Uploads from Diana Michaels, tagged nature, with geodata

Glacial Bend

nobody@flickr.com (Diana Michaels) — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 05:53:26 -0700

Almost two years ago since this shot was taken. I've been going through my older photos and deleting everything that can be deleted.

I remember the vertigo feeling in that place, and my stubbornness with the tripod. I could just as well have taken it handheld, but what of it. There's a magnificent view from that vantage point, in all directions.

Exif: ISO 100 ; f/14 ; 5 sec ; @18mm
ND filter

Snow Avenue

nobody@flickr.com (Diana Michaels) — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 02:43:30 -0800

Diana Michaels posted a photo:

Can you hear your own footsteps when you walk, on a daily basis? I think it's one of life's luxuries in this modern life. No traffic, no music banging in your ears. You can hear yourself breathing, you can hear your own footsteps. Life is just so simple.

Exif: ISO 400 ; f/5.6 ; 1/20 ; @14mm

Aurora Went Out Dancing

nobody@flickr.com (Diana Michaels) — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:54:31 -0800

Diana Michaels posted a photo:

New moon, but with a snowy landscape, and -7°C as far as I remember. The northern lights had not been dancing in the sky for a few weeks, which is quite unusual. We finally got some solar activity and clear skies. The shot is some sort of vertorama.

How are the northern lights formed? The aurora borealis are created when charged particles are flung off the surface of the sun, travel to Earth, and get funneled down to the poles along magnetic field lines. The particles collide with molecules in our atmosphere, transferring energy and making the air molecules glow like a neon sign.

Exif: ISO 800 ; f/2.8 ; 6 sec. ; @14mm
View in black

Glacier Retreat

nobody@flickr.com (Diana Michaels) — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 17:35:25 -0700

Diana Michaels posted a photo:

It really looks to me like this glacier is retreating. This perspective is by the way quite unique, as the shot was taken from a plane.

Exif: ISO 400 ; f/2.8 ; 1/1000 ; @37mm
Reverse ND Grad 0.9 -- Aerial picture.

Labyrinth

nobody@flickr.com (Diana Michaels) — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 12:33:57 -0700

Diana Michaels posted a photo:

Not often that one can see a river take a 90° turn, but... it is obviously possible. I think there's a waterfall in that corner.

The lava field that you can see in this shot was formed in the 10th century, after the Settlement. Its dimensions (52 km long and 7 km wide) suggest that the eruption lasted for months. A characteristic of this area are the labyrinths of caves and tunnels created by the flow of molten lava, which continued running under a crust of already solidified lava.

Exif: ISO 500 ; f/2.8 ; 1/800 ; @21mm

"Cooked" Raw Nature

nobody@flickr.com (Diana Michaels) — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 02:21:18 -0700

Diana Michaels posted a photo:

Very very raw. Boiling rare and frequently hot. Actually, these are the largest hot springs that I've ever seen - as for the size of the biggest one. A very active volcanic area with plenty of minor earthquakes each and every day.

Exif 3 frames: ISO 200 ; f/5.6 ; 1/80 ; @55mm

Open the Curtains

nobody@flickr.com (Diana Michaels) — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 09:04:34 -0700

Diana Michaels posted a photo:

And let the sun in. What a beauty of a landscape, and what a difference it actually makes when gentle sun rays bathe the earth's surface. Here is a shot taken in the Reykjanes Peninsula. There were no roads signs or indications, and for that sake, not even paths, other than those made by sheep.

Exif: ISO 200 ; f/5.6 ; 1/30 ; @24mm
Reverse ND Grad 0.9

Gullfoss Most Unusual

nobody@flickr.com (Diana Michaels) — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 16:47:50 -0700

Diana Michaels posted a photo:

Hundreds of thousands of people have come to see the magnificent waterfall of Gullfoss. I believe not many have seen it from this particular angle :)

Gullfoss is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Iceland. The wide Hvítá rushes southward. About a kilometer above the falls it turns sharply to the left and flows down into a wide curved three-step "staircase" and then abruptly plunges in two stages (11 m and 21 m) into a crevice 32 m (105 ft) deep.

The crevice, about 20 m (60 ft) wide, and 2.5 km in length, is at right angles to the flow of the river. As one first approaches the falls, the crevice is obscured from view, so that it appears that a mighty river simply vanishes into the earth.

The average amount of water running over this waterfall is 140 m³/s in the summertime and 80 m³/s in the wintertime. The highest flood measured was 2000 m³/s.

