Landmannalaugar Trek

[canyonwren]

My summer hiking getaway was to do the Laugavegur Trail in Iceland, which runs from the Landmannalaugar area, up and over volcanic highlands, and down to the wooded gloriousness that is Þórsmörk. I held onto the possibility of continuing on the Fimmvörðuháls route to Skógar, but ended up only hiking to the pass and returning for a second night in

Comments

[thewronghands]

Wow! That's gorgeous countryside -- I can see why you were so enamored of it. (And it sounds like you were in Iceland before at the same time the book by the British woman was written, so y'all might have some memories in common!)

[canyonwren]

It is truly gorgeous, usually in a very stark and unusual way. The lava fields are amazing, although I don't envy the first people who tried to cross them without a trail!

I may have to read that book first! I was starting off with the other one, but it'll take me a while to finish. (By the way, I was amused that the Sagas book had a Custom Declarations form from 2007 tucked in it. Apparently, when you entered Korea, you failed to hand it over. Makes a handy bookmark though.)

[bruhinb]

Are you doing something new with your photo processing here? These images seem to have warmth, depth, and texture beyond what I remember from last trip. I can also very clearly see why you needed to return here. Now I need to go here too.

[canyonwren]

Only on a few pics, but nothing unusual or heavy-handed. If it came out drab from the fog but was otherwise a good shot, I boosