A sequence of three images taken in Iceland last year, where a river was cutting through several inches of snow.
(Click on the images to view larger)
Snowbound
Tag Archives: Iceland
More Icelanders
Last Saturday I had a photoshoot with some more Icelanders living here in London. Four of them are all members of the same choir, and kept spontaneously breaking out into song during the shoot. As we were at The Scoop, an open-air theatre outside London’s City Hall, the acoustics were perfect for such musical activities, and we all had a great time.
The photos from the shoot have now been added to my Icelanders in London site, so please feel free to admire the Icelandic cheekbones on display.
Out of the freezer
When you’re as obsessed with a place like Iceland as much as I am, the people you meet who share that obsession become firm friends very quickly. One such person is Ed Hancox, whom I met online via Twitter and in person at Iceland Airwaves last year, and like me he likes to write about his experiences in Iceland. Unlike me, however, he has published a book.
The book is called ‘Iceland, Defrosted’ and is unlike any other travel book I’ve come across. It’s not a tourist guide, more an anthology of stories and anecdotes from his many, many trips to Iceland (and one trip to Hull!). I’ve only read the first four or so chapters so far, but have been taken in by his charming prose and wit. He has explored Iceland far wider and far deeper than I have, and has spoken to several people who live there, giving his stories much more to them than his own viewpoint.
You can buy the book from Amazon at this link. I’d highly recommend it based on what I’ve read so far (and on the reactions from others who have already finished the book). I’m looking forward to delving further into Ed’s Icelandic adventures.
Making Time
Every last Sunday in March we move our clocks forward one hour in the UK (some countries in the southern hemisphere go back an hour at a similar time of year). And on the last Sunday in October we go back to GMT (and vice versa for the southern hemisphere countries). Of course, many people diligently go round their house changing all the clocks and watches they can get their hands on in a time-honoured ritual, but there are some clocks that often go neglected, like the one in your camera.
I realised this morning (only 2 months late) that my cameras were both still on GMT, so I promptly changed them. However, what about all the photos I had taken since March 31st? I have no fewer than 3,152 photos with incorrect metadata, surely it’s too late to fix that now?
Thankfully, Adobe Lightroom has the answer. In the Library module, select all the photos that are affected (if you’re in the UK, this will be all photos taken on or after 31st March 2013) and from the Metadata menu, select ‘Edit Capture Time…’
This brings up the following dialog:
Check the second radio button (‘Shift by a set number of hours (time zone adjust)’). If you’re moving from winter to summer (as we are here in the north, not that you’d know it from recent weather) then select ‘+1’ in the drop-down menu (‘spring forward’, as the saying goes). For transition to winter time, select ‘-1’ (‘fall back’, which only works if you don’t use the word ‘autumn’ for the time of year that follows summer). Click ‘Change’ and let Lightroom do its thing. Now go and change the clocks on your cameras, and remember to include them next time the clocks are changed.
If you live in Iceland, you can disregard this post, and smugly enjoy your year-round GMT.
O positive
Moving away from photography for a second to one of my other passions: Icelandic music. Bloodgroup have been around for a while but this year released a new album, Tracing Echoes, that has just blown me away. Occasionally I find some music that I just can’t stop listening to; this is one of those releases.
You can listen to the track ‘Lines’ below which should give you a taste of what to expect; alternatively follow the link in the above paragraph to stream the whole album at Icelandic music store Gogoyoko (currently offline), and even buy it if you want!