Exif: ISO 400 ; f/2.8 ; 1/1000 ; @55mm

Down-to-Earth and Civilized

nobody@flickr.com (Diana Michaels) — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 05:51:14 -0700

Diana Michaels posted a photo:

Great light in the late evening hours - this frame was taken at 11 pm, and the sun was still setting. I'm not sure what kind of debris this is - something connected to a farmland, I guess. (Thanks for your explanations -those of you who know- it's an old hay rake / hay harrow)

The river Lagarfljót flows through this lake. Its glacial flour from the melt-water colours the lake, giving it a whitish-opaque to whitish-greenish tone. Like in the Scottish lake Loch Ness, a worm-monster is believed by some to be living in the depths of the lake Lagarfljót. I'll be posting pictures of it soon... :)

Exif: ISO 100 ; f/18 ; 3.2 sec ; @18mm
Reverse ND Grad 0.9

Puffin with Sand Eels

nobody@flickr.com (Diana Michaels) — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 16:11:07 -0700

Diana Michaels posted a photo:

I kept shooting till my fingers became so cold and numb, that they were useless to feel the shutter, or any other thing on the camera. The weather was ok, but by the cliffs the wind blows quite a lot. I think it paid off, 'cause I finally got a picture of a puffin that I'm happy with. Cute little thing... :) They are so funny, and so curious.

Iceland is home to one of the world's largest colonies of puffins. Over half of the world population of the Atlantic Puffin breeds in Iceland. The total population of puffins in Iceland is BETWEEN 8 AND 10 MILLION BIRDS.

Their bodies are wonderful for diving and swimming but clumsy in the air. The puffin can dive to about 60 meters. Also, they are monogamous and usually keep the same mates for life.

How can a puffin hold one fish while catching another? The answer lies in the spines on their tongues and roofs of their mouths, securing spearing a fish. Because of their way of holding the fish, scientists have been able to count up to 60 fish (albeit small ones) in a hungry puffin's mouth.

Exfi: ISO 800 ; f/4 ; 1/400 ; @200mm
Subject Distance: 7.05 m

Birdie O'Mine

nobody@flickr.com (Diana Michaels) — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 18:57:13 -0700

Diana Michaels posted a photo:

Black-tailed Godwit, clearly posing for a portrait :) I kept coming closer and closer to it, begining 22 meters away, to a final 5,5 meters between us, as the exif information actually shows. I spoke baby language to the bird (you know what I mean), and it worked ! No need for hiding. I sat on the grass and pulled myself closer and closer little by little, while calling sweet words and sending loud kisses :)

What I like most about this shot is the way its eye catches light and reflects it inside.

Exif: ISO 400 ; f/5.6 ; 1/640 ; @250mm
Subject distance here = 6,75 m.

On Both Sides

nobody@flickr.com (Diana Michaels) — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 07:08:41 -0700

Diana Michaels posted a photo:

You can see my shadow on the other side of the river :) Rauðhólar (Red Hills) and Bláfjöll (the Blue Mountains) in the background.

From Wikipedia: The Rauðhólar ("red hills") are remnants of a cluster of pseudocraters in the outskirts of Reykjavík, Iceland, and are part of Reykjavík's nature reserve of Heiðmörk. The age of the Rauðhólar is about 5200 years.

Originally there were over 80 craters, but the gravel from them was taken and used for construction. Most of the material was taken around World War II and used for projects such as Reykjavík Airport and road building.

Exif 2 shots: ISO 200 ; f/5.6 ; 1/30 ; @18mm
CPL and Reverse ND Grad 0.9

Puzzled By Iceland

nobody@flickr.com (Diana Michaels) — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 07:57:50 -0700

Diana Michaels posted a photo:

It's just amazing how this waterfall changes color depending on the season. Last time I saw it, the dominant colors were glacial blue and autumn orange. And this is how it looked like just a few weeks ago, at the end of May. I kind of like these brown tones :)

The name of this cascade is Hraunfossar [the Lava Falls]. It is a series of waterfalls formed by rivulets streaming for a distance of about 900 meters out of a lava field that flowed from a volcanic eruption under the glacier Langjökull.

As you can see, the water precipitates directly into the Hvítá river from ledges of less porous rock in the lava.

Exif 9 shots: ISO 100 ; f/5.6 ; 10 sec ; @18mm
10-stop ND filter

Castles in the Air

nobody@flickr.com (Diana Michaels) — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 15:33:18 -0700

Diana Michaels posted a photo:

The idiom "Castles in the Air" means of course "daydreaming", planing on things that cannot happen - building on no firm grounds. It's quite representative for the situation of a number of real estate that could not be finished because of the economic crash a few years back.

Very mystic and suggestive ground fog - or whatever we call it - that we can see in the middle of the night these days, when the temperature of the river's waters is actually warmer than the air, and it evaporates. We have daylight all night long right now.

Exif 2 shots: ISO 100 ; f/22 ; 5 sec ; @14mm
Reverse ND Grad 0.9

Who Has a Vehicle driven 357,000 km?

nobody@flickr.com (Diana Michaels) — Fri, 11 May 2012 04:27:28 -0700

Diana Michaels posted a photo:

Perigee Moon, May 5 2012. It's only 357,000 km away. I wonder who of us has a car (or other vehicle) with a count that high on its mileage. The moon is for the seasons, the tides, it's for lunatics, for romantics, for scientists, all dreamers... oh yeah, for photographers...

This place... In the year 1627 a Turkish pirate ship came ashore right here, and kidnapped lots of people from the Westman Islands (Iceland), and sold them as slaves later on. (IT'S TRUE !!!)

And yes, this image is photoshopped. I took the picture of the moon at 340mm (with a teleconverter) and the foreground is taken at 70mm -two frames with different focus have been unified for the foreground & ocean, and the third frame for the moon.

Exif: (foreground 2 shots) ISO 100 ; f/4 ; 2 sec ; @70mm. Moon: ISO 100 ; f/4 ; 1/80 ; @200mm (with teleconverter x1.7, therefore @340mm) -made it to Explore-

Trolls' Falls

nobody@flickr.com (Diana Michaels) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 17:47:18 -0700

Diana Michaels posted a photo:

Not far away from Reykjavík there are a number of precious jewels of landscape, thay may often not be visited due to... hurrying up for the Golden Circle tour. Trolls' Falls is one example - well, the impossible road toward the place might have something to say about the fact that few people know it.

The lowered sun rays entered directly into the ravine during this shot. A very golden hour indeed.

Exif - Two shots on enlarged canvas:
ISO 100 ; f/22 ; 0.3 sec ; @14mm
Handheld

Swift Key

nobody@flickr.com (Diana Michaels) — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 18:37:47 -0700

Diana Michaels posted a photo:

The waters of little Leirvogsá river run hastily through the abrupt landscape as it precipitates toward the ocean.

Exif:
ISO 100 ; f/22 ; 1/40 & 0.6 ; @14mm

With a Silver Undertone

nobody@flickr.com (Diana Michaels) — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 15:43:54 -0700

Diana Michaels posted a photo:

The delicate murmur of cascading waters. A tone of music, as well as a tone of ... color ... is made out of the finest sterling silver. And the poet woke up !

I'm trying to find the name of this waterfall. Its location is by the steep road going down toward Hveragerði (Kambarnir), and the river is Hengladalaá [it's Icelandic, actually]. It might be that the falls don't have a name yet.

Two equally exposed shots, small panorama:
ISO 100 ; f/22 ; 2 sec ; @18mm

Numenius Phaeopus - Whimbrel

nobody@flickr.com (Diana Michaels) — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 17:01:42 -0700

Diana Michaels posted a photo:

Whimbrel (Spói - ISL) One of the most wide-ranging shorebirds in the world. The Whimbrel breeds in the Arctic in the eastern and western hemispheres, and migrates to South America, Africa, south Asia, and Australia. It is also a coastal bird during migration. It is fairly gregarious outside the breeding season.

It uses its long, down-curved bill to probe deep in the sand of beaches for invertebrates, but also feeds on berries and insects.

Exif: ISO 400 ; f/5.6 ; 1/1000 ; @250mm
Subject distance: 13.6 m

Their Parents Think They are Cute

nobody@flickr.com (Diana Michaels) — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:02:41 -0700

Diana Michaels posted a photo:

Raven chicks in their comfortable nest. Their parents stayed close by while we curiously inspected their charming progeny :)

The nest is a deep bowl made of large sticks and twigs, bound with an inner layer of roots, mud, and bark and lined with a softer material, such as sheep wool, in this case. This nest was found on a cliff ledge.

Females lay between three to seven [here are 4 chicks] pale bluish-green, brown-blotched eggs. Incubation is about 18 to 21 days, by the female only. However, the male may stand or crouch over the young, sheltering but not actually brooding them. Young fledge at 35 to 42 days, and are fed by both parents. They stay with them for another six months after fledging.

Exif, 3 frames:
ISO 100 ; f/2.8 ; 1/1250 ; @50mm