105 days Europe Adventure

[BrownBoots]

#119 Ytri-Neslönd, North Iceland.
Near Ytri-Neslönd, a small town on the west bank of Lake Mývatn, is the Birds Museum Sigurgeir where you can find exhibits and information of all Icelandic nesting birds. Unfortunately, it was closed at the time of our visit, surely a must-go for all birds lovers. On the left of the background stood the distinctly recognizable Hverfell tephra crater, situated on the opposite far side of the lake.
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[BrownBoots]

#120 Þingvellir, South Western Iceland.
It was an interesting observation that the cliff's surfaces of the North American Plate and Eurasian Plate differed vastly with the former slightly sloped and overgrown with moss and birch bushes, while the later featured upright cliff basalt-like textured surface.
Image taken in the midst of climbing up the cliff of the North American Plate from the bottom of the rift valley after which #100 was taken later.
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[BrownBoots]

#121 Rabotbreen, Svalbard.
The Italian film-maker from the team making use of whatever free time available, in this case waiting for the other half of the convoy to catch up, to film footage of the moon-like landscape.
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[BrownBoots]

#122 An Aurora Borealis image to mark the start of 2012.
Taken on the same night as the earlier Aurora images at Jokkmokk Lapland here. It's amazing how many different forms they can change into all in a short period of time.
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[SLT33]

Beautiful picture! This is one of those natural phenomena that I would love to witness first hand.

 

[BrownBoots]

Beautiful picture! This is one of those natural phenomena that I would love to witness first hand.

Thanks. 2012 to 2013 is a good time to witness the Aurora as it coincides with the high activity period of a 11 year cycle for the Solar flares. Simply put, frequent and strong Aurora occurrences.

 

[BrownBoots]

#123 The contact sheet of the Iceland images to wrap up the chapter.
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[pinholecam]

Every shot is an amazing one!
Incredible.

 

[TWmilkteaTW]

definitely 1 of the most awesome thread.. every shot is a winner.

 

[BrownBoots]

Every shot is an amazing one!
Incredible.

definitely 1 of the most awesome thread.. every shot is a winner.

Thanks guys, glad to have shared these beautiful countries.

 

[BrownBoots]

#124 Matterhorn, Valais Alps
The trip's last night of wild camping was at a spot near the foot of the majestic Matterhorn.
At 2700m+ just above the Swiss alpine treeline, this was also the highest altitude at which we've attempted to wild camp so far.
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[Anthony]

#97 Svartifoss, South Iceland.
Notably known for inspiring the architecture of the Hallgrímskirkja church in Reykjavík with it's hexagonal basalt columns, Svartifoss can be visited with a 30min hike in Skaftafell National Park. A breathtaking view of the black southern coast of Iceland can be marveled while en-route to this popular waterfall.
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Are you using any ND for this pic? Or just GND?
Can share more on the specs & filter used?

Amazing Landscape photos! Very Impressive composition on all your landscape collection.

I just bought Lee filter with Lee Stopper. & Skyset.
Still cant decide which ND & GND filter to buy.
For Sea shoot, most of the time you are using hard 0.9 GND?
Normal landscape for sky, you are using Soft GND?
Thinking of getting Soft GND set. But hardly use 0.3
Or shall I get GND 0.6 Soft, GND 0.9 Hard only?

Need some expert advise from u. Tks

 

[BrownBoots]

Are you using any ND for this pic? Or just GND?
Can share more on the specs & filter used?

Amazing Landscape photos! Very Impressive composition on all your landscape collection.

I just bought Lee filter with Lee Stopper. & Skyset.
Still cant decide which ND & GND filter to buy.
For Sea shoot, most of the time you are using hard 0.9 GND?
Normal landscape for sky, you are using Soft GND?
Thinking of getting Soft GND set. But hardly use 0.3
Or shall I get GND 0.6 Soft, GND 0.9 Hard only?

Need some expert advise from u. Tks

For this, I think I used a 0.9 hard GND as ND for the long exposure. 13s, f16, iso100

Thanks for visiting the thread.

Far from expert advices but here's my thoughts to share with you:

The decision of whether to get a soft or hard set GND has been widely discussed before with many favoring the soft set for a start (even the shops' 'experts' said so). The soft set indeed is 'easier' to implement with a more forgiving grad transition zone, sort of a 'safe' bet you can't go wrong with this. For a more adventurous or dramatic approach, the hard set may produce some exceptional results with the right situations though results may also fail badly sometimes.

Ultimately it's all about personal preference whether to use soft or hard, there is no such thing as a correct or wrong choice. If the resulting style is what you have envisioned, that is all that matters. Filters usage like photography, is an art. Use them to express your creativity, not getting some 1+1=2 formula right. My personal preference is using hard set, occasionally combined with soft set, for most takes including sea and normal landscapes as long as the composition allows.

Assuming you have already decided to go into filters+holder system instead of just trying out first, I would recommend getting both the soft & hard sets. You'll be getting both of the sets sooner or later if you're really into this anyway. Yes, the 0.3 is hardly used but they will come in useful at some point of time especially if you are adopting the 'get it right on the spot' approach. I mean if you're going to perfect the shot in software with multiple exposures blending, why bother with GND with it's limiting straight line transition, not to mention nailing it down to a 0.3. That's the fun part in photography for me though.

If budget is a problem, save up first. Getting a set of 3 is a better bargain than getting them separately obviously. If you are only trying out filter systems, you are better off getting a full set of Hitec or Tianya etc at a fraction of the Lee's cost. A full set of cheap filters allow you to better explore filters usage than just 1-2pcs of expensive filters.

With the Big Stopper, you can skip those 0.9, 1.2 ND. The hard GND set can do the same thing basically.

 

[BrownBoots]

#125 Ufschötti, Lucerne.
A lovely local park in the beautiful city of Lucerne by the lakeside.
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[kuantoh]

#124 Matterhorn, Valais Alps
The trip's last night of wild camping was at a spot near the foot of the majestic Matterhorn.
At 2700m+ just above the Swiss alpine treeline, this was also the highest altitude at which we've attempted to wild camp so far.
​

Lovely shot of the majestic Matterhorn just as if it was spurting ash and steam at its peak.

 

[BrownBoots]

Lovely shot of the majestic Matterhorn just as if it was spurting ash and steam at its peak.

Thank KT. It sure was an interesting sight with the lump of cloud stubbornly sticking to the peak despite the wind trying to disperse it. Only managed to see the peak the next morning.

 

[BrownBoots]

#126 Storeng, Kvænangen.
Many said Aurora Borealis is best seen during the 'new moon' aka moonless night. Contrary to that belief, we experienced a rare case of one here during the 'Supermoon' on 19th March, which transformed the cold dark winter night into a magical twilight.
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[BrownBoots]

#127 Tempelfjorden, Svalbard.
The expedition stopping here on the frozen fjord with the glacier front for a splendid view to go with lunch. These blue ice walls rose over 10m and often seen eroding down into the sea during summer, stunning visitors of cruise and canoes tours. Despite being winter, we were advised to keep a safe distance just in case a caving dangerously happens and break the frozen sea layer beneath our feet.
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[Kiwira]

very inspiring series :>

 

[wonglp]

Simply brilliant shots. Love every one them!