Waterfall-chasing in Iceland

No trip to Iceland is complete - or likely - without visiting at least one extremely impressive and beautiful waterfall. They are literally pouring off every mountain, along every river, into every canyon. Some are visible from the ring-road whereas others require a little more effort, accessible via gravel roads or hiking uphill a mile or two to reach them.

On my recent volcano-chasing trip I managed to visit four very impressive falls in the north and west of the country - three that I'd visited on previous trips, and one new one, that I only found out about by chance after looking at the local region's website.

My first waterfall was the horseshoe-shaped Goðafoss, which is just off the main road, about half-way between Akureyri and Lake Myvatn. I saw it briefly on a weekend trip to the north of the country in March 2009 and part of it was frozen - it looked stunning in the winter sunshine. Now, in September, there was no ice to be seen, but I had a little longer to enjoy it as I was staying at the nearby guesthouse. I arrived just after the sun had set behind the hills to the west, but the clouds soon became illuminated pink, as I clambered over the basalt column tops at the lower part of the falls.

In the morning I got up at dawn and headed down the short path to the falls as the sky began to change colour for me. The light was tricky, with the best coloured clouds away from the falls themselves. My time was limited as I had to get to Myvatn for just after 8am for my volcano sightseeing flight, and had to get breakfast, pack and drive there before then. By 7am I headed back to the guesthouse, just as the sun glowed on the hills to the west.

My volcano trip was cancelled owing to sandstorms and strong winds, so I headed to my second waterfall - Dettifoss. Again, I'd seen it in March 2009, taking a fantastic super-jeep trip over the snow on the west bank to see it, as well as nearby Hafragilsfoss and Selfoss. This time the roads were open on both sides of the river, so I decided to head on the east bank to see it from a different side. The road was long and hard - dusty and gravelly, passing through the odd dust-storm. The horizon to the south was very hazy with gas and smoke from the erupting Holuhraun volcano.

Eventually I reached the parking area for Dettifoss and headed down to the magnificent falls, which carry the highest volume of water of any falls in Europe. The wind was crazy, rendering the tripod almost useless and therefore not much chance to try out some long exposures. As I neared the edge of the falls I found a sheltered spot, though, and managed a couple of long exposures, but the water looked murky with the red sandy air in the distance. I watched people clamber across the rocks below me, hugging the edge of the cliff; it's not a place for the faint-hearted.

After battling the sandy wind, I was too exhausted to walk to Selfoss or even drive to Hafragilsfoss - I just wanted to get back down that dusty road and head to my hotel to catch up on some sleep. I'd seen a sign at the turn-off for "coffee and cake" and was very glad for the well-timed stop - a delicious warmed crumble-topped apple cake with cream and some decent coffee helped keep me going for a little while longer. 

The next waterfall I saw was Goðafoss again, as I headed west after seeing the volcano, a couple of days later. I was there in the afternoon for a couple of hours, visiting both sides this time. The weather was fairly overcast, but the sun came out when I was on the left bank; the light wasn't ideal. It was also pretty busy, with tourists and photographers coming and going, especially compared with sunrise, when I'd been the only person there!

The following day I checked the website for the Vatnsnes Peninsula, which I was visiting to see the Hvitserkur stack. I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing any sights and was very glad I did - I discovered a very pretty waterfall called Kolufossar. A gravel road just past Blonduos brought me to the wonderful falls, which may possibly be my favourite in Iceland now. A couple of couples came and went while I was there, but otherwise I was alone, the odd tractor driving past in the distance. The sun shone brightly, hidden intermittently by passing clouds. With more time I would like to have explored the canyon downstream, but I had to get to Hvitserkur in time for sunset.

Last but not least on my waterfall trail was the much-photographed Kirkjufoss, with the Kirkjufell mountain behind, just outside of Grundarfjorður. I had planned on visiting Hraunfossar and Barnafoss, a little inland near Husafell, but didn't end up having the time or energy for the detour. I'd visited Kirkjufoss back in March 2012, when there was still a fair amount of snow on the ground, limiting where I could explore, but the waterfall itself had been flowing freely. I had also been the only photographer there on that occasion. This time I arrived during the golden hour and not surprisingly, wasn't the only one. There were between 8 and 12 photographers at any one time, most of whom huddled with their tripods leg-to-leg above the higher of the falls. I actually prefer the lower falls, so that worked well, as I headed a little way down the hill and enjoyed the sunset over the pointy peak from there, without having to jostle for tripod-space! Of course I did take a couple of the top falls too, but tried out a few different angles.

Rather fortuitously it was clear in the evening and some unexpected northern lights came out to play, so I returned to the hillside to see the falls under aurora light, with a little help from my torch to brighten the water.

I did miss the waterfalls of the south - Seljalandfoss, Skogafoss, Gulfoss, Svartifoss and the lesser-known Urriðafoss, but I'm sure I'll be back to visit them on future trips. I must also revisit the wonderful Litlanesfoss and make it up to Hengifoss in the east one of these days. I'm sure there must be dozens of other beautiful falls that I've yet to discover.

Please have a look at my Iceland Sept 2014 gallery for more photos from this trip.

For queries on licensing/usage, please contact me on sophiecarrphotography@hotmail.co.uk

A Wander Through Columbia Road Flower Market

Having lived in SW London for two decades I always feel a little out of place in East London. Occasionally I venture there but still feel like a fish out of water. It's become busier over the years, if not bustling, and is now full of vintage clothes shops, quirky independent coffee shops and cool bars. Market stalls line various different streets on different days of the week.

One of those, which I heard about a few years ago but had never visited until this weekend, is Columbia Road flower market. A small stretch of the road between Hoxton and Bethnal Green comes alive with dozens of flower stalls each Sunday. It's not the easiest place to reach on first glance, with no tube stations that close, but there are plenty of options whichever direction you're coming from. Hoxton Overground station is a few minutes away, but the Overground often closed at weekends (so check before you set out!). I walked up from Aldgate East (easy District Line journey from Parsons Green for me), up Brick Lane and through Shoreditch (lots to see along the way). It's not too far from Old Street tube station either, on the Northern Line (City branch).

By 10.30am the place was already buzzing, stall owners shouting about their wares (everything is pretty much a fiver), and giving a little jokey spiel to get you to buy from them ("so cheap you can even afford to buy them for people you don't like!" said one, with huge bunches of yellow flowers in each hand). Nearby cute little independent boutique shops entice in the locals and tourists that arrive in their hoards on a Sunday morning. The older, traditional eastenders rub shoulders with the young hipster types that now frequent the whole of east London, with families and photographers everywhere too. Stripey t-shirts abound.

 

 

 

 

It's a great place for a wander, a people-watch, or to buy flowers, of course. I couldn't visit a place like this and come away empty-handed, so I bought 3 little lavender plants for my window box for £6 (£5 only gets you two!) from the man who promised they were so cheap I could buy them for my enemies - his line was the best of the lot, I thought.

More of my photos can be seen on my website and more information about the street can be found on the Columbia Road website.

Rome in Black & White

I recently visited Rome, in the height of summer, on a weekend break with one of my sisters are her seven-year-old son. It certainly wasn't the most ideal time or conditions for capturing Rome from a photographic point of view, but I made the most of it, combining sight-seeing and spending time with family with the odd snap or two.

I first visited Rome in November 2010 and it was grey, cold and wet and I didn't like the place all that much, perhaps as a result of the weather, or perhaps just because I couldn't make sense of the mish-mash of ancient, old and new all cobbled together haphazardly. This time I at least knew what to expect the city to look like, and the skies were clear and blue, although this was accompanied by temperatures soaring far higher than I feel comfortable with (at least 32° C). The apartment we stayed in had no air-conditioning, just an ineffectual fan, so I was forced to sleep, ear-plug-less, with the windows wide open onto a noisy square (screaming children and yappy dogs at 1am not appreciated!). As a result of the excessive heat, dreadful nights' sleep and unnecessarily unfriendly waiters, I still didn't come away loving the place.

In spite of that, the architecture, cultural wealth and the history are undeniably impressive. I'd warned my sister that my nephew probably wouldn't be interested in much of the cultural side, the but she was keen to see the Sistine Chapel, so we gave the Vatican Museum a go anyway. I'd paid the €4 per ticket to book online, avoiding the long queue to get in along the City wall outside, but inside the queue continued - right to the Chapel. It was absolutely rammed and the journey past endless riches through the painted corridors to the prized chapel took over 45 minutes, shuffling along with the other tourists, everybody snapping away. It was so packed and hot that it was hard to appreciate the immense treasures we were passing by.  It was less crowded on the return journey, but by that time the seven-year-old was definitely over it (we were too, actually), and so we walked swiftly to the exit (via the wonderful iconic spiral staircase, below (and gift-shop, of course)) and headed off in search of spaghetti bolognese. I took a few shots inside (not in the Sistine Chapel, of course, as it is forbidden there), but in spite of the 5DIII's great low light capabilities they still didn't come out brilliantly.

Over the weekend we took metro trains, buses and a tram and visited many of the usual sights - the Piazza San Pietro in the Vatican City (I'm obsessed with those magnificent pillars!), the Colisseum (also worth the €2 a ticket online booking fee to avoid the queues) and nearby Palatine Hill, had a good wander past some other sights (the Trevi Fountain - currently under wraps, the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon, the imposing Altare della Patria, Castel Sant'Angelo) and took an open-top bus tour to see a bit more. We watched the supermoon rise over Ponte Sant'Angelo after the sun had set behind the Vatican City. We visited my favourite restaurant from my previous visit (Enoteca Cul de Sac) in hope of their delicious onion soup, only to find it isn't served in summer (the lasagne wasn't bad, instead).

Upon my return home I sifted through the hundreds of photos and began processing a few. One thing that had struck me while I was there was that we were often out in the middle of the day, with harsh overhead sun and deep blue skies (away from the sun, anyway), which would make for striking black and white images. With this in mind I'd tried to capture images that would make the most of this contrast as well as conveying the feeling of the blistering sun.

I've recently started using a programme called Perfect Effects 8 for my black and white processing, as it gives huge scope and control over the process which is somewhat basic in Photoshop Elements. I love playing around with the channels and contrast to find the right look, ensuring that the blue skies become dark (move the filter slider over to the red side), the highlights aren't blown out, textures remain strong, the mass of people stand out like little ants and the buildings pop out at you, while still looking real. I finished these images off with a fairly strong dark vignette to make the subject stand out even more. The occasional cirrus cloud lingering around adds a welcome contrast to the skies.

These images (and many more - including some colour ones!) can be seen (bigger) on my website and are available for purchase.