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The Land of Sagas
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The Land of Sagas

by Basil Greber

Gallery: LandscapePosted February 17, 2016574 views13 comments
Taken in northern Iceland while taking a break during a longer drive. Looking at the sharp peaks and the clouds, I was hoping that something like this would happen, but I still got lucky that I didn't have to wait for too long. During my wait, I also read an information panel explaining that building a high-voltage power line through these mountains was planned, but that these plans were met with criticisms from the locals. Looking at this picture, I somewhat understand why.

Thanks for looking & please let me know what you think!
 

Comments

13 comments
Comment posted by Mark Metternich on February 17, 2016 at 9:07 PM
Just the kind of image I am really attracted to these days.  Nice job here. 
Registered on June 19, 2009, 276 Posts, 6240 Comments
Comment posted by Elizabeth Holbrook on February 17, 2016 at 9:27 PM
Beautiful image.  Since I can't be there, thank you for sharing.  Love the view.
Registered on May 6, 2015, 43 Posts, 221 Comments
Comment posted by Lon Overacker on February 18, 2016 at 12:40 AM
Basil,

An amazing image that has some timeless quality to it, like it was a slide from the 1950's.  Especially with the normal view (which appears much darker...) has some natural vignetting, enhanced by the shadows in the corners and beams of light.

I'm not sure if it's simply from the clouds and atmosphere, but this comes across as a tad soft; but that's not necessarily a bad thing in these conditions. There's a terrific mood created.

If it were mine, I would see if I couldn't enhance those beams of light. I think there is great potential for some tweaking.  I also am noticing some banding in the sky, I guess from jpg compression?

What a terrific moment you've captured!

Lon
Registered on November 24, 2006, 521 Posts, 19147 Comments
Comment posted by Basil Greber on February 18, 2016 at 3:39 AM
Thank you all for commenting!

Lon - yes, the banding is from compression. It's not present in my original file. It's really ugly - it seems that the kind of yellow-to-blue treatment I applied here is particularly prone to this. That's unfortunate, but difficult to change, I guess.

I'll check on your suggestions regarding enhancing the beams. I agree about the soft appearance, but checking in the full size image, it's in fact really sharp. What may lead to perceived softness are the soft beams, and some light effects around the mountain ridges. Best seen on the left edge of the needle - but these were really there, so I chose not to fumble with them.
 
Registered on November 8, 2005, 219 Posts, 1340 Comments
Comment posted by Aaron Feinberg on February 18, 2016 at 5:14 AM
Nice catch!
Registered on October 26, 2009, 399 Posts, 2789 Comments
Comment posted by Dave Dillemuth on February 18, 2016 at 11:16 AM
This is spectacular. Lot's of drama. Great capture. 
Registered on December 10, 2015, 104 Posts, 1112 Comments
Comment posted by Roel Wijtmans on February 18, 2016 at 12:18 PM
Wow, power lines would have ruined this view massively.... What were they thinking, right?!? While usually not being a fan of vignetting I think it works very nicely here, although I would make it a bit less intense. The peaks and the light are stunning!
Registered on September 30, 2012, 116 Posts, 2257 Comments
Comment posted by Kah Kit Yoong on February 18, 2016 at 7:04 PM
Loving the ethereal mood here contrasting with the jagged peaks. The softness works to give a dreamy quality but I'm interested in how cranking up that clarity slider might effect the image.
Registered on September 27, 2006, 636 Posts, 10682 Comments
Comment posted by Basil Greber on February 19, 2016 at 12:19 AM
More clarity. :) I thought it would be too much, but in fact, I quite like the result. Thanks for the suggestion! Downside of it is that you now see even the tiniest dust speck on the sensor... :)
Registered on November 8, 2005, 219 Posts, 1340 Comments
Comment posted by Peter Richter on February 19, 2016 at 1:09 PM
Your second version works wonderfully for me - I enjoy the touch of warming light in this majestic scene.

Peter
Registered on November 10, 2010, 218 Posts, 2723 Comments
Comment posted by Preston Birdwell on February 20, 2016 at 2:58 PM
Basil, the repost looks like the ticket. I like the more open light. It's certainly a dramatic place!

--P
Registered on November 1, 2003, 471 Posts, 5188 Comments
Comment posted by John Williams on February 21, 2016 at 12:37 PM
Love the drama Basil. I'd suggest opening up the darkness of the finger and the ridge on the right where they meet the sky; they almost have a graduated neutral density effect.
Registered on September 6, 2007, 221 Posts, 5985 Comments
Comment posted by Lucy Aron on December 23, 2016 at 10:41 AM
Excellent composition and shades of greyscale.  The touch of light seemingly moving through the mountains lovely.
Registered on February 25, 2011, 189 Posts, 1160 Comments