And another one! Whow! What's happening, that's three in a row! That's unusual. But it's hard not too - I got so many awesome shots that day, of so many incredible sceneries. The weather was amazingly good for that time of the year, and the light was just unreal. None of these photos so far have had any processing worth mentioning. This is one of relatively few "white" beaches in Iceland, usually we have dark & harsh sand & pebbles in our beaches, not exactly welcoming for cold-fearing humans.

Today I'm unusually proud to be an Icelander. Today I voted the most important vote in my life so far. A vote that might have an actual impact on the whole world when all is done and counted. (For those who don't know what I'm talking about, click here). I'm not going to start yapping about what I voted or why, but the fact that I got to vote for the third time in such a complicated, domestic & international dispute is invaluable. I can only hope more countries will get more chances like this in the future, to take control of their own destiny.

Tags:   icelandic iceland beach strönd white bright black rocks mountains snowy mountain blue sky clouds puffy straws winter ocean sjór vetur snæfellsnes snaefellsnes Canon EOS 5D Mark II Distagon T* 2,8/21 Distagon 21/2.8 ZE ZE Zeiss Distagon 21mm Búðir

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Another one of my no-processing experiments. Taken with the unreal Zeiss Distagon T* 2,8/21, wide open at f/2.8. I don't use this lens enough, it's too good and I feel like cheating while using it, everything is so unbelievably contrasty, sharp and with great depth. I dare you to view the larger version of this one!

Tags:   ocean beach iceland ísland icelandic grass straws rocks rocky storm weather Canon EOS 5D Mark II Distagon T* 2,8/21 Distagon 21/2.8 ZE Zeiss Distagon 21mm

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From a trip I did 12th of december with a few friends. This was the second time I've actually used Lee's Big Stopper. (Here's the first). I took the picture in honour of my friend Ottó, who you see standing in the photo, amazingly, almost perfectly still for 30 seconds. He's known as Mr. Lee in our midst, mainly because he uses filters almost exclusively, but it's okay because he does it well. Taken at f/2.8@400 ISO for 30 seconds, which is pretty silly for a daytime landscape photo - but since I had Lee's Big Stopper (10stop ND) I was in no mood for a 16 minute exposure at that time because of cold weather after a long day of shooting.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Zeiss Distagon T* 2,8/21 @ 2.8, Lee Big Stopper + 0.9 Hard Grad

Tags:   beach iceland strönd rocks pebbles stones ocean sjór long exposure ND 10stop 10 stop 3.0 Lee Big Stopper Lee's Big Stopper Selatangar Canon EOS 5D Mark II Distagon T* 2,8/21 Zeiss ZE Distagon Distagon 21/2.8 ZE ZEISSContest2011

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I've passed through this photo on numerous occasions while browsing through my photo database, not even pausing for a second. Tonight though I suddenly found it compelling, probably because of it's simplicity. The auroras aren't particularly interesting, the foreground is borderline missing, and nothing special anywhere to be seen, but as a whole, something's starting to appear. At least to my eyes. What about yours? This is the view from my office, the city lights in the background is the town Akranes. When it's super low-tide I can walk to this little island called Grandahólmi, and when it's high tide it gets completely submerged. I hope you'll forgive me for uploading old pictures, work and utterly boring weather has been keeping me seperated from my gear. It's been windy and cold for several weeks now. I don't mind the cold, I don't mind the rain, as long there's no WIND. God I hate WIND. Except for too hot summer days, then I can live with WIND.

As >michael was good to point out, this picture doesn't really work until you view it a bit larger :) You can press L on the keyboard or mouse-click on the photo.

Tags:   aurora borealis northern lights iceland ísland reykjavík ocean akranes grandahólmi Canon EOS 5D Mark II Distagon T* 2,8/21 Zeiss ZE Distagon Distagon 21/2.8 ZE

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Some people that know me will probably laugh out loud now. I've been known for some anti-filter-propaganda lately - yet I couldn't resist purchasing the Lee Big Stopper (10stop ND filter) last fall, primarily to irritate my good friend Ottó, who had been on top of the Big Stopper waiting list at our local pro-shop for months. The Big Stopper had been unavailable most over the world for some time, and I stumpled upon mine in Toronto, where I guess the 10-stop filter-fad hadn't caught on yet. (Am I wrong?). It's been 4 months now and this is probably the first time I've really used it! (0.9 Hard Grad got to join the party). I usually prefer blending two or more exposures, but filters work too - with less work but more problems. Vignetting, dark objects on the horizon, more glass reduces contrast/sharpness etc.

Tags:   beach sörlaskjól fjara rocks icy snow frost frosty cool cold sunset iceland ísland pebbles ocean long exposure nd Lee Big Stopper Big Stopper Canon EOS 5D Mark II Distagon T* 2,8/21 Distagon 21/2.8 ZE Zeiss Landscape ZE Distagon Lee Filters Lee Filter System YAPFOMA frozen blue

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