Windfall

By: sidaths

It was our second day in Iceland and the first day out of Reykjavik. We spent the early part of the day driving up to this region in the far west of Iceland hoping to see the summit. Despite being around the area for several hours, hiking along the coast and watching the gulls and terns nest this was the only time we saw it, as the clouds parted just after 11pm.

At the time we had the cameras up on the tripods pointing hopefully Northwards. With a brisk westerly wind chilling us as we huddled around the back of the car eating canned tuna and bread we waited. Then the wind then blew a gap in the clouds past the summit and I rushed to my waiting camera and with tuna-stained fingers clicked away. Our patience in being there despite the cold paid off.

At the time, this was the Northern-most point on the globe I'd been to. Behind me there was the ocean, and then nothing... no land until the Antarctic 10,000 miles of Atlantic away.

Snæfellsjökull, Iceland

Dusk in Dubrovnik

By: sidaths

Forty minutes after the sun fell beneath the waves, the lights of Dubrovnik and a departing cruise liner winked into shimmering existence.

When out in the wilderness, getting to a good spot for the sunset is difficult because you usually need to walk there and ensure that you're carrying enough water and food to make the journey there and back. Being in a busy city presents its own challenges -- although food is easily obtained, you can't simply walk where you want to go. You need to navigate the (often rush hour) road networks so as not to trespass and hope that the spot you pick on a road map doesn't have an obscured view.

This evening we sped off an hour before sunset to try and get enough altitude for an overview of Dubrovnik. We didn't get there in time for the sunset, but we found this spot in time for dusk. It wasn't the safest place, with several people and dogs eyeing us as we hastily found parking and ran down the road and up refuse heaps and concrete blocks to get the view we wanted without distractions in the foreground.

I didn't have my tripod (I know, schoolboy error!) I had to take this handheld. I took several frames and this was the least blurry.

Dubrovnik, Croatia, 2012

Wildflower pathways

By: sidaths

I love detailed comments or descriptions. Well done !

Wildflower pathways

By: sidaths

Rain-dampened wildflowers line a lonely mountain road in the Apuane Alps in Tuscany, Italy.

Having reached the summit of Monte Altissimo the day before, we were tired as we drove to the start of our next hike in the Apuane Alps of northern Tuscany. While we managed the summit of one particularly tall mountain the day before, this day we were planning on getting to the top of three slightly shorter peaks before the sun set. The weather wasn't favourable, and the rain and fog combined with achy legs resulting in a rather quiet drive to the staging point.

Halfway there, I noticed that we were driving through some really lovely country lanes. Snapping out of my 'just get there' mindset. I stopped the car and reversed several hundred metres muttering something to my companions about 'time to take a photo'. A few seconds of creative reversing and I had the framing I wanted. I hopped out of the car with my trusty Sony point and shoot camera, but after taking a few with it, I realized that the scene deserved some time with my main camera. This is the result.

Since out trips are usually tightly organized so that we can see and do as much as possible, we tend to miss out some of the lovely sights along the way. I really appreciated stopping here for a few minutes, not only to take a quick photo but also to smell and hear the rain (that we had been cursing earlier) patter euphoniously on the foliage all about us.

Apuan Alps, Tuscany, Italy, 2014

Sony a7R with Zeiss FE 35mm f/2.8

Witness

By: sidaths

outta sight! Wonderful.

Witness

By: sidaths

Returning from our hike to the top of 2nd highest waterfall in the world in South Africa, the clouds that dogged us the whole day began to melt away.

It was a long climb up to the top of Tugela Falls in the Drakensburg Mountains close to the border between Lesotho and South Africa. We had enjoyed the views every time the fog and mist cleared away but these moments were far too rare and it was only midway through our walk back that we started seeing blue sky.

The wait was worth it though! There were several layers of craggy mountains in the foreground and a towering wall of mountains at far horizon as well. In between them there were hills, meadows and a river glistening in the sunlight. Amidst these features fog, mist and cloud roiled, tossed in dancing spirals by winds swirling around in different directions at different distances from us.

Much of what we do as landscape photographers is witness grand spectacles that happen all the time in quiet and untravelled parts of our world. Spectacles that nobody sees but us in the moment and the people who see the images we make.

Atop his cardboard stage

By: sidaths

Among the throngs of people milling about, donkeys pulling carts, motorcycles whizzing about and all around the shout of people bargaining, the clinging of cutlery, the toots of horns and distant rumbles of thunder this old man peacefully set up his stage.

He silently pulled out his musical instrument and lit his lantern. Light spread into a flickering and wobbling puddle separating him from the bustle of the medina. Atop his cardboard stage he began playing and I was the only one listening.

Incense

By: sidaths

A wisp of incense curls on a cool draft in a temple in the Ancient Sri Lankan city of Polonnaruwa.

On the Northern end of the ancient Polonnaruwa city complex lies the Thivanka Image House. The main attractions of this site are the exterior sculptures, interior frescoes and the large Buddha statue inside. The name 'Thivanka' apparently means 'three curves' and so the structure gets its name from the three distinct curves in the statue's posture.

While the frescoes and statue were particularly lovely, I quite liked this view from beside the statue facing outwards. While the walls of this structure have stood for centuries, the incense stick, the smoke it produced and the breeze that toyed with it were all painfully ephemeral.

Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka, 2014

Sony a7R with Zeiss FE 55mm f/1.8

Bamburgh Castle

By: sidaths

A brief break in the wind tossed cloudcover casts evening light on Bamburgh Castle.

Bamburgh, Northumberland, England, 2015

Sony a7R with Zeiss FE 55mm f/1.8

Fruits of Globalization

By: sidaths

It may be midwinter in England, but thanks to globalization we can still get fresh fruit!

Natural window light from a low winter sun in conjunction with shallow depth of field highlighted the spurts of juice.

Cambridge, England, 2015

Sony a5100 with Zeiss FE 16-35mm f/4