Visions of the Arctic - West Fjords, Iceland

I've tried a lot of different business card companies in the past, but finally nailed it down to one that I really like. I've used Moo Business Cards for my last two orders of 400 cards and both times they came out looking really nice. Their print colors are actually spot on with what my calibrated home monitor renders which I was also thoroughly impressed with. I went with a glossy, all white card with pictures on the front and text on the back. Here is a quick behind the scenes video from my card selection meeting. The featured pictures were uploaded directly from Smugmug, text was added, and 10 minutes later the order is complete. Easy!

The Shot
This is another photo from the vaults, meaning I took it nearly two years ago, a few weeks after I got my D800. It's kinda funny looking through old pictures, especially the camera settings, many of which I would think twice before I shot at these days. This one for example was single RAW file taken at f/22 to get that nice silky water. Well shooting at f/22 really degrades the nice sharp details of the shot. In retrospect I would have liked to snap this off at f/8 for the full landscape then blend that f/22 water back in using Photoshop. I could go into full detail on my aperture selection methods, but browsing the web while writing this post I found a really nice website with full explanation on why I don't usually shoot beyond f/11.

None the less it's a good thing to keep learning and improving. I find that a lot of my pictures that I took even last month are lacking skill sets that I currently use. Hopefully this will continue for a long time.

This shot is from the West Fjords of Iceland. Unlike a lot of the locations which I can't pin point on a map when I get home, this one was very memorable. We stopped randomly along the side of the road and strolled down this small stream which took us to the ocean. At these latitudes of 65.6 degrees North, you're nearly in the Arctic Circle. The water almost looks like the warm Caribbean with it's beautiful blue glow, but trust me that stuff is cold!

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Turn Style - West Fjords, Iceland

I was about to start this post, then realized maybe a snack would be necessary during the process. These things don't just write themselves.

There are only a few days left to enter my Star Photography Workshops Free Give Away Contest, it's free and the grand prize is free admission to my last star photography workshop for the summer. DO IT!

Logging on to Google+ last night, I noticed "1,000,000 have you in circles" under my name... wait what? One Million is a significantly large number, so thanks to everyone who helped on that front. All your support and nice comments are always appreciated. Thanks!

The Shot

There are no words to really describe this sunset. Nothing I have ever seen before even comes close. The entire visible Earth was bathed in some of the most vivid color imaginable. Standing there, hours from any town or person for that matter, witnessing stuff like this in the middle of the night is what dreams are made of. Selah....

PS: That water is cold, real cold!

Post Processing Info ( Grab some discount codes to the programs below at bottom of About Me Page )

Processing Time: 1 hour-ish

Music: Bob Dylan Personal Fav's Playlist

Drink: Big Swell IPA from the Island of Maui.

Lightroom 4  ( Learn more using my Free Digital Workflow Video Tutorial )

1. 3 Exposures captured at -2EV, 0EV and +2EV.
2. Adjust 0EV RAW file in LR4 then sync others to match all settings less exposure.
3. Export to (3) JPEGS

Photoshop CS6

1. Apply Tony Kuypers Luminosity Masking Actions & Techniques using channels to selectively blend the three files into one well exposed file.
2. Slight color adjustment with color correction function in OnOne Perfect Photo Suite
3. Apply Nik Pro Contrast to entire image
4. Nik Output Sharpener
5. Apply slight vignette with Nik Color Efex Pro 4, Darken / Lighten Center preset.
6. Final color balance and contrast adjustments.

Click to buy a print of this picture

Sixty Six North - West Fjords, Iceland

Sifting through emails and comments is seemed like everyone liked the post processing info last time, so  I'll include some more every now and then. It's really nice getting responses and emails from everyone here and there, especially when they come in from all over the world. I read each and every one, and try to answer them all as well:)

There are 7 more days for you to enter in the Star Photography Workshops Free Give Away Contest, it's free and the grand prize is free admission to my last star photography workshop for the summer.

