View allAll Photos Tagged BasaltColumns
I think I may have a new favourite place in Iceland! I spent Wednesday on Djúpalónssandur beach - I was totally blown away by the geology. I particularly loved the way pebbles were wedged neatly into the cracks of these weathered basalt column tops.
Gatklettur ("Hellnar Arch") is a famous, naturally formed stone arch found between the villages of Arnarstapi and Hellnar on the Snæfellsnes Peninsula.
Aldeyjarfoss is a 20 m high waterfall in Bárðardalur District of northern Iceland at the northern part of the Sprengisandur highland road. The 178 km semi-glacial Skjálfandafljót river which cuts through the 8000 year old Bárðardalur lava field from the Trölladyngia crater near Vatnajökull glacier plummets over a cliff into a beautiful lagoon to form the waterfall. On either side of the the waterfal are rows of symmetrical hexagonal basalt columns.
A surreal reflection of Reykjavik's landmark church 'Hallgrimskirkja" in a circular sculpture made of polished metal. The exterior design of the church is reminiscent of hexagonal basalt columns often found on Iceland's coast.
Basalt columns stand like a fortress on the black sand beach at Vik. These columns form when basaltic lava is cooled rapidly, and as the lava solidifies, vertical cracks are formed by the stress of the rock’s cooling and contracting. The growth of the fractures, or joints, are perpendicular to the surface of the flow, and as they continue to grow, they form a closely-spaced regular array of columns or polygonal prisms. This process is called columnar jointing. The individual prisms can have 3 to 8 sides. Examples of this can be scene all over Iceland. In the U.S. The Devils Postpile in Mammoth California has a great example of this also. You could easily spend an hour just photographing these rocks ... I did. Vik, Iceland, April 2021
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- Mike May.
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Elowah Falls, also called McCord Creek Falls, is a 213-foot waterfall on the Columbia River Gorge, Multnomah County, Oregon. The waterfall is formed as McCord Creek is forced into a narrow channel by sheer cliffs and shoots at high velocity into a natural amphitheater of layered basalt. Lichens and mosses are very common, covering up to eighty percent of the ground surface under and around the vascular plants (source: Wikipedia).
This was another waterfall which I had on my list when we visited Oregon the first time. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, we were not able to make the trip but this time we marked it as a must have and it was totally worth it. Plus we also got the falls all to ourselves as this is not as popular a hike as the waterfalls closer to Portland.
The Stuðlagil Canyon in the Jökuldalur valley in northeastern Iceland is one of the country's newer attractions. It was under water for a long time until the Kárahnjúkavirkjun hydropower plant was built and the water level in the Jökulsá á Dal glacier river was significantly reduced.
There are two options for the tour: from the west side (here you can drive almost to the viewpoint by car, but then it is not possible to descend to the bottom of the canyon) or from the east side (here you have to leave the car about five kilometers away from the canyon and take a longer hike. There is a descent to the bottom of the canyon). Since I had two hours drive to the canyon, I had not dared to hope to enjoy this place alone. But when I arrived, the parking lot was still empty. All the way to the canyon and in the canyon itself, I didn't meet a human soul (only on the west side were a few people up at the edge of the canyon). Only on the way back to the parking lot did I meet the first hikers, the parking lot itself was pretty full by now...
Very similar image to one I took in August 2020 on my first visit to the magical Stuðlagil basalt column canyon. I guess I'm drawn to the same compositions. I just love this angle, these colours, etc. The water was more green and less turquoise than on that occasion.
Magnficient Aldeyjarfoss with just a little dusting of snow.
When we were planning for trip to this waterfall, we were expecting lots of snow. However this November has been unexpectedly warm for North Iceland. Although the snow disappointed us, the waterfall did not.
It is an amazing waterfall to capture. Color of water is amazing and the pattern which it creates in the pool below looks really good too.
I walked down above the gorge below Gullfoss, away from the crowds, and the autumn colours were stunning.
Standing inside the Hálsanefshellir Cave at Reynisfjara, you really get a sense of how powerful the Atlantic is. The way the light hits the basalt columns creates this natural cathedral effect against the black sand beach. It’s a bit of a scramble to get the shot without a crowd, but the scale of these geometric rocks is just mind-blowing.
It took me 5 visits to find the right sunlight angle to showcase the face of the rosette.
