Urbanflyer in Norway and Iceland

Installment 7--Still in Norway--on a fjord

Dreary day
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1859/...f9c355b0_c.jpgScenes Along a Norwegian Fjord by urbanflyer, on Flickr

Boats along the Fjord
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1873/...ee7be341_c.jpgScenes Along a Norwegian Fjord by urbanflyer, on Flickr

Lots of waterfalls
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1883/...690bc7e1_c.jpgScenes Along a Norwegian Fjord by urbanflyer, on Flickr


Bike to Work
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1874/...f704ca7b_c.jpgVoss Church by urbanflyer, on Flickr

Nice series with contrasting approaches. I liked the bike shot but perhaps it's a wee bit flat? "Dreary Day" and "... Waterfalls" are too but it's OK there as it captures the mood.

Great series.

Re dreary day and lots of waterfalls: at my mediocre level of skill, I find images like this very hard to edit. Left as they are, theya re somewhat flat or drab, and the shadows are dark enough that detail is lost. However, I find it very hard to punch them up without losing the atmosphere.

I am completely swamped now and can't try an edit, but my suggestion would be to apply selective tonality adjustments to make them less flat. For example, I would lift the shadows in the view of the fjord. (I've been there, by the way. Norway in a Nutshell?). I'd try to boost contrast as well. I would do all of this using a luminosity blend mode because otherwise, you are likely to end up with something that looks oversaturated.

I'd play with this if I had time, but I just got a huge time-limited assignment, so I can't.

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Originally Posted by billtils

Nice series with contrasting approaches. I liked the bike shot but perhaps it's a wee bit flat? "Dreary Day" and "... Waterfalls" are too but it's OK there as it captures the mood.

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Thanks for your continued interest. Need to think about the comment on the bike shot. Have to figure what I would do differently. Glad for the spur to thinking!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DanK

Great series.

Re dreary day and lots of waterfalls: at my mediocre level of skill, I find images like this very hard to edit. Left as they are, theya re somewhat flat or drab, and the shadows are dark enough that detail is lost. However, I find it very hard to punch them up without losing the atmosphere.

I am completely swamped now and can't try an edit, but my suggestion would be to apply selective tonality adjustments to make them less flat. For example, I would lift the shadows in the view of the fjord. (I've been there, by the way. Norway in a Nutshell?). I'd try to boost contrast as well. I would do all of this using a luminosity blend mode because otherwise, you are likely to end up with something that looks oversaturated.

I'd play with this if I had time, but I just got a huge time-limited assignment, so I can't.

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Thanks for your comments. I need to do some thinking!

Installment 8: Finally moving to my Iceland shots. Most days were windy and grey and the shots reflect that. These are representative of what is on my Flickr feed so far. We did few of the usual tourist sites that are so dramatic but instead rented a camper and spent our time in the Highlands--

Gullfoss
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1870/...f0522204_c.jpgGudfass by urbanflyer, on Flickr

The wind in Iceland
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1847/...24156fb4_c.jpgWindy by urbanflyer, on Flickr

Interior Landscape
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1889/...ca73100c_c.jpgIceland Landscape by urbanflyer, on Flickr

I was looking forward to these for a somewhat selfish reason Judith - there are just so many glorious shots of Iceland in the winter (and some TV series too) that I wondered what it would look like in Summer. The answer seems to be "not so dramatic, but nice".

The "Wind in Iceland" is effective, creative and different - like it a lot. Nothing wrong with the others but they don't grab the attention nearly as much as some of your earlier shots.

A host of nice images but I really like this last set, "Bricked In" and "The Wind In Iceland" in particular. There are not many ways that you can illustrate wind, but you have caught it there. Well seen and well photographed.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by billtils

I was looking forward to these for a somewhat selfish reason Judith - there are just so many glorious shots of Iceland in the winter (and some TV series too) that I wondered what it would look like in Summer. The answer seems to be "not so dramatic, but nice".

The "Wind in Iceland" is effective, creative and different - like it a lot. Nothing wrong with the others but they don't grab the attention nearly as much as some of your earlier shots.

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More Iceland shots coming--I think in the summer (45 degrees F and windy) there is still a lot of beauty. There are standard spots for the dramatic shots but we chose not to go for those--instead wanted a dramatic adventure. The Highlands are pretty barren but beautiful in their own right. The NASA astronauts trained there for the moon landing. And the roads are a challenging drive which my husband enjoys.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by John 2

A host of nice images but I really like this last set, "Bricked In" and "The Wind In Iceland" in particular. There are not many ways that you can illustrate wind, but you have caught it there. Well seen and well photographed.

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Thanks! Wind was a big part of our experience!

Judith,

A very nice series.

