Post by Harold on Apr 23, 2006 8:02:48 GMT -2
After being scared off last year, or was it the year before, by the horrendous cost we are going to Iceland this year. Living within your means is such a bore!
To be honest, I was more easily disuaded than I might have been last time, as I had yet not dared to purchase the X-Pan which I now own (with 45mm & 90mm lenses). (My doubts about my Horizon 202 were proven right by the mediocre results for the 2005 Rhine Cruise, although it has its uses).
There are certain mental images one has of Iceland. These include vehicles fording rivers and night-time glows from hot larva. As for the former, we are foregoing the wildest route across the interior, where some 20 rivers, all of unreliable depth, need to be crossed without the support of bridges, and you may not see other vehicles for days. Regarding the latter, this would probably bring about blind panic, depending on the circumstances!
Due to the cost and distance, return visits to get better lighting, etc. are just not realistic. (A book of images of Iceland I recently purchsed took many years to complete). Thus, I may have to make the best of circumstances even more than usual, photographically speaking.
We are going in the period of best annual weather but dull days are hardly unknown. So the accumulation of graduated filters I have acquired will be called upon. They are mostly Hitech 100 (similar to Lee), with some of the better Cokin ones. The biggest problem is attachment, not easy with Tamron lenses/hoods.
Space, (more relevantly, weight) will be at a premium so I will have to be very selective. Some neutral grads of different strengths and one or two to put colour in dull skies (something I normally prefer not to do) will be about the limit.
I have taken control, over photographic stops, into my own hands by opting for a fly-drive and stopping at a series of hotels and farmhouses around the island. A four-wheel drive vehicle will give confidence in the remoter parts but I felt that a Land-Cruiser (at an extra £400 or so) was not justified. A notebook with a pre-written schedule will ensure we don't miss any of the locations and check on our progress on the ground. What could go wrong?
Optics will cover from macro to telephoto and from standard to ultra-wide and panoramic. I may be using Konica-Minolta 100 ISO reversal film, which I bought direct at a bargain price.
Harold
To be honest, I was more easily disuaded than I might have been last time, as I had yet not dared to purchase the X-Pan which I now own (with 45mm & 90mm lenses). (My doubts about my Horizon 202 were proven right by the mediocre results for the 2005 Rhine Cruise, although it has its uses).
There are certain mental images one has of Iceland. These include vehicles fording rivers and night-time glows from hot larva. As for the former, we are foregoing the wildest route across the interior, where some 20 rivers, all of unreliable depth, need to be crossed without the support of bridges, and you may not see other vehicles for days. Regarding the latter, this would probably bring about blind panic, depending on the circumstances!
Due to the cost and distance, return visits to get better lighting, etc. are just not realistic. (A book of images of Iceland I recently purchsed took many years to complete). Thus, I may have to make the best of circumstances even more than usual, photographically speaking.
We are going in the period of best annual weather but dull days are hardly unknown. So the accumulation of graduated filters I have acquired will be called upon. They are mostly Hitech 100 (similar to Lee), with some of the better Cokin ones. The biggest problem is attachment, not easy with Tamron lenses/hoods.
Space, (more relevantly, weight) will be at a premium so I will have to be very selective. Some neutral grads of different strengths and one or two to put colour in dull skies (something I normally prefer not to do) will be about the limit.
I have taken control, over photographic stops, into my own hands by opting for a fly-drive and stopping at a series of hotels and farmhouses around the island. A four-wheel drive vehicle will give confidence in the remoter parts but I felt that a Land-Cruiser (at an extra £400 or so) was not justified. A notebook with a pre-written schedule will ensure we don't miss any of the locations and check on our progress on the ground. What could go wrong?
Optics will cover from macro to telephoto and from standard to ultra-wide and panoramic. I may be using Konica-Minolta 100 ISO reversal film, which I bought direct at a bargain price.
Harold
