Jonny Fay
Ice Cave in Vatnajökull Glacier
This was without a doubt the best day of our trip. We went out with Einar and his son from Öræfaferðir / Local Guide Travel Service. They were both amazing, and we would highly recommend their services! Please feel free to check out the link below for more information.
For our fourth and final stop, we hiked about 5 minutes to another ice cave on Vatnajökull Glacier. This one was small in terms of corridors, as there was only one real section, but it was a massive cavern with a chocolate colored stream running through it.
This shot was taken near the entrance to the cave. I really liked how the sun lit up these ice formations, they almost appeared to be glowing. You can also see water dripping from the cave slowly melting all along the entrance arch way.
This shot had a very high amount of dynamic range, looking straight at the sun and still trying to capture the shadows and vibrancy of the scene. This required 7-stops of bracketing to properly capture the dynamic range I was able to see with my eyes.
Being in these caves was unlike anything we've ever experienced. They were well insulated so it wasn't extremely cold, but the textures and formations were completely otherworldly. The ice will often take on a rich, deep blue color in these caves. However, we were told that because it was a bright and sunny day, that blue became more of the aqua/teal type color you see here.
Interestingly, due to the constant changing of the glaciers and temperature changes, these ice caves are rarely ever around for more than a couple of weeks at a time. You can go back every year and have a completely different experience every time. We were told that the ice caves we enjoyed, for example, were gone within a week of our visit. This cave in particular, had partially collapsed the day before we entered it, so we only got to see about 2/3 of the cave they had intended on showing us.
Nikon D800
14-24mm f/2.8 Lens
7-Exposure HDR bracketed at 1-stop, on a Gitzo Tripod with a remote trigger release, blended in Photomatix
Ice Cave in Vatnajökull Glacier
This was without a doubt the best day of our trip. We went out with Einar and his son from Öræfaferðir / Local Guide Travel Service. They were both amazing, and we would highly recommend their services! Please feel free to check out the link below for more information.
For our fourth and final stop, we hiked about 5 minutes to another ice cave on Vatnajökull Glacier. This one was small in terms of corridors, as there was only one real section, but it was a massive cavern with a chocolate colored stream running through it.
This shot was taken near the entrance to the cave. I really liked how the sun lit up these ice formations, they almost appeared to be glowing. You can also see water dripping from the cave slowly melting all along the entrance arch way.
This shot had a very high amount of dynamic range, looking straight at the sun and still trying to capture the shadows and vibrancy of the scene. This required 7-stops of bracketing to properly capture the dynamic range I was able to see with my eyes.
Being in these caves was unlike anything we've ever experienced. They were well insulated so it wasn't extremely cold, but the textures and formations were completely otherworldly. The ice will often take on a rich, deep blue color in these caves. However, we were told that because it was a bright and sunny day, that blue became more of the aqua/teal type color you see here.
Interestingly, due to the constant changing of the glaciers and temperature changes, these ice caves are rarely ever around for more than a couple of weeks at a time. You can go back every year and have a completely different experience every time. We were told that the ice caves we enjoyed, for example, were gone within a week of our visit. This cave in particular, had partially collapsed the day before we entered it, so we only got to see about 2/3 of the cave they had intended on showing us.
Nikon D800
14-24mm f/2.8 Lens
7-Exposure HDR bracketed at 1-stop, on a Gitzo Tripod with a remote trigger release, blended in Photomatix