Black_amp_amp_White_Photography_-_January_2016_

65

B+W

PINVELLIR NATIONAL PARK, ICELAND

It was -10°C on a perfectly still day when I captured this image.

The foreground looked like it was covered in pure white candy floss!

Canon EOS 5D MKIII with 24-70mm zoom, 1/50sec at f/8, ISO 200

to be any – usually peaks between 10pm

and 2am so sometimes you just need to

watch, wait and hope for the best. It’s a fun

thing to do though. Everyone has their eyes

glued to the sky, hoping to see something.

The Aurora looks more vivid in a photograph

than it does to the eye, because the human

eye sees in monochrome at night, so weak

activity isn’t always clear. When there’s a

proper display, however, it’s like nothing

on Earth, with vivid green swirls dancing

and flashing across the sky. Colour is an

important part of this phenomenon, but

even as a black & white photographer you

can’t help but be moved and amazed by it.

The winter landscape is well suited to

black & white photography because it

tends to look monochromatic, especially

when covered in snow. I also love the way

that snow simplifies scenery. The land is

buried under a blanket of white with only

the boldest features standing out, such as

trees, fences and walls, and it’s possible to

shoot wonderful minimalist images. I find

a telezoom lens is the best choice as it

allows you to home in on specific aspects

of a scene, such as a fence arching over

the brow of a hill, skeletal trees in the

distance or a remote farmhouse dwarfed

by icy mountains.

One of my favourite locations is the

volcanic sand beach at Stokksnes, which

provides the foreground to views of the

magnificent mountain Vestrahorn. The sand

is black and features areas of gentle ripples

as well as low, undulating dunes. In winter,

when the sand is frozen or dusted with snow,

it makes wonderful monochrome foreground,

while Vestrahorn rises majestically from the

sea. I never tire of that place.

Iceland is renowned for its waterfalls, and

in winter they look even more awesome,

with thousands of giant icicles dangling

precariously from cliff faces, and sheets of

glassy ice created by the gradual freezing

of water flowing over rocks. Standing

beneath Skógafoss or Seljalandsfoss is a

humbling experience. You feel like you’ve

been teleported to a different world.

Actually, what am I talking about? You have

• Iceland in winter is a different world!
  I’ve got two trips planned for early
  2016, when I’ll be taking small groups of
  photography enthusiasts out to Iceland. As
  always, I can’t wait, and as far as I’m aware,
  none of them has been to Iceland in winter
  before – so seeing their faces light up when
  we head out on the first morning to explore
  an ice cave will be something else!

NEAR GEYSIR, ICELAND

The winter landscape in Iceland is totally

captivating – and it’s hard to drive for long before

another scene beckons you to stop and shoot.

Canon EOS 5D MKIII with 24-70mm zoom,

1/400sec at f/8, ISO 1600

‘Th e land is buried under a

blanket of white with only

the boldest features standing

out, such as trees, fences and

walls, and it’s possible to shoot

wonderful minimalist images.’

60-64_LEE_FROST_185 ER/MB.indd 6560-64_LEE_FROST_185 ER/MB.indd 65 02/12/2015 11:1502/12/2015 11:15