The Shot

After devouring one of the best fish dinners of our lives in Ísafjörður, we loaded up the camper and headed for a 2 day trek even deeper into the West Fjords. This part of the island is my favorite, and at times, you don't see another person for days. Every now and then we would stop, or swerve down one of the little roads that jut off of main road. This shot was captured at the bottom of a pretty steep hill, needless to say the camper had a pretty hard time making it back up.

Post Processing Info

Processing Time: 1.5 hours

Music: Deep House / Electro Playlist

Drink: Sailor Jerry Rum, on the rocks w/ lime.

Lightroom 4 

1. Single RAW exposure taken at 0EV. ( Always watch the histogram to make sure no data is dropping off the light or dark ends when shooting a single exposure )
2. Adjust file within LR4 Develop Module to bring out all the colors and details.

Photoshop CS6

1. Apply Tony Kuypers Luminosity Masking Actions & Techniques adjusting Light, Mid-tone, and dark regions of picture for contrast and color balance. Note: This is not an HDR brush through masking technique using channels like the last post, but a curves adjustment confined by luminosity masks.
2. Slight color adjustment with color correction function in OnOne Perfect Photo Suite
3. Apply Jaime Ibarra's Color grading techniques + a few of my own to obtain a unique overall look and feel for the water and the sky.
4. Final curves / lighting adjustments, and painting out a few pieces of sensor dust using clone tool.
5. Apply slight vignette with Nik Color Efex Pro 4, Darken / Lighten Center preset.

Care to buy a print of this picture? Click here

And the Wind Spoke - West Fjords, Iceland

I met up with Jimmy Mcintyre and his wife Rachel last night to snap some pics & have some drinks. Eventually we got side tracked from the whole photography thing and ended up at a few bars. All around good times! I highly suggest checking out both of their blogs linked above, very inspirational. 

Keep in mind the Star Photography Workshop Give Away Contest is still up and running. You have another month to submit your best night shots for a chance to win free admission.

The Shot

One of the best parts about looking through pictures from trips of past is the sparking of memories that lead into more thoughts and often inspiration for new adventures. Here is one from the a night in Iceland that featured some of the best color I have ever seen. My girlfriend Meghan and I drove through the landscapes jaw-dropped for hours.

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Wild Horses - West Fjords, Iceland

Returning from Iceland sparked me to look through all the old Icelandic pictures sitting on my hard drive. There are a bunch I have processed and not posted. At time it's hard to remember that there are so many un-posted pictures sitting on the computer. Now if there were only a tool that would post them on every social network at the same time annnnnd do a good job at it. Off to enjoy a lazy Sunday, with some reading, breakfast and maybe a beer or two.

The Shot

I spent a sunrise deep in the West Fjords in a field of horses, knee deep in mud and who knows what else. None the less these guys were really friendly and fun to hang out with.

Misty Mountains & The House of Sheep - West Fjords, Iceland

I leave for a 10 day trip to Italy this Saturday and have decided to take a break from posting to this website while I'm gone. A nice relaxing vacation without internet sounds great just about now. On my return it will be business as usual with a shot every day less the weekends:) We are headed to Venice for the first stop, any suggestions for must see places? 

If you would like to learn how I processed this shot, check out my FREE HDR Video Tutorial. 

The Shot

The West Fjords of Iceland are beautiful and there are more sheep than people in this part of the country. You can wander around for days and not see a soul, it's a great experience.

In a Foreign Land - West Fjords, Iceland

I just got back from a weekend trip to the Gorge in Oregon. The waterfalls and spring greens were in full effect which made for some great shots. We also managed to get some star shots with a creepy old house that should turn out really cool. 

The Shot

Another shot from the beautiful West Fjords of Iceland. I processed this one using exposure fusion on Photomatix. If you like the results and want to try the program for yourself, head on over to Photomatix and use the coupon code DAVEMORROWPHOTO when checking out to recieve a 15% discount:)

Click here to buy a print

Ride On - West Fjords, Iceland

While out in the Olympic Peninsula shooting streams and waterfalls last weekend along with Second Beach, I decided to make a quick "How To" video on shooting waterfalls. I took it with my iPhone so the quality isn't great, but I still think there are some great tips in there. Enjoy!

