One-Year Ago (01-August-2013) — Iceland

Gone to See Iceland 2013 Photography Safari with Mike Hagen. Day 3: Vestmannaeyjar (Westman Islands).

The group did a high-speed RIB Safari boat tour to the islands around Vestmannaeyjar. We needed to get into arctic survival suits, and had  shoulder harness belts holding us in our seats. I strapped a camera to my chest with a fisheye lens and set it to automatically take images every few seconds. At times the boat was traveling at 40 knots with lots of heavy bouncing. We went all the way out to Surtsey island that I remember reading about as a kid rising from the sea as a volcano. At one point we saw a whale, so slowed down and stopped to take pictures. While stopped the boat rocked a lot, causing one or two passengers to lose their breakfast. This is a rough cut before adding titles, stills, a GPS map, and music. Beware if you are prone to motion sickness. Images captured with a Nikon D800 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens.

WARNING – THE TIME-LAPSE VIDEO MAY CAUSE MOTION SICKNESS

One-Year Ago (30-July-2013) — Iceland

Gone to See Iceland 2013 Photography Safari with Mike Hagen. Day 1: Golden Circle.

Almannagjá Fault Where the North American and Eurasian Tectonic Plates are Separating. Þingvellir (Thingvellir) National Park in Iceland. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/11, 1/100 sec).

The rock ripples are on the Eurasian side, and the rock wall is on the North American side of the fault.

Almannagjá Fault Where the North American and Eurasian Tectonic Plates are Separating. Þingvellir (Thingvellir) National Park in Iceland. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/11, 1/100 sec). Nikonians Iceland Photo Adventure Tour. (David J Mathre)
Almannagjá Fault Where the North American and Eurasian Tectonic Plates are Separating. Þingvellir (Thingvellir) National Park in Iceland. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/11, 1/100 sec). (David J Mathre)

One-Year Ago (30-July-2013) — Iceland

Gone to See Iceland 2013 Photography Safari with Mike Hagen. Day 1: Golden Circle.

Stairway to Seljalandsfoss, a Waterfall in Southern Iceland. HDR composite of 7 images taken with a Nikon D800 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 100, 16 mm, f/16) using Google HDR Efex Pro 2.

Starway to Seljalandsfoss, a Waterfall in Southern Iceland. (David J Mathre)
Stairway to Seljalandsfoss, a Waterfall in Southern Iceland. HDR composite of 7 images taken with a Nikon D800 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 100, 16 mm, f/16) using Google HDR Efex Pro 2. (David J Mathre)

One-Year Ago (29-July-2013) — Iceland

Gone to See Iceland 2013 Photography Safari with Mike Hagen. Day 0: Reykjavik.

Sunset Along the Reykjavik Harbor Walkway. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera and 10 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 160, 10 mm, f/8, 1/400 sec). The foreground is a water fountain, and the bicycle rider just happened to go by as I took the image.

Sunset Along the Reykjavik Harbor Walkway. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera and 10 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 160, 10 mm, f/8, 1/400 sec). The foreground is a water fountain, and the bicycle rider just happened to go by as I took the image. Nikonians Academy Iceland Photo Adventure Trip. (David J Mathre)
Sunset Along the Reykjavik Harbor Walkway. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera and 10 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 160, 10 mm, f/8, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)

Monday (28-July-2014) — Russia

Gone to See Europe 2014. Day 58: Semester at Sea, Summer 2014 Semester Voyage. Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Ship and Two Lighthouses at dusk near Kronstadt Island viewed from the deck of the MV Explorer as we departed Russia. Image taken with a Nikon Df camera and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/2.8, 1/250 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, Nik Define, and Photoshop CC.

Fishing boat and two channel lights. View from the deck of the MV Explorer while departing St. Petersburg. Image taken with a Nikon Df camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. (David J Mathre)
Fishing boat and two channel lights. View from the deck of the MV Explorer while departing St. Petersburg. Image taken with a Nikon Df camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. (David J Mathre)