Author: Zapfly

Shot for the Day (29 November 2016)

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Strange shapes in the desert. Whilst crossing the Atacama desert in Bolivia, I passed through the Salar de Uyuni salt flats.  In the vastness of the white desert, strange shapes were cut into the floor.  Blocks of salt were extracted and left in the sun to dry before being removed and sold.  The remaining angular shapes were gradually filled with the water that lingered beneath the surface.

In the wet season, the floor of the salt flats becomes flooded and the looks like an impossibly huge mirror, making it hard to know which is heaven and earth.

Shot for the Day (4 November 2016)

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Low tide on Exmouth beach over the weekend.  The water was low enough to reveal this concrete jetty, covered in very green seaweed.  A long exposure blurred the sky and left the water a milky, glassy texture.  You can just make out a seagull at the end of the jetty.  It stood there almost motionless for the 260 second exposure.

Shot for the Day (1 November 2016)

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After waking up early for a dawn shoot, I was a little dejected by the lackluster weather.  However, using a Lee Filter Big Stopper to slow the scene down and generate movement in the clouds, whilst making the sea turn more glassy.

The delicate orange glow below the morning clouds, behind the pillar of land at Ladram Bay in Devon made for a rather haunting scene.

Shot for the Day (21 October 2016)

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The dawn of a new day in southern Patagonia.  This shot pf the Moreno Glacier was taken a few years back when I was working and travelling around South America.  I purchased a lovely Fuji GW690 that took no time at all to get the hang of, along with a huge bag of medium format, 120 roll film all around the continent.

This shot was taken a short while before the sun progressed over the mountainous horizon behind me, illuminating the whole Moreno Glacier in a glorious morning, amber light.  Definitely should be a place one’s bucket list to visit and watch sunrise.

Shot for the Day (12 October 2016)

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On my last trip to Peru, a few years ago, I was trekking in the Andes surrounding Cusco in the south central mountains of the country.  The area is awash with Inca ruins, including Machu Picchu.  I hired a motorbike for the day and drove around the city, hoping to find something interesting, when I stumbled across this place. I have no idea where it was but there were no tourists there, just a few llamas.

The shot below was taken on a trek around Huaraz, north from Lima in the Andes, close to Chimbote.  I was pretty high when I took this shot, around 4500m above sea level.  Both shots were taken on my Noblex 612 film camera.

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Shot for the Day (10 October 2016)

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London Eye at dawn

Early yesterday morning, I stood opposite the London Eye to watch the dawn of a new day in London.  The shot above is a panorama of four shots stitched together of the south side of the River Thames.  The image is almost 18k pixels in width.

The shot below was taken a few moments before that, as the first light of day broke behind the Wheel.  The maintenance team still had the red lights on the wheel switched on and the so too for the Marriott County Hall Hotel.

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Shot for the Day (2 October 2016)

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Sunset in Reykjavik

Last couple of shots from Iceland.  On the day I finally completed my circumnavigation of the island on my trusty cycle, I went for a wonder around the shoreline of Reykjavik.  I was treated to the most glorious light across the bay.  The yellow light house a beacon at twilight just as it was at night.

Prior to arriving in the capital, I had camped on the shoreline of Jökulsárlón.  This image was taken close to midnight.  As Iceland is just south of the Arctic Circle, it has little darkness in the summer.  However, even though it was meant to be the hottest time of the year, it was chilly, with temperatures still very much in single figures that evening.

Ice sculptures at midnight

Shot for the Day (27 September 2016)

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I have visited Iceland a few times.  This was from my most recent trip there, when I cycled round the island.  This was one of the rare days when it did not rain.  I was around 300km east of Reykjavik when I took this shot.  The wind was with me that day and I covered over 100 miles.

This next shot was a couple of days out of Egilsstaðir, close to Hoffell if I recall correctly.  Just a mile or two away from the road where I was cycling, was this the view I was treated to, of a glacier positioned on the edge of Vatnajökull National Park.

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Shot for the Day (22 September 2016)

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A few years ago, I was out in Iceland just before Christmas, in search of the aurora borealis.  Iceland sits just beneath the Arctic Circle but still enjoys some spectacular natural winter light shows.  However, on this occasion, I was not fortunate enough to see one.

Instead, I journeyed to Vatnajökull, the largest and most voluminous ice cap in Iceland in this pimped out LandRover. We were high on the glacier when I took this shot and in the midst of total whiteout.  Our driver recommended that we did not venture more than 5m from the truck else we might be lost forever in the Icelandic winter wilderness.  It was well below zero and short term exposure would be enough to cause anyone serious issues.

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The following day, I headed to the famous Blue Lagoon.  You can see the sun creeping over the mountain in the background.  It was close to midday when I took this shot to put the daylight hours in perspective.