It was a relatively quick flight for somewhere that seemed so exotic and detached. Just 5.5hrs from JFK airport. We landed at sunrise and made the trek east, after getting the rental vehicles and some food. It was quite cloudy and eventually the rains came, and stayed for several days. We had breaks where it was only windy, but it made for photographing anything a little more difficult. For a Florida boy, 40 degree weather, rain, and 40 mph winds don’t make for the most favorable conditions. So, we searched for things we could use the conditions with. Things that didn’t move. We found a big mossy area, which I was to learn is the old lava fields from Laki, one of the largest volcano eruptions in Iceland, happening over 7 months in 1783 and 84 and killing 25% of the population. Moss doesn’t move much, but I was determined to get some shots of the small bushes dotting the landscape in full fall colors. This took a lot of patience but I got several images over the next couple days that I really liked.

The boulders of lava went on for miles, covered in 6 inches or so of moss. It made for treacherous foot travel and I took a fun little tumble. Luckily, it is like landing on a tempurpedic bed! We encountered this area west of Vik on the way to Klauster.

Another amazing area is Jokulsarlon. There is nothing like it and it is oft photographed by travelers to Iceland. Icebergs calve from the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier and float out to sea, where some are washed back onto the black sand beach. This makes for a dramatic contrast and a scene unlike anything else.

This was also a tough shoot because the icebergs move. With each wave you either have to dodge them coming back in, or chase them back out, always recomposing your shot. In the second image, my iceberg actually broke in half and floated away just 3 waves after the image I got.

After 2 shooting sessions at Jokulsarlon, we made our way back west to trek into the highlands. Along the way we stopped at several waterfalls along the road(no shortage of them) and I took this image at one we nicknames Paul’s Falls because I had wanted to check it out for several days. I loved the recessed nature of it and how it had carved its way back into the rock.

Somewhere along the road, we also got a touch of sunshine and I was sure to capitalize on it. Whooper Swans were the only native wildlife we saw(lots of sheep) and I timed this image as a flock flew through the image.

Once into the highlands, we encountered a scene that seemed unreal. A nondescript canyon from afar, nestled among all the lifeless volcanic rock harbored at least 40 waterfalls, all leaking from the porous rock. At the bottom was an amazingly blue river and on the third shoot at this location, a freezing sunrise, we got some sun!

The last image was taken at Haifoss, meaning High Falls. It didn’t have that many compositional opportunities, but at 400 feet tall, and the accompanying canyon, still a great view.

Iceland was a land of amazing scenery, the weather sure made it challenging, but I am happy with what I got and hope to return in the future.To purchase an image go to my Iceland gallery: Iceland

I was actually planning to spend most of my time in Oregon’s Columbia River Gorge (a later blog post) but just couldn’t resist running up to visit the rainforests of Olympic National Park for 2 days.

I met up with buddy and excellent photographer Alex Mody and we headed north. These are true rainforests, averaging 140-170 inches of rain a year. Miami, gets around 50. They are remarkable environments and I was so happy to be headed their way. We got to the Hoh Rainforest around 11pm and passed out. We awoke to low 30′s and drizzle. Perfect! The overcast and rain was just what I wanted to shoot the forests in…the temperatures not so much. We got moving around 6 am and with a mile or two, we came upon what has become one of my favorite images. Titled “The wizard of the Hoh” this “tree” commanded attention. It is actually a combination of a big leaf maple well over 100 ft. tall and a vine maple reaching out from its base. It just looked like it was raising up ready to cast a spell on all the denizens of the rainforest.

After this image, which I instantly knew would be a keeper, everything else was a bonus for the day. As I continued wandering the forest, I felt I had hit a jackpot with that image. Everything else was just so chaotic, yet beautiful. It seems near impossible to translate the beauty in a photograph, but I tried the best I could. Here is another image where I felt the scene came to have some order.

As we continued, the light got a bit harsh and made it a bit difficult to shoot wide-angle forest scenes. We made our way to the visitor center and found a Barred Owl very relaxed around everyone. Alex commented that it was probably a youngster because it almost seemed dumb. It made several sad attempt at hunting and it did seem to be a bit inexperienced. Regardless, it posed nicely for us for a long time.

As we were leaving the Hoh rainforest to go to the Quinault, I saw this scene in some second growth forest. The second growth is actually a little more organized because the trees are all about the same size and age. Not as dramatic as the other but I thought I showed another environment quite well.

As we entered the Quinault the rain picked back up a bit. As the light faded, the fog begain rising and I got an image I was not expecting. The simplicity and color combo was hard to resist.