For anyone that is interested in my Online Star Photography Post Processing Group Workshop, I just added the dates for May. I also recently put up new dates for my In the Field Star Photography Workshops. Feel free to drop me a line if you have questions about either...

The Shot

I clearly don't remember much of this shoot, it was my last day of 10, living out of a camper in the West Fjords of Iceland. None the less June is really an amazing time to visit the country, the sunrises and sets last for 3-5 hours depending on the weather and light. It is truly a photographers' paradise!

Click here to hang a print of this shot on your wall!

Icelandic House of the Dead at Mind - West Fjords, Iceland

Fridays from here on out the rest of the year I am going to post a new star photo to my website and all the social networks. This should be a fun and challenging tasks which will also keep me running around all week taking star shots. No complaints... For those of you that want to learn about star photography I offer a Free Star Photography Tutorial as well as In the Field Star Photography Workshops @ Mount Rainier National Park! Sign up today.

The Shot

As for today I have a really fun & somewhat creepy shot from the West Fjords of Iceland. It took me a while to finally get this one done in post processing, but here it is... Enjoy!

Click to hang this picture on your wall!

Horses of the West Fjords - Iceland

Got lucky with some amazing weather in the Palouse this weekend and was able to get some new Milky Way shots, which means some new star pics should surface pretty soon. Next topic! Not sure how many of you out there use SmugMug, I've been using them for almost 2years and find the service to be an unbeatable place to showcase your photos online. Their site also flawlessly integrates into any blog or website which is a huge help. Anyways here is my SmugMug Portfolio which holds my entire online portfolio. You can also click on any of the photos on my website to get the full size view. Feel free to download any of these shots for your desktop background:)

The Shot

On our way to Ísafjörður, an amazing small town deep in the West Fjords of Iceland, an opportunity arose to climb into a pasture and shoot sunset with some horses. This sounded like an awesome photo opp so I grabbed my gear and started shooting.

To the Top of the World & Back - Iceland

Some days I wake up and have a mental block for any all all sorts of writing, others the words just fly out of my fingers into the keyboard, can you guess which of these two options today is? I have started a an informative page for anyone that wants to pick up the art of photography you can find it at www.DaveMorrowPhotography.com/learnphotography

The Shot

Deep in the West Fjords of Iceland I found this really fun spot to pull off the side of the road and take some pics. At this point we had not seen anyone in a day or two and were up at all hours taking pics... good times.

Locals VS Lupines

The first day in Iceland after picking up our Happy Camper we headed off toward the West Fjords. I found it immediately hard to keep my camera in the bag with beauty all around. The air was perfectly warm, the sun bright and we had 10 days of unknown adventures to come.

PS I just added a new feature to the website called Insta-Stream. My Instagram photos now show up on the side bar about half way down the page on the right side. I usually post shots there when I am out shooting:)

The Shot

30 minutes into the drive we saw a beautiful field of blue lupines & I had to grab a shot. The funny part is, lupines are everywhere in Iceland and most of the locals consider them to be a weed that destroys everything. Personally I love the flower and took a million and one pictures along the trip.

On the Road in the West Fjords of Iceland

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately on what does & does not bring inspiration into my life. I feel that social networks for the most part destroy my inspiration on a daily basis due to the fact that there is so much “junk” included in most posts.  On the other hand they are a great way to promote photography and see a few good pictures. As a photographer what would happen if you completely quit the social networking sites you currently use and put all that time directly into your work? I bet great things would happen, but less and less people would see those great things. I guess we have to pick a middle ground and enjoy what we have.

The Shot:

This is more of a fun/travel shot than anything, I processed it with Lightroom 4.

When in Iceland, days/nights seem to run together, so it's hard to pin down when and where this picture was actually taken, but it was somewhere in the West Fjords...