A guide to capturing the Northern Lights

If that has sparked your interest, why not join us on one of our Northern Lights tours in Iceland, departing in March and early April 2011?

New for 2012! Captivating Kerala January Photography Tour

Geraldine Westrupp, 27. August 2011

We are really thrilled to introduce Captivating Kerala – Colours, People and Landscapes. This is a remarkable photographic journey through the lush and exotic landscape of South India’s Kerala with photographers who know the area intimately and have been traveling here for 15 years – this is a new trip that is firmly rooted in our intimate knowledge and past experiences here; well researched adventure travel photography at its very best.

Cochin with its Portuguese houses, synagogues, palaces, forts and Chinese fishing nets, spread over a charming cluster of islands and peninsulas, the tea plantations, granite domed mountains, spice gardens and wild life reserves of the Western Ghats, a truly traditional and totally non-mainstream Kathakali make up and performance in a tiny village and a memorable journey on the famous Keralan backwaters in a luxurious houseboat. As with our established India Xmas trip, all our accommodation is a wonderful blend of hotels chosen carefully with a blend of the traditional, a dash of luxury and and a huge helping of special ambiance. There is also an opportunity to take a 2 day extension in Kovalam Beach based in the Tranvacore Heritage Hotel.
Find out more about this tour…

This tour is preceeded by our popular Mystical South India – Tamil Nadu and Kerala trip, which runs over Christmas and New Years.

Mystical South India – A Festive Photography Holiday in December 2011 – January 2012

Geraldine Westrupp, 27. August 2011

So happy, re our Xmas India trip just booked flights Manchester – Chennai (India) Quatar 470 pounds return via budgetair.co.uk
We do love a deal!

Now that autumn is approaching we are beginning to get really excited about our Christmas / New Year Mystical South India holiday in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Our location experience here is second to none, we are proud to say that many parts of this journey are totally unique! We’ll be travelling to some of Southern India’s photographically most stunning, spiritual and historical landmarks which will give us the opportunity to practise travel photography whilst exploring some fine locations offering access to a wealth of spectacular, photographic opportunities across a wide range of subjects and natural environments; there will surely be something here for everyone at what ever level.

We have chosen our accommodation carefully, knowing that during the festive period, photographers often like to bring partners along. We will enjoy some unique hotels and locations including, Pondicherry on the Coromandel coast, a restored, attractive, former French colony, exuding a Mediterranean aura with its chic streets, the relaxing Sparsha Eco Resort in Tiruvanamalai for Christmas day, New Years Eve at the inspiring Blackberry Hill Resort in the Cardamom Hills Munnar, a night of sheer luxury at the elegant Heritage Madurai, a fascinating train journey, a final two nights at the delightfully secluded and personal Secret garden, Cochin, plus much more. The diversity of India is a true assault on the senses, a vibrant and sometimes shocking experience. At times it may seem overwhelming but it has left us longing to return again and again: we’re well and truly addicted, see you there!
Read more about the holiday…

This trip will be followed immediately by our new Kerala trip Captivating Kerala – Colours, People and Landscapes

Photographing the Newly Emerged Geothermal Area at Lake Kleifarvatn

Martin Sammtleben, 17. March 2011

Lake Kleifarvatn is quite a phenomenon. It’s located on the Reykjanes Peninsula in a striking landscape of volcanic origin. It’s a seismologically very active area with beautiful geothermal fields.

Every few years at random intervals the lake’s water level drops dramatically over the course of a few months exposing a geothermal area at the south end. Geologists attribute this to tectonic movements widening the fissures running through the lake.

We went on a calm and clear day to explore. Naturally you get great images of the steam plumes and their reflections in the water and ice set against a deep blue sky. But zooming in on the fumaroles also reveals an astonishing amount of detail, that often goes unnoticed. All it takes is a fast shutter speed to freeze the motion of the drops.
 
You might get wet though.

More Amazing Images and Video Footage of the Eyjafjallajökull Eruption

Martin Sammtleben, 20. May 2010

The eruption is calming down but still emits a vast amount of ash rising high into the atmosphere…, that continues to disrupt air traffic all over Europe.

Christopher Lund again has some absolutely stunning images to share. Also make sure to check out Martin Rietze’s video clips of the eruption.

The Eyjafjallajökull Eruption Continues

Martin Sammtleben, 16. April 2010

… but with a shift in focus.
The fissure eruption on Fimmvörðuháls, that started on 20. March and proved to be a first-rate tourist attraction, is pretty much over for the moment.

Apparently the lava found a new route and on 14. April an eruption began underneath the Eyjafjallajökull ice cap, causing floods and ejecting vast amounts of volcanic ash into the atmosphere. The resulting ash cloud has been slowly drifting over North Europe and air traffic has come to a complete stop in the affected areas.
 