I finally had a few minutes to do a very quick edit of Dreary Day--not a polished job, but enough to show what I was getting at. I'll post it below. Here's what I did in photoshop:

1. I started by lightening the shadows with the image_adjustment_shadows/highlights tool. I also added a tiny bit of midtown contrast and increased color to bring out the green. I used a normal blend mode for this.

2. I slightly increased contrast for the whole image using a curve, with luminosity blend mode.

3. Finally, I selected the sky and used a levels adjustment and a curve to bring up contrast there. I used a normal blend mode.

Not a wonderful edit, but it shows ways of bringing out detail and increasing pop without losing the mood of the cloudy day.

As I wrote earlier, I find this kind of edit difficult, but perhaps this is good enough to be instructive.

Dan

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-.../i-46g4r4T.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DanK

Judith,

A very nice series.

I finally had a few minutes to do a very quick edit of Dreary Day--not a polished job, but enough to show what I was getting at. I'll post it below. Here's what I did in photoshop:

1. I started by lightening the shadows with the image_adjustment_shadows/highlights tool. I also added a tiny bit of midtown contrast and increased color to bring out the green. I used a normal blend mode for this.

2. I slightly increased contrast for the whole image using a curve, with luminosity blend mode.

3. Finally, I selected the sky and used a levels adjustment and a curve to bring up contrast there. I used a normal blend mode.

Not a wonderful edit, but it shows ways of bringing out detail and increasing pop without losing the mood of the cloudy day.

As I wrote earlier, I find this kind of edit difficult, but perhaps this is good enough to be instructive.

Dan

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-.../i-46g4r4T.jpg

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Thanks! This helps me see what you were thinking!

Installment 9--Near the 35 in Iceland


River Crossing--although the sky is blown--this is typical of the adventure travel that thrills my husband--Just how deep is it in the middle? Should we wait for someone else to cross first (sometimes that answer is a resounding YES from me! This one was easy! Probably less so in spring or fall.
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1897/...bc96612f_c.jpgOne More River to Cross by urbanflyer, on Flickr

Cotton Grass
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1863/...df5188ea_c.jpgCotton Grass by urbanflyer, on Flickr


Cotton Grass follows the swales
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1871/...c8645edd_c.jpgRiver of Cotton Grass by urbanflyer, on Flickr

Final Installment: Thanks for viewing and comments!

Highlands Blue
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1856/...64c7ce34_c.jpgIceland Highlands and glacier by urbanflyer, on Flickr

Lake Myvatin
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1891/...859fc071_c.jpgLake Myvatin by urbanflyer, on Flickr

Icelandic Roadblock
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1863/...76dc7157_c.jpgIcelandic Roadblock by urbanflyer, on Flickr

Haverfjall
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1831/...8bfb85a8_c.jpgHverfjall--Iceland by urbanflyer, on Flickr

And my favorite friends
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1889/...6cda89de_c.jpgGrazing in Iceland by urbanflyer, on Flickr

Final instalment - it is always sad when a holiday comes to the end, especially when you have seen sights as impressive as these.

These final images are very nicely composed and provide an excellent overview of some of the various landscape features found in Iceland.

Thanks for the journey Judith. The narratives and images gave us an excellent account.

Judith - your images definitely bring back memories of our two trips to Iceland. These were, unfortunately, taken before I really got back into photography, so my image making nor my camera equipment (on the first trip) particularly suited to the shots I would make now.

I see that the weather is typically Icelandic; a lot of overcast days with a bit of blue sky popping in every other day or two. I recognize a number of the sites that you have visited. We visited just the south coast on our first trip but rented a 4x4 to visit the interior highlands on our second visit. I'm not sure if Lake Oskuvatn and Viti crater are on your agenda, but they were definitely the highlight of our second trip to Iceland. Dettifoss was probably our greatest disappointment...

Your comment about doing your first river crossing. 100% bang on!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Manfred M

Judith - your images definitely bring back memories of our two trips to Iceland. These were, unfortunately, taken before I really got back into photography, so my image making nor my camera equipment (on the first trip) particularly suited to the shots I would make now.

I see that the weather is typically Icelandic; a lot of overcast days with a bit of blue sky popping in every other day or two. I recognize a number of the sites that you have visited. We visited just the south coast on our first trip but rented a 4x4 to visit the interior highlands on our second visit. I'm not sure if Lake Oskuvatn and Viti crater are on your agenda, but they were definitely the highlight of our second trip to Iceland. Dettifoss was probably our greatest disappointment...

Your comment about doing your first river crossing. 100% bang on!

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Thanks for your memories too. This is the first time I have shared our travels extensively on CiC and was glad they were enjoyed by some.