Five days is barely enough time just to scratch the surface of all that ‎Iceland‬ has to offer. Years ago, if you asked this Brooklyn boy whether he’d so eagerly enjoy getting up at an ungodly hour to photograph gigantic landscapes in below freezing temps, he’d probably laugh so hard that milk would come out of his nose. But that’s what it takes to experience the grandeur of this marvelous country during its winter season.

Our last full day in Iceland brought us to several of its better known waterfalls and ended with a beautiful sunset at the blue lagoons in Grindavík. However, in between that, Colby, Joe, and I managed to sneak in an hour photographing a herd of Icelandic horses as they grazed, napped and played around. Several even tried to take a few chomps out of my Really Right Stuff tripod!

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Our fourth day in Iceland had us saying goodbye to the Jökulsárlón region and brought us to our stopover in the quaint town of Vik. The day started off with us breaking out of bed at 5AM to photograph even more brilliant aurora and was then followed by a third shoot in an ice cave. After that, we checked out of our hotel and made our way to Skaftafell National Park and laboriously hiked to Svartifoss, a waterfall with notable vertical basalt formations that instantly reminded me of Latourell and Abiqua Falls in Oregon. Naturally, I felt right at home. :)

When we wrapped up the waterfall shoot, we jumped in the car for a two hour ride to Vik. What we didn’t expect was the massive snow storm that was waiting for us about 20 miles outside of the town. Fortunately, Colby managed to get to our hotel without calamity.

Upon checking in, all three of us had just assumed that any sort of shooting would be out of the question given the absolute white out conditions from the snow storm. However, a few minutes later, we looked out our windows and saw the makings of a rather beautiful sunset. Don’t get me wrong—it was howling wind and bitterly cold but we still jumped in ‘Beast Mode’ and hustled to the beach across the street. Our goal was to catch the iconic and legendary Reynisdrangar, a series of spires jutting out of the ocean. Fortunately, the clouds gave us a break and parted a bit, letting the beautiful sun pour through. All in all, it was a wonderful day!

Camera: Sony a7R with the Sony A-Mount 70-400mm f/4-5.6 G SSM II
Filter: N/A
Tripod: Really Right Stuff TVC-34L/BH-55
Stylization: Adobe Lightroom 5.7

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My third day in Iceland was certainly a busy one. We started off by shooting a new ice cave at sunrise, which was great except for when my leg broke through the surface of a frozen river. The ice caves themselves have proven to be one of the most challenging things that I’ve ever photographed but I’ll save that for a future post. Later in the day, we visited a black sand beach that was riddled with frozen burgs all along the shore. After getting more than my share of ocean water in my boots the evening before, I played it a bit safer and stayed further back for my shots. After dinner that evening, we collected our gear from the hotel room and headed to our vehicle. And that’s when Joe told me to look up at the sky.

Don’t take me lightly when I say that I was totally stopped in my tracks. Seeing an aurora is one of those things that has been so high on my bucket list. I’ve seen countless photos and videos of them but none were really special to me because I hadn’t taken the photos or, more importantly, experienced them for myself. Thankfully, that came to an end yesterday.

Above me was an apparition of light. It was glowing silk and it danced along the night sky to its own tune. I looked from left to right and saw this beautiful and delicate ribbon come and go from a dim form to a brilliant swirl. I finally checked this one off the bucket list. Once the gobsmacking subsided, the three of us sprang into action and hustled to find a location that would offer a decent foreground and a picturesque background. Fortunately, Colby chose the perfect spot to pull off the road. The aurora was still going strong in front of and behind us and we had a few frozen puddles and plenty of mountains to frame with. Shooting the aurora took a bit of practice in terms of getting the right exposure and focus but once those were locked in, it really became impossible to get a bad photo. I have never in my life been so enamored with a natural phenomenon like this one.

Camera: Sony a7R with the Sony FE 16-35mm f/4
Filter: N/A
Tripod: Really Right Stuff TVC-34L/BH-55
Stylization: Adobe Lightroom 5.7

The post Day 3 in Iceland – Aurora Edition! appeared first on Brian Matiash Photography.

My second day in Iceland was filled with all sorts of new experiences even beyond those that I had on my first day. I got to experience a beautiful sunrise from within a beautiful ice cave and shoot sunset on a black sand beach riddled with giant icebergs.

In between both of these experiences, we were lucky to catch Jökulsárlón when there was minimal wind blowing. Despite the little wind, it was a bit of a challenge to get 2″ exposure when the bergs themselves weren’t moving. It is pretty trippy to see these gigantic pieces of ice float right on by you. Fortunately, I was able to get one sharp photo that I really like.