In this same area we also saw the largest black bear I have come across. The light was far to gone to get a keeper but I was amazed at my camera’s capabilities to at least get a documentary shot. The settings were: Lens (mm): 400 ISO: 25600 Aperture: 5.6 Shutter: 1/80

The next day we awoke and began a hike. the light wasn’t ideal, getting a little too strong, but I was able to get one image I was happy with.  I framed it with two trees growing out of a fallen nursery log. It is called that because as it decays it provides a great place for the next generation to germinate. Sometimes you will see several large trees all growing in a line, along a now decayed nursery log.

We saw many impressive trees in the Quinault and I couldn’t resist taking a self-portrait, which I will leave you with.

I was happy to see the bogs with carnivorous plants, the showiest being the pitcher plants. They gain additional nutrition by luring insects to the mouth of the pitcher, where they fall down the slippery walls and can’t get out. The plant then digests the insects and absorbs the good stuff.

Anyways, here are a few of my favorites. Let me know which ones you guys like.

These little carnivorous plants trap insects with sticky drops on their modified leaves.

My new car and home on the road.

Tortured

Bacon!

A wider view and the wonderful glow that happens after the sun sets

Thorny Old Friends

Thanks for stopping in!

An interesting old juniper, I faintly light painted it with an LED in the same direction as the full moon. I wanted it too look very natural, just giving the moonlight a little help basically.

An especially nice area of stripes and colors. I used the Tamron 180 macro for this one.

These balls of rock and mud were scattered throughout this dry creek bed.

I liked how this tree stood out from the red hills behind.

Getting up on top of the hills provided a beautiful view all around.

A moment of sunlight on this overcast day lit these grasses nicely.

Thanks for stopping in and having a look.

Roseate Spoonbill

Sabal Palms and Skyway Bridge

Great Egret and Flounder

Dune Sunrise

Sea Oats and Fishermen

Tricolor Heron

]]> http://www.paulmarcellini.com/blog/2009/07/ft-desoto/feed/ 0 http://www.paulmarcellini.com/blog/2009/06/masai-mara-national-park/ http://www.paulmarcellini.com/blog/2009/06/masai-mara-national-park/#comments Thu, 11 Jun 2009 02:36:54 +0000 paul http://www.paulmarcellini.com/blog/?p=307 Masai Mara was our last stop of the safari. We actually stayed in 2 lodges, the Mara Sarova, and the Mara Serena. These were in opposite ends of the park which provided different opportunities. The Mara was finally the Africa I was expecting. It was miles of grasses, but more elevation change than I expected. There were also patches of shrubbery, where we came to find many animals using for cover. The Masai Mara is 1510 square kilometers and is essentially the northern extension of the Serengeti in Tanzania. It is the place of the Great Migration of millions of wildebeest, zebras, and gazelle. We hit it in the low season, when the animals were in the Serengeti, but there was still plenty to see, without the crowds of people.

These guys were just waiting for the crowds to leave and night to fall.

Watching the Sun Set

The KING

Lilac-Breasted Rollers

Lioness in the Morning Light

Alert Impala

Mara Giraffe

And a few Treescapes

A European Roller(Coracias garrulus)

Secretary Bird

Blazing over the Mara, the view from our lodge

Who's Watching Who?

Dueling Teenagers

Africa was an awesome experience, I really hope to get back someday.

I also loved that we could leave the vehicle near the lake in this park. I was hoping for some flamingo close-ups but they are quite nervous birds here. The lake was also surrounded by the f=Fever Trees, named because they harbored mosquitoes which got early people sick with disease. These trees were beautiful and this was the most wooded area we visited. A good place for leopards, with lots of habitat, and lots of hiding places, so we did not see one.

First, here is the man and machine that made the safari possible. Fred and the Land Cruiser.

A Courting ritual of all males

There were also these beautiful Great White Pelicans(Pelecanus onocrotalus). They actually look pink in breeding season.

And of course the White Rhinos(Ceratotherium simum)…

A big male with a long horn, which is actually made from matted hair. The White Rhino gets its name from a mistranslation between English, Dutch and Afrikaans. The name was actually supposed to be wide, referring to the lips.

These Olive Baboons(Papio anubis) were everywhere and I kept forgetting to shoot them but finally got some of this little one.

I liked this Waterbuck in the soft light and rain. It really saturated his colors.

These guys, were building nests right in front of the lodge. They were quite busy and noisy. Speke’s Weaver(Ploceus spekei)

I had to be quite sneaky to get close to this African Fish Eagle(Haliaeetus vocifer) who didn’t seem interested in sharing, but the gull sure hoped.

Hey there ole buddy ole pal...

And lastly, the Rock Hyrax(Procavia capensis), a relative of the Elephant actually. This was on the side of a very high cliff.

A great place, maybe a bit busy for my tastes, but still a great stop in Kenya.