Have you met Michael Horan? He’s a KelbyOne member who’s into travel, landscape, and fine arts photography. This is his Ice and Stone image—click the link to view it in all its glory at full-size.
1.) What can you tell us about this photo?
I called this image Ice and Stone. It was taken in Iceland in the dead of winter. More specifically on the channel that leads from the famous iceberg lagoon of Jökulsárlón to the sea. The ice in the lagoon floats out to sea here and the is driven back on to the beach by the wave action. Literally thousands of ice fragments form these captivating ice sculptures that either rest on black sand or small black rocks.
If you shoot on the beach you have the excitement of waves crashing and spraying over the ice. This is a little less exciting though when, after five to ten minutes of waves rising up around your ankles (totally protected by knee high waterproof boots), a rogue wave catches you unawares and comes up to mid thigh. Then you have to finish your shoot with the cold North Atlantic sloshing around in your previously warm, dry, waterproof boots. At least it didn’t get my camera. It’s also good to keep an eye on large pieces of ice, I’m talking couch size here, that are resting solidly on the sand next to you. Until, that is, the aforementioned rogue wave comes and you now realize the couch sized piece of ice is floating next to you. When the wave recedes and the large ice firmly settles down again, you want to make sure that none of your parts are between it and the sand.
For the image Ice and Stone, being on the channel made for a smaller, more predictable flow and ebb of the water. The slow shutter speed gives the water a fog like appearance as it passes around the rocks on the beach. I was drawn to make this image because I liked how the field of rocks and the pebbling on the ice interact. Also, January in Iceland has great light for landscapes. The days are only five hours long with lots of time when the sun is near the horizon.
2.) What gear/software did you use to create this image?
I made this photo with a Canon 5D MarkIII. I used a EF24-105 F4 lens set at 95mm. The camera was set to 2.5 seconds at f/22, ISO 100. My go to software is Lightroom and Photoshop although I finished this photo only using Lightroom.
3.) What do you like to photograph?
My favorite field of photograph is travel photography. Its a great blend of landscapes/cityscapes and people.
4.) What made you decide to become a member?
I feel like I’ve been a member of Kelbyone for about ten years (back to NAPP times). I became a member after my wife bought one of Scott’s digital photography books as a present for a friend. When I first picked it up I thought it looked like a book for a beginner but I was amazed at how much info that I didn’t know was packed into it. Now Kelbyone has grown with so many excellent courses it’s hard to keep up.
To view more of his work, check out his portfolio and his 500px page.
