The 30 Finalist photographs in the 2011 Extreme Environment Photographic Exhibition go on display this Friday from 10am at the Tasmanian National Museum in Hobart. I have two photographs in the exhibition and will be flying down to Hobart for the opening this Friday morning. Finalists images can also be viewed in low resolution on-line, courtesy of 936 ABC Radio Hobart during the period of the exhibition at www.abc.net.au/hobart. I always enjoy my time in Hobart – its a wonderful city and there is nothing quite like some of the world’s best seafood caught that morning and then cooked at one of the many fine restaurants on the wharf. Unfortunately, other commitments mean this is going to be day visit only with no time to escape into the countryside for photography. If you have an opportunity to visit the exhibition please let me know if you enjoyed it.
May Photo of the Month
I have updated the Photo of the month for May – One of the two photographs that I entered into the 2011 Extreme Environment Photographic competition – Entitled “The Well of Life”. Both photographs have been selected as finalists and prints go on display this coming Friday at the Tasmanian National Museum in Hobart. I am hoping to fly down to Hobart for the opening this week. This particular photograph for me is one of my favourites and most memorable from Iceland.
Extreme Environment Photographic Competition – Finalist
I am pleased to announce that two of my Iceland photographs “Well of Life” and “Abandoned Blue Berg” have been selected as finalists in the Extreme Environment Photographic Competition. These two photographs will form part of the Extreme Environment Photographic Exhibition, to open at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery from 10:00 am on Friday, 6 May, running until Sunday 15 May. Admission is free to the public during normal Museum opening hours. Finalists images can also be viewed in low resolution on-line, courtesy of 936 ABC Radio Hobart at during the period of the exhibition at www.abc.net.au/hobart. Both of these photographs are also available to view in high resolution on my Portfolio website at www.jholko.com under Iceland.
Iceland – Selfoss : The Essence of Iceland
Without doubt one of Iceland’s most well known and famous landmarks are its waterfalls. There are waterfalls almost everywhere and if you have read and followed my blog you will have already seen numerous posts about them. They really are nothing short of breathtaking.
One of the most unusual and beautiful is Selfoss. Selfoss is a short ten minute walk up from the mighty Dettifoss – Europe’s largest waterfall by volume. What makes Selfoss so unique and other worldly is the way it cascades down both sides of a deep rocky canyon. I have not seen such a geological feature anywhere else in the world and as far as I know it is unique to Selfoss and Iceland.
I was fortunate enough to visit both Dettifoss and Selfoss twice during my time in Iceland last year. On both occasions I was blessed with wonderful and interesting light. The purpose of dual visits to these falls was to shoot them from both sides as there is no bridge near by to cross. Its a long drive along a horrible dirt road to get to the other side. I must admit that I was so tired from the long arduous hours of shooting under the midnight sun for days and days on end that I have no actual memory of taking this photograph – I must have been on auto pilot by this point in my trip. It was one of around 50 frames I shot from this side of Selfoss. Regardless I am extremely pleased with the result. The long exposure has softened the water in contrast to the rocks and caught the incoming storm clouds streaking across the sky. For me this photograph captures some of the essence of Iceland. As I have blogged about already – I cant wait to go back. In fact, plans are afoot for a trip in June/July 2012 after Antarctica. A high resolution version of this photograph is also on my Portfolio website at www.jholko.com
Cape Shank Victoria – A Primordial Soup
I have been spending a bit of time lately down at Cape Schank in Victoria (roughly an hour and a half drive from where I live) scrambling over the rocks looking for composition and waiting for good light. Its a very primordial place with plenty of jagged black basalt rock that provides a really good contrast to the softness of the water created by long exposures. I have enjoyed the time I have spent down there; although it has been a battle with the elements to say the least. I was blessed with good magic hour colour on several of my sunsets and sunrises – but on almost all occasions the skies have been totally cloudless; providing little of interest outside of the colour of sunrise and sunset. The planets just haven’t aligned for me at Cape Schank as yet; which is really great incentive to keep going back.
On my last trip the skies were again cloudless an hour os so before sunset as I scrambled over the rocks looking for frames and I thought I was going to again be out of luck. However, as the sun began to set some cloud began to build on the horizon and this photograph was the result. I used the LEE 10 Stop Neutral Density Filter to get an exposure time of 181 seconds; which has caused the water to go very milky and soften the harshness of the rocks.
www.WILDNATUREPHOTOTRAVEL.com 