Category: Iceland

Paris, Venice, Iceland and an Arctic Fox…

Posted in France, Iceland, Italy, News and Updates, Travel Photography, Uncategorized, Workshops and Expeditions3 Comments

In a few days from now I am heading to Iceland for my 2012 Summer expedition. It has been well over a year since I was last in Iceland and I am very much looking forward to returning to its amazingly varied and ever changing landscape. Before I make my way to Iceland however, I am going to be spending some ‘quality time’ travelling through France and Italy with my better half. We will be spending a week in Paris, where I will be dragged kicking and screaming from landmark to landmark before we make our way (by car) through the French provincial countryside visiting some of the more famous wine regions on our way to the canals of Venice.

Now, I am normally not in the slightest bit interested in cities. I find them generally polluted, overcrowded and unpleasant places to be. I much prefer to be out in nature’s wilderness. However, I need to earn  a few brownie points and spend some time engaged in activities that my significant other finds appealing before I can escape to the wilds of Iceland. C’est la vie. Secretly, I am looking forward to some photography in the French countryside and around the canals of Venice (but don’t tell my wife!).

On arrival in Iceland I am going to spend a couple of days in Reyjkavic where I will meet up with my good friends Daniel, Martyn and Bruce before we make for the Snaefellsnes peninsula; which is an area of Iceland I have not yet visited. After spending a few days in the Snaefellsnes region we had been planning to head to Hornstrandir Nature reserve to photograph arctic foxes in the extreme northwestern part of Iceland (weather permitting). This is true expedition territory as no one lives there permanently  and it is quite easy to end up stranded there for days if the weather turns bad. At this stage the plan is to wait and see what the weather forecast is and to decide at the time if it is worth the risk. Since the region is so remote it is strictly camping only and all supplies must be carried with us. There is a ferry that travels to the area from Isafjordur and again weather permitting we were thinking of spending a day or two out at Latrabjarg which is one of the best places in Iceland to photograph Puffins. At this time of year the parents should be bringing the chicks fish in their beaks which would make for some excellent wildlife opportunities.In terms of equipment I am planning to take almost my entire line-up of cameras and lenses on this trip. With my wife in toe for the first part of the trip I can easily offload some of my gear into her carry on luggage if required. My compliment of cameras and lenses is going to include:

  • Canon EOS 1DX w/ Really Right Stuff mounting plate from a Canon 70-200mm F4L lens (the L bracket is not yet released for this camera)
  • Canon EOS 1DS MK3 w/ Really Right Stuff L Bracket
  • Canon 17mm F4L TSE Lens
  • Canon 24mm F1.4L MKII Lens
  • Canon 35mm F1.4L Lens
  • Canon 50mm F1.2L Lens
  • Canon 85mm F1.2L Lens
  • Canon 90mm F2.8 TSE Lens
  • Canon 70-200mm F2.8L IS Lens w/ Really Right Stuff Mounting Plate
  • Canon 300mm F2.8L IS Lens w/ Really Right Stuff Mounting Plate
  • Canon 1.4 Tele-Converter MKII
  • Gitzo GT350 LSV 6X Carbon Fibre Tripod w/ Really Right BH55 Ball Head
  • MacBook Pro 15″ w/ 8 Gig RAM and 256 Gig SSD running Lightroom 4.1 and Photoshop CS6
  • Sufficient CF and SD Cards, Card Readers, Back-Up Hard Drives (2x IOMEGA dual Firewire 800 1TB Hard Drives), My LEE ND grad filter kit, Camera Batteries, Chargers, Lens cleaning equipment etc…
All of the above (excluding the tripod) will be stored in my Gura Gear Kiboko and Gura Gear Chobe camera bags and carried onto planes. I will check my tripod inside my Helly Hanson duffle roller bag. A year or so ago I would also likely have packed my pocket Canon S90 both as a back-up and for snapshots. However, the camera in my iPhone now serves this purpose and saves me a few grams of weight; whilst adding oodles of convenience.

This trip will be the maiden voyage for my new Canon 1DX camera; which Canon promised me on a handshake I would have before I left. Since it literally only arrived yesterday I was getting very nervous that they were actually going to deliver (especially after all the delays). Ideally, it would have been beneficial if the camera was delivered a week or so earlier so that I had an opportunity to at least put a few hundred frames on it under test. As it is I have not had time to do much more than shoot a few frames in the backyard and local park to ensure the camera is operating properly. My initial impressions are very positive (the new autofocus system and high ISO performance are truly phenomenal) and I have high hopes for the Canon 1DX. It has been a long time since it was announced back in September last year and I am now very keen to get out into the field to put it through its paces.

I plan to update my blog as regularly as possible throughout the trip and both Bruce and I will also be writing a blog for Moab paper of our experiences in Iceland. Bruce will be travelling with both Canon and Nikon equipment including a Canon 5DMKII and Nikon D800E with lenses for both, as well as a Leica M9 and a large selection of their very finest glass (including some rare and ‘little’ LEE ND graduated filters made specifically for Leica lenses). It is going to be very interesting to see how the little Leica performs in Iceland’s elements. My friend Martyn is bringing a 5D MK3, a 1DS MK3 and his Sony Nex all of which should add to the melting pot of brands and models on hand to compare and contrast. It should be a lot of fun.

See you in Paris.

2012 APPA AWARD WRAP-UP

Posted in Antarctica, Iceland, Landscape Photographs, Media, News and Updates, Photographs, South America, Travel Photography, Uncategorized3 Comments

Once  a year the annual APPA Australian Professional Photography Awards are held in Australia. This year they were conveniently held in my home state of Victoria. The event is sponsored by Canon Australia and is run by the AIPP Australian Institute of Professional Photography. Widely regarded by many as the toughest photographic competition in the world today APPA remains one of the few world wide competitions where the finished ‘print’ is judged (in the vast majority of categories) by a panel of professional photographers who are each considered experts in their chosen specialities. The five judges score each print out of 100 points under strictly controlled lighting conditions. The judges scores are then averaged to give a final overall score out of 100.  Prints of a professional standard that score between 75 and 79 points are not considered of award standard but are considered to be a good example of solid professional practice. Prints between 80 and 84 are considered examples of photographs above professional practice and worthy of recognition and are subsequently classed as a Silver Award. Prints between 85 and 89 are of exceptional standard and are awarded with a Silver with Distinction. Prints judged 90 – 94 and 95 – 100 are Gold and Gold with Distinction awards respectively that are reserved for prints that are considered to be of the highest calibre. Judges are often heard to wax lyrical about a Gold award print needing to be one that is never forgotten.   It takes a print of exceptional quality to be awarded with a Silver or Gold award.

Last year (2011) was my first year entering the APPA awards as a full member of the AIPP. Full members of the AIPP are allowed to enter a maximum of four prints across any of the categories and I was thrilled to receive a Gold award with my very first print in the landscape category. My subsequent three prints in ‘landscape’ each scored Silver awards. This year I was equally thrilled to receive two Silver with Distinction awards and two Silver Awards for two photographs from Antarctica and two from Iceland respectively. Each of these prints was printed on my personal favourite paper – Moab Somerset Museum Rag, Higher resolution versions can be seen on my portfolio website at www.jholko.com and limited edition prints are available through Source Photographica in Brighton.The Fortress – Silver with Distinction APPA 2012Lone Penguin – Silver with Distinction APPA 2012Black Dawn – Silver APPA 2012Iceland Pastels – Silver APPA 2012

THE DIGITAL SHOW – GICLEE AND MOAB

Posted in Antarctica, Iceland, Landscape Photographs, Media, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel Photography, UncategorizedLeave a comment

If you are in Melbourne tomorrow and willing to brave the current spell of bad weather  I will be at the Digital Show at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre for the APPA (Australian Professional Photography Awards). I have a selection of some of my favourite prints on display on a range of  different Moab papers at the Giclee / Moab stand (right behind the Canon stand) . Please feel free to come and say hello and chat all things photography!

Moab Prints at The Digital Show

THE DIGITAL SHOW – PMA AUSTRALIA 25th – 27th MAY 2012

Posted in Antarctica, Iceland, Landscape Photographs, Media, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel Photography, Uncategorized1 Comment

The newly renamed PMA Australia show; now known simply as ‘The Digital Show’ opens in Melbourne at the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre on the 25th of May and runs until the 27th of May. I will be exhibiting a range of my landscape photographs on Moab Paper in conjunction with Giclee Media who are the Australian importers and distributors for Moab and Legion paper.

The 2012 Australian Professional Photography Awards are also being judged during the show and I will be floating around between the Moab stand and the APPA judging if anyone wants to say hello and chat about anything photography. Scott Conry from Moab USA will also be on the stand for any Moab paper queries.

Giclee Media Supplies, Stand 15 (behind the Canon stand)

CAPTURE MAGAZINE TOP EMERGING PHOTOGRAPHERS 2012

Posted in Antarctica, Iceland, Landscape Photographs, Media, News and Updates, Photographs, South America, Travel Photography, Uncategorized, Wildlife Photographs2 Comments

I was very pleased to learn yesterday that I was selected as a finalist in the 2012 Capture Magazine Top Emerging Photographers in Australia in the Landscape category. This is Capture’s fourth annual awards showcasing the very best of Australia’s emerging photographic talent as chosen by some of Australia’s preeminent professional photographers. Over 4000 images were received this year for judging and I am very honoured to have had my portfolio of six photographs amongst them and to be selected as one of only three finalists in the Landscape category. Capture Magazine is Australia’s top selling pro-photography magazine and has also previously featured my work in 2011.