Iceberg, Jökulsárlón Lagoon, Iceland
In the south of Iceland is a lagoon where glaciers from the vast central ice cap spill their ancient ice. The mammoth bergs melt and roll in the lagoon until they are small enough to wash through its shallow black-sand mouth into the ocean. I watched this piece float and roll until it grounded and held fast against the flow, creating its own swirls and standing waves. The ancient ice contains very few air bubbles or impurities, so it gives off an otherworldly transparent blue glow. This was an HDR composite shot, which allowed me to get the blurred movement of the water and its crisp spray together in one shot.
Scottish Fern
I was traveling through northern Scotland looking for places to paraglide, which is a great excuse to get out off the path and enjoy the hills. There were also a handful of ancient castles and gardens I stopped through, and in one of the gardens this fern lay in perfect shadows. Sometimes a photo is just meant to be dark. I shot it with a -1.3 exposure.
Pink Fungia Coral
My brother and I had just finished a multi-day kayak trip around the otherwise impenetrable southeast coast of Taveuni, home to 200 waterfalls and not even a single footpath. We slept in a cave used by boar hunters, and for dinner ate coconuts and crabs, which we roasted on the fire. After the grueling two days of paddling, I was ready to relax on the beach. I took an underwater housing for my Canon G10, a great-vintage point-and-shoot even National Geographic photographers would use when they couldn't get their SLRs into tight places. I did some snorkeling and ran into a banded sea krait. But the most exciting thing I saw was this spectacularly-colored pink fungia coral. It looks like I put it in Photoshop and blew out the saturation, but the drab plan life around it proves I did nothing whatsoever to enhance its color. I wanted to take an HDR photo, which requires three different shots, and with such little light they had to be slow framerates. I decided to put the underwater housing on a flexi-pod, and wrap that around a rock. I used the timer so the camera would be absolutely still when the shutter clicked. Time and again I dove down to this coral, planted my rock and camera next to it, and hit the shutter button, and ever time a swell would rock the camera during the shot. Of all the many pictures I took, the waves only permitted this one cluster. I've never seen any other HDR photography under water, and now I know why. But I think it’s a great alternative to artificial (flash) lighting. Canon Powershot G10, f/5.6, 1/10 sec., ISO-200, 6mm focal length, 3-photo HDR composite
Flamingos taking flight, Ngorongoro Crater, Tanznia
Iceberg, Jökulsárlón Lagoon, Iceland
In the south of Iceland is a lagoon where glaciers from the vast central ice cap spill their ancient ice. The mammoth bergs melt and roll in the lagoon until they are small enough to wash through its shallow black-sand mouth into the ocean. I watched this piece float and roll until it grounded and held fast against the flow, creating its own swirls and standing waves. The ancient ice contains very few air bubbles or impurities, so it gives off an otherworldly transparent blue glow. This was an HDR composite shot, which allowed me to get the blurred movement of the water and its crisp spray together in one shot.
Scottish Fern
I was traveling through northern Scotland looking for places to paraglide, which is a great excuse to get out off the path and enjoy the hills. There were also a handful of ancient castles and gardens I stopped through, and in one of the gardens this fern lay in perfect shadows. Sometimes a photo is just meant to be dark. I shot it with a -1.3 exposure.
Pink Fungia Coral
My brother and I had just finished a multi-day kayak trip around the otherwise impenetrable southeast coast of Taveuni, home to 200 waterfalls and not even a single footpath. We slept in a cave used by boar hunters, and for dinner ate coconuts and crabs, which we roasted on the fire. After the grueling two days of paddling, I was ready to relax on the beach. I took an underwater housing for my Canon G10, a great-vintage point-and-shoot even National Geographic photographers would use when they couldn't get their SLRs into tight places. I did some snorkeling and ran into a banded sea krait. But the most exciting thing I saw was this spectacularly-colored pink fungia coral. It looks like I put it in Photoshop and blew out the saturation, but the drab plan life around it proves I did nothing whatsoever to enhance its color. I wanted to take an HDR photo, which requires three different shots, and with such little light they had to be slow framerates. I decided to put the underwater housing on a flexi-pod, and wrap that around a rock. I used the timer so the camera would be absolutely still when the shutter clicked. Time and again I dove down to this coral, planted my rock and camera next to it, and hit the shutter button, and ever time a swell would rock the camera during the shot. Of all the many pictures I took, the waves only permitted this one cluster. I've never seen any other HDR photography under water, and now I know why. But I think it’s a great alternative to artificial (flash) lighting. Canon Powershot G10, f/5.6, 1/10 sec., ISO-200, 6mm focal length, 3-photo HDR composite
Flamingos taking flight, Ngorongoro Crater, Tanznia