Fingers crossed for this evening. Forecasts are reporting crazy Level 5 Auroras for tonight. Being able to see that for the first time would really round out my stay in Iceland so far!

Camera: Sony​ a7R with the Sony FE 16-35mm f/4
Filter: Formatt Hitech Filters​ ProIRND 6-Stop ND Filter + 3-Stop Soft Grad ND + 105mm Firecrest CPL
Tripod: Really Right Stuff​ TVC-34L/BH-55
Stylization: Adobe Lightroom 5.7

‪#SonyAlpha ‪#Iceland‬ ‪#Winter #LongExpoure

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It hardly takes any time at all to understand why so many landscape and nature photographers flock to Iceland. It’s one of those places that absolutely lives up to the hype surrounding it. After landing here yesterday around 7am, we drove for about seven hours to our little hotel. Along the way, we stopped to photograph the glacier lagoon in Jökulsárlón as the sun began to set.

Thus far, Iceland’s diverse landscapes have proven to be a wonderful challenge for me. I’d never seen glaciers or icebergs like these before and it certainly is a departure from the sort of landscapes that I’m used to. Still, I am so thankful to have this opportunity, and another opportunity in June, to experience Iceland’s beauty.

Camera: Sony​ a7R with the Sony FE 16-35mm f/4
Filter: Formatt Hitech Filters​ProIRND 3-Stop ND Filter
Tripod: Really Right Stuff​ TVC-34L/BH-55
Stylization: Adobe Lightroom 5.7

The post Day 1 in Iceland appeared first on Brian Matiash Photography.

By the time this post publishes, I’ll be almost thru my first full day in Iceland. While there is no shortage of beautiful photos shared by other talented photographers from the area, none have been taken or shared by me and this is something that I’m very excited to change.

Before heading out there, though, I did my usual research and spoke with several friends who have already been there. But there is another type of preparation that I don‘t think I’ve ever really written about so I thought it’d make for a good photo tip. And that is the preparation of editing photos.

The post Photo Tip: Getting in the right frame of mind appeared first on Brian Matiash Photography.

Goals are great. They really are. Well, unless you don’t have drive, ambition or motivation… then goals may be not so great. I’m sure you’ve read that you should always set goals that are attainable and I think that’s a really wise statement. A while back, both Nicole and I set a goal for ourselves to help ensure that we’re growing as people and as photographers. Our goal is quite simple really. Each year, we must both visit a new country. It doesn’t matter where on the planet the country is but as soon as a new calendar year begins, the goal is reset. Last year, I was lucky enough to double my goal by visiting Germany and Japan. The year prior were Cambodia and Australia.

Tomorrow, I kick off a journey that will double my goal again by visiting both Iceland and Norway. I’m hoping to triple the goal later in the year with Croatia but those plans are still simmering in the pot. Still, it’s little goals like these that I feel bring tangible and enduring results along with real satisfaction when met. It doesn’t necessarily have to do with travel per se, but setting a clear path and knowing what your checkmarks are for growth can make a huge difference.

I’d be interested to know what goals you’ve set for yourselves as you pursue photography… or any other aspect of life.

The post Settings and exceeding goal appeared first on Brian Matiash Photography.

I first started sharing my photos and stories back in 2008 when I launched my blog. Since then, I’ve shared hundreds upon hundreds of posts with the goal of helping others grow through my own experiences as a photographer. It has been such a rewarding process and I’ve met so many fantastic people as a result.

Recently, I thought it would be fun to curate my favorite photo posts throughout the years and package them in a nice eBook series. I named the series “Stories from the Lens” and I just finished the first version. I’m giving this eBook away for FREE simply as a way of saying “Thanks!” for all the support that I’ve gotten throughout the years. To get your copy, all I ask is that you sign up to my newsletter. If you’re already a newsletter subscriber, you’ll get the download link sent to your inbox. I hope you enjoy it!

Sign Up & Get “Stories from the Lens” FREE!

The post Announcing my new FREE eBook: Stories from the Lens! appeared first on Brian Matiash Photography.

Originally posted on Photofocus.com

UrbEx and Me

Growing up in New York City gave me a very strong appreciation for architecture. After all, I was surrounded by some of the grandest and most densely packed buildings on the planet. However, that appreciation didn’t fully mature until I began immersing myself in photography during my freshman year of college in 1996. Fortunately, Syracuse University, my alma mater, had a wonderful selection of architectural styles on display throughout the vast campus, so my fascination with buildings continued to grow. It wasn’t until later on, when I moved to New England, that I discovered my love of a different type of architectural photography. No, these buildings were not quite like the ones that I was used to. They were not kept, maintained or even inhabited. Rather, they were forlorn, empty and left to the whims of time and nature. Alas, I had discovered Urban Exploration, or UrbEx, photography.

