Viti Crater and the Askja Volcano - Iceland

[Manfred M]

With Mike Buckley posting his fabulous images from his recent trip to Iceland, I thought I might post some of mine.

The one place that we really liked is the hard to access Vita explosion crater, that is part of the much larger Askja volcano. It can only be accessed a few months each summer, in the central highlands of Iceland. A 4x4 vehicle is mandatory on the roads leading to it. The picture was taken in early July, and the white patches are snow.

There is a small, warm, opaque blue, geothermal lake at the bottom. People do climb (slide?) down the walls of the crater to go for a swim, and many of the small dots seen in the water are the heads are the swimmers.

[Donald]

I think this is a very good composition. It really tells us, visually, all we need to know about the place (okay I wouldn't have known about the swimmers unless Manfred told us that). It makes the point about working to get the right shot of a scene and not just grabbing a shot when you first arrive at the location.

[Manfred M]

Thanks Donald

Yes, working the scene is something that a lot of people that are relatively new to photography don't seem to get.

I remember shooting somewhere when another photographer approached me to ask what I was doing. When I told him I was working the scene. I got a very puzzled look and when I explained, the response was something like "with the equipment you are shooting with, I would have thought you were a good photographer".

[FrankMi]

Thanks Donald

Yes, working the scene is something that a lot of people that are relatively new to photography don't seem to get.

I remember shooting somewhere when another photographer approached me to ask what I was doing. When I told him I was working the scene. I got a very puzzled look and when I explained, the response was something like "with the equipment you are shooting with, I would have thought you were a good photographer".

He would have really been confused and disappointed had he unknowingly ran into Ansel Adams in Yosemite!

[Mike Buckley]

That's one heck of a swimming hole! I'll be sure to show this to my wife so she can thank me for not trying to talk her into going there. I can see climbing back to the rim after taking a swim, but I sure don't see any safe way down. (Hikers know that most people get hurt going downhill, not uphill.)

I would prefer a composition that includes less of the sky because I think doing so emphasizes the lake.

By the way, my way to work a scene is to start capturing images as soon as I see anything worthwhile. I continue walking around finding different angles and hoping for better light and compositions. In the mean time, if the weather changes, which is especially possible in a place such as this scene, I at least have the initial captures that I've taken. This works for me when doing travel photography when the emphasis is primarily on the travel and secondarily on the photography. I would use a different process if the primary emphasis was photography.

[Mike Buckley]

My wife loves your image, Manfred. She couldn't believe that people are actually swimming in the lake.

She reminded me that we passed a 4x4 road that leads to the crater. We're not positive, but we think the image shown below was captured at that turnoff.