The Rosette Rock is a radial array of basalt columns. It can be seen about 500 metres (1,600 ft) upstream (Jacksons Creek) of the Organ Pipes and is an overhanging rock on the northern bank of the stream. It is also an outcrop of basalt but with a radial array of columns akin to the spokes of a giant wheel. Its formation is attributed to the cooling of "a pocket of lava, probably in a spherical cave formed from an earlier lava flow".
This was taken on a Summer's morning. The radial array was sidelit and many shadows were cast upon it from the foliage of a tall gum tree close to it. A few attempts to photograph this formation had not been successful during previous autumn and winter visits.
The Organ Pipes National Park, abbreviated as OPNP, is a national park located in the Central region of Victoria, Australia. The 121-hectare (300-acre) protected area was established with the focus on conservation of the native flora and fauna, and preservation of the geological features in the Jacksons Creek, a part of the Maribyrnong valley, north-west of Melbourne. It is situated in a deep gorge in the grassy, basalt Keilor plains.
Back to another Iceland image. In the northeast of Iceland, we made a short detour to the rather remote Stuðlagil canyon which is famous for its basalt columns. After leaving the ring road, we continued on a gravel road for (if I remember correctly) approximately 45 minutes until we reached a crossroads at a farm house. We weren’t sure which way to go and read that only one side provides access into the canyon whilst the other one has only a viewing platform, with no way to descend to the river. So we stopped our car, did a quick Google search and read that one should not follow the sign that pointed straight ahead, but turn left and continue driving until one reaches a bridge in front of which there is a parking lot. So we turned left and were very happy when we finally arrived at the aforementioned parking lot. As we got out of our car, we knew we had to hike for quite a while to reach the canyon, and while we were talking and getting our bags, the guy from the car right next to us interrupted us and said: “Hi, sorry to bother you, but there is a parking lot down this gravel road which will save you around 1 1/2 hours of hiking!” We couldn’t quite believe that was true, because we seemed to remember that we had read that this road was privately owned and you were only allowed to hike there. Then this guy said: “No, there’s a big parking lot back there which many people - including us - didn’t know about.” So we thanked this guy, jumped back into our small 4x4 camper and drove down the almost single lane, very bumpy gravel road, passing many hikers on our way.
After this little adventurous drive, we started our hike and couldn’t wait to see this amazing canyon. After a 30-45 minute hike, we finally reached the first part of the canyon and immediately stopped to photograph the amazing basalt columns along with the turquoise water which I might also share at someday. After spending some time there, we walked a bit further and reached the most famous part of the canyon where you can get down to the river and climb up a small stack of basalt columns in the middle of the canyon. While I was amused watching people climbing up the latter and striking heroic poses or women putting on their bikinis and jumping into the turquoise river to take some Instagram-worthy pictures, I was looking for intimate compositions of the amazing basalt formations. There were many straight columns which are amazing by themselves due to their hexagonal cross section, but my attention was really drawn to this part because something had additionally twisted the lava during the cooling process. Having already packed up after the last shoot, I quickly got my camera back out and snapped a few different compositions, but as is often the case when time is short, the final composition you see here is cropped, actually a bit more than I would have liked. However, the cropping allowed me to remove all distractions and focus only on the diagonal, twisted columns which I really like.
Next, we decided to finally get down to the river, but this time luck was not on our side as it started raining pretty hard. We quickly put the rain covers over our bags and our rain pants on and decided to hike back to our camper van. This was actually the first time it had rained in a week, so I guess we couldn’t complain about the weather on our trip so far. Almost back at the parking lot, the rain stopped and the sun came out. Although we had seen this beautiful canyon, we really wanted to explore it further, but then decided to continue our trip as we had a tight schedule ahead of us. So we had some lunch and continued further north to visit the mighty Dettifoss from which I’ll surely also post an image, but until then I hope you like this one!
This waterfall is located in Skaftafell national park. It's close to the biggest glacier in Iceland; Vatnajökull.
It's beauti comes from the magnificent basalt columns which it falls from. Takes around an hour to hike to this location
When it seems like unbearable forces are weighing on the world. Vik, Iceland, April 2021
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This is zoomed in on the stacks at the end of the headland. On top of the headland there is a person which gives a sense of scale There is a walk along the top around the coast but none of us went on it. As you can see from the photo there are lots of basalt columns in the area.
