Iceland: Long exposure creates the ghosts
Never work with the Northern Lights, neither
When things don't go to plan, hold a photo shoot. A friend and I went on a trip to see the Northern Lights in Iceland. Sadly, the clouds and solar energy were against us.
Tour group awaiting Aurora
Some of the tour group were patient, some paced. Some sat in the bus, some wandered in the snow. We decided instead to play with long exposure and flash freeze while we waited for the lights.
Long exposure and flash freeze
The city in the distance lit the night sky on fire, aided by a bit of camera shake. The speed of the wind meant the clouds were never quite crisp.
Fighting trousers
I fight with myself enough in my head that it only made sense to try and capture it. This lead to some shadow boxing, but we shot that on an iPhone, so the quality was seriously lacking. Whilst not evidenced, I recommend it. It's tons of fun.
Night shots
This last shot isn't incredible, but it’s almost exactly how the night looked in real life. Or, at least, my memory tells me it is.
If your mate says, “I wanna go Thailand and hang with my brother and cousin", you know what to do. You ingratiate yourself into the plan, because Thailand. It was my first and, so far, only trip to Asia and I’ve been dreaming about those seas and skies ever since.
Seeking solace, healing, sanctuary?
You’ll find it in the Lake District, in the north of the UK. This is where you go to breath, smell the freshness, know yourself.
Leeds has a train station. Under that train station runs a canal. When it rains that looks canal swell, like it would swallow you whole. It really would.
Let it bee duly noted that if you stand too close to the sea, you’ll be warned away. The Giants Causeway is manned by tour shepherds, and it’s not as though they’re killjoys, but apparently I was pushing the limits. In fairness, it wouldn’t have been great to get washed away.
It’s the second deepest lake in the U.S. and the water is so pure it almost meets the standard of commercially distilled water—just 0.004% off.
Keough Hot Springs is an excellent place to while away a morning. With the mountains on both sides and electricity pylons overhead, it’s a bizarrely beautiful spot.
After a brief frolic we drove an hour down the road and pulled in to watch the stars. It was after sundown, before moonrise, and I’ve never seen a sky like it.
Just as we passed a few warning signs heading onto the long, unending road into the heart of it, the GPS started going crazy—it kept trying to have us make a u-turn right in the middle of nowhere, off-road, to head into non-existence.
It’s weird, breathtaking, and—perhaps because I’m dramatic—feels dangerous. Then again, there are signs everywhere reminding you to drink water and such.
Highlights included Vegas being dubbed “Atomic City” in the ‘50s, since mushroom clouds could be seen from Vegas during nuclear testing in the desert, and the dark history of mobsters like Bugsy Siegel, who were all up in that gambling biz.