Timelapse of the eruption

Images of the Eruption

Photographer Christopher Lund has posted a superb gallery of the Fimmvörðuháls fissure eruption. More stunning images can be found on the Boston Globe’s Big Picture Blog part 1 and part 2, and on NASA’s flickr stream
Geologist Dr. Erik Klemetti continues coverage of the event on his Eruptions blog

Remarkable Close-Up Images of the Eyjafjallajökull Eruption

Martin Sammtleben, 28. March 2010

And here’s a gallery of images taken at night.

Volcanic Eruption at Eyjafjallajökull Glacier, South Iceland

Martin Sammtleben, 21. March 2010

After weeks of increased seismic activity an eruption started just before midnight on Saturday 20. March.

It is a typical, basaltic fissure eruption currently about 1 km in length. Although the lava shoots up to 300 metres high, it is considered a small eruption. It’s located on the Fimmvörðuháls mountain pass, a popular hiking route, right between the Eyjafjallajökull and Mýrdalsjökull glaciers. Since it’s not underneath the glacier cap, there is no immediate danger of floods. Some 500 people have been evacuated from the area and air traffic has been delayed.

RÚV, the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service, has some interesting video footage taken before dawn and later that morning. Another icelandic site has a series of images.

The eruption has been stable so far, but it’s uncertain, how long it will last. Scientists are concerned though, because historically an eruption in this area has always been followed by an eruption of Katla, a much more powerful volcano under the Mýrdalsjökull glacier. Katla erupts every 40–80 years, but has been dormant for almost 100 years.

For a blog dedicated to volcanism together with first rate information on this latest eruption check out the site of Dr. Erik Klemetti a geologist who spends most of his professional time thinking about magma.

Llanberis Mountain Film Festival Photography Competition

Martin Sammtleben, 7. March 2010

The Llanberis Mountain Film Festival includes a photography competition, and takes place at the foot of Snowdon every other year.

We were delighted to hear, that our submissions won first and second prize in the Flora and Fauna category of this year’s festival. See the Llamff website for the other entries and more information.

Lakar Geothermal Area

Martin Sammtleben, 6. February 2010

The area of the Hegill central volcano boasts an incredible variety of geothermal phenomena and rock formations, that are worth of exploring.

Today we went up to Ölkelduháls to visit the Lakar geothermal area. It’s located at the foot of Mt. Tjarnarhnúkur and features a wide range of mudpots, hot springs and fumaroles. It also offers brilliant views of the surroundings – far and near – towards the Hegill massif and Lake Þingvallavatn. Thanks to this year’s mild winter the area is devoid of snow except for the mountain tops. This makes for a vibrant display of colours: green moss, yellow clay, white steam and clouds set off against blue skies.

One Very Cold Day at Þingvellir

Martin Sammtleben, 20. December 2009

While the rest of Europe was blanketed in snow five days before Christmas, Þingvellir was still looking distinctly autumnal, however don’t be decieved by the soft ambient light in these images, this was an incredibly cold and windy December day, we only took a few pictures as taking off our big over-mitts rendered our fingers pretty useless in just a couple of minutes!

The Þingvellir area is part of a fissure zone running through Iceland and is situated on the tectonic plate boundaries of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. A water filled fissure in the Þingvellir lava can be seen in one of the images, essentially Iceland is gradually splitting in two and the whole area is surrounded by volcanoes, one of the most active being Hengill, a fine location to photograph geothermal activity.

Reykjavík Harbour by Night

Geraldine Westrupp, 30. November 2009

During the midwinter months here in Iceland the daylight hours are short enough, but when the car is misbehaving and has been despatched to the garage it’s nigh on impossible to escape to our usual locations close to Reykjavik, so mid-afternoon saw us strolling along the sea-front to the harbour, although, so slowly did we meander that darkness was closing in as we arrived.

Sadly the character of the harbour has changed dramatically in the past few years, sacrificed to the relentless pursuit of big, shiny, ultra modern projects such as the marina, and the massive, still being constructed National Concert and Conference Centre
The progress of the latter was temporarily halted when the crisis hit last year, although work has recently re-started. I rather suspect that a huge, partially constructed building dominating the city skyline would be a bit of an eyesore, not to mention a tad embarrassing for a city that is increasingly coming to rely on tourists, who nowadays are flocking here in great numbers no doubt delighted with the very favourable exchange rate that they are currently getting for their Pounds, Euros and Dollars.

Anyway despite the cold (snuggly-warm duvet jacket essential) and the modern additions, we had a great couple of hours making the most of the dark.

Lönguhlíðar - Winter is Coming

Martin Sammtleben, 20. October 2009

Only twenty minutes south of Reykjavík the Lönguhlíðar mountian ridge rises from the Skúlatúnshraun and Tvíbollahraun lava fields. It’s the northern edge of a huge plateau, that stretches all the way down to the south coast of the Reykjanes peninsula.

The surrounding lava is covered with a thick layer of moss, but also other plants such as Blueberry, Willow and various types of grass can be found here. In the autumn this makes for a stunning display of colours from green to yellow, orange and red, dominated by the pale green of the moss.

For a very brief period one can enjoy the sight of the mountain tops covered in the first snow, while the lower half still radiates in these wonderful autumn colours.