A different view of Stuðlagil canyon taken on my trip in early August. What a place! A little long exposure definitely makes the water a little prettier, but I did have to clone out a few blurry moving people.
On Víkurfjara shore are beautiful basalt columns breaking the ocean waves near Vík village in South Iceland.
Hazy blue skies were waiting for me when I arrived at the Giant's Causeway, along with a huge line of tourists, so I knew photography would be challenging. I found a composition I liked, with no one in view looking out on the Atlantic. I couldn't do much about the weather, but I quite liked the muted tones with the bright green foreground.
Explored - 19/07/2016
Canon EOS 5D Mark III|16-35mm f4 L|Lee Landscape Polariser|Lee Grad Filters|Lee Little Stopper
I've been teaching Poppy photography, take a look at her Flickr.
I think that Abiqua Falls is still one of my favorite waterfalls in the Pacific Northwest. Slipping down the muddy banks holding on to fixed ropes and picking your way along the creek until you eventually see the falls' enormous amphitheater, with its perfect vertical basalt columns covered in lichen, is always an awesome experience.
When Mitch Carlson suggested we make a quick weekend trip, I quickly agreed. This time out I brought some waders, so I could get to the other side of the creek.
In all, Mitch and I spent about four hours shooting this falls, and I'm not even sure we spoke to each other for our first three hours there, we were so absorbed in hunting our compositions.
Thanks for the look!
Three people chat atop The Giant's Causeway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site on Northern Ireland's north coast. It was formed around 60 million years ago when molten lava cooled rapidly upon contact with the sea, creating about 40,000 distinctive hexagonal basalt columns.
One of the most dangerous beaches, famous for its sneaker waves and a monolith basalt rock column. A cold morning shot.
Hit "Z" for the best view.
The Giant's Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking, mostly hexagonal basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic fissure eruption during the Tertiary, some 50–60 million years ago. This site has been studied for 300 years and greatly influenced the beginnings of the discipline of geology.
It is located in County Antrim on the north coast of Northern Ireland, about three miles (4.8 km) northeast of the town of Bushmills.
A rockpool amongst the basalt columns of the Giant's Causeway. I was at the causeway in the mid afternoon, and was not prepared for how busy it was. I had no chance of making any clean, tourist free images of the greater landscape, so focussed on the small details instead.
Explored - 17/07/2016
Canon EOS 5D Mark III|16-35mm f4 L|Lee Landscape Polariser
I've been teaching Poppy photography, take a look at her Flickr.
The Giant's Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking, mostly hexagonal basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic fissure eruption during the Tertiary, some 50–60 million years ago. This site has been studied for 300 years and greatly influenced the beginnings of the discipline of geology.
It is located in County Antrim on the north coast of Northern Ireland, about three miles (4.8 km) northeast of the town of Bushmills.
Interlocking columns of columnar basalt tilt across the cliff at Giant’s Causeway on the Causeway Coast. The repeating “organ pipe” pattern and weathered rings show how a cooling lava flow fractured into near-hexagonal pillars amid the green coastal slope.
Up to this point there was a bus bringing tourists back and forth. There was a lot of people of all ages and many nationalities all over the area. We spent a very pleasant time wandering about.
I found it as amazing as I'd hoped .
Overlooking not only a spectacular waterfall, but it's also surrounded by basalt columns - my favourite combination. The sunshine helped too :)
BTW it's Aldeyjarfoss in north-eastern Iceland, reachable only by 4WD (I managed to hitch a ride!).
Midday sun at the west side of Reynisdrangar near Vík south Iceland.
Although I wanted to hike along the beach going under the cliffs on the left to shoot the pinnacles at close range I was quite happy with the results shooting them from a distance. The fairly rough see added interesting details on the basalt columns when the waves splashed against them. Combined with the soft light on the sea spray the scene became very interesting.
I seems that every winter the strong currents and rough sea washes away the beach leading towards the pinnacles. One day though I will get there even though I need to rappel the 200m cliff above them.
Shoot at around 200mm this is as narrow as my landscapes get.
The next step on from my British Gods figbarf (flic.kr/p/2dHee5k) of deities in the style of Mike Mignola illustrations.
L-R: Thor, Frigg, Freya, Grimnir, Loki