My passion for this type of photography led me to research more about other locations strewn about the US and the rest of the world, which naturally led me to other photographers who were more like pioneers in this wholly hushed realm of architectural photography. Two photographers who I feel represent the best of Urban Exploration, and am lucky enough to call good friends, are Sean Galbraith and Todd Sipes. I’ve known both of these fellas for a while but have known of them for even longer. So, when I decided to put a crash course post together that would help other interested photographers and explorers learn more about this genre, these two guys immediately came to mind for two reasons: 1. Sean has been part of a wonderful video series called, photoXplorers, that I have known about for years which is dedicated to UrbEx and 2. Todd just released the first and only book dedicated to UrbEx. But before we dive into those projects, let me share some brief details about Sean and Todd.

A bit about Sean Galbraith

Sean has been “exploring” since 2005. Initially, he started out interested in street and architectural photography, which lead to an obsession with abandoned buildings. To further extend his passion as an explorer, Sean began his career as an urban planner. Sean learned photography in the digital era, but got bored with it and sold all his digital gear for good ol’ analog film gear in 2008. He now primarily shoot 4×5 film, and sometimes medium format. Eventually, Sean teamed up with several other explorers to photograph abandoned building and put on several gallery shows. This lead to opening a permanent gallery for a few years and ultimately to the TV show, “photoXplorers.”

A bit about Todd Sipes

Todd has been exploring places that were off-limits since he was a kid but never thought about taking pictures of them. He got into photography in 2010 and while learning the craft, many of the “normal” genres didn’t excite him. Growing up in the Bay Area, Todd would go out to shoot the Golden Gate Bridge at sunrise and quickly learned two things: anyone can get the exact same shot as him and they can probably do it better. This made him realize that he wanted to shoot things that most people wouldn’t or couldn’t. Around that time, he had gotten wind of some hidden military bunkers that are still peppered throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. So, Todd made it his mission to find these bunkers and photograph them. After he found his first bunker, he was hooked. From Todd’s perspective, he now gets to shoot historical places that only a handful of people will ever SEE, let alone photograph.

Now for the good stuff

I had mentioned earlier that there is actual material that I want to refer to for this primer, right? Well, I wasn’t lying. For those budding UrbEx photographers who want to get a deeper understanding of what’s involved, how to maximize your chances of success, and what some best practices are, I strongly recommend picking up a copy of Todd’s newly released book, “Urban Exploration Photography,” which goes into wonderfully extensive details around the theory, practice, and ideology around Urban Exploration.

To further immerse yourselves in what Urban Exploration really feels like, I also highly recommend the wonderful video series called “photoXplorers,” which includes Sean, as well as photographers Russell Brohier, Steve Jacobs, Mathew Merrett and Laurin Jeffrey.  The new second season of this series was released just a few weeks ago and you can watch it below. Also be sure to watch the other episodes and clips found in this embedded YouTube playlist.

So there you have it. Between Todd and Sean, and the work that they’ve released, you have one of the best troves of knowledge around Urban Exploration photography. Use it well.

To learn more about Sean Galbraith, click here.

To learn more about Todd Sipes, click here.

Excerpts from Urban Exploration Photography were used with the author’s permission

The post A Primer in Urban Exploration appeared first on Brian Matiash Photography.

I suspect that a lot of us photographers can relate to being the moth drawn to the flame when it comes to partaking in a beautiful sunset. We get transfixed on looking forward and rifling off frame after frame because that golden light just keeps getting better. That happened to me several weeks back as I was watching the sunset at South Point on the Big Island of Hawaii. I was so enamored with the scene that I almost missed the equally beautiful one developing right behind me.

That’s when having your head on a swivel makes a lot of sense. Of course, it’s important to be cognizant of what’s happening in front of you but it’s also your obligation to be equally aware of what is building up behind you, as well. This particular instance really drove the point home to me and I kept it at the forefront of my mind for the rest of the trip. This rather basic photo tip has served me very well and I thought it’d be worth sharing with all of you.

Be sure to share your thoughts and photos as it pertains to this photo tip!

Camera: Sony a7R with the Sony FE 24-70mm f/4
Filter: Formatt Hitech Firecrest 3-stop Soft Grad ND filter
Tripod: Really Right Stuff TVC-34L/BH-55
Stylization: Adobe Lightroom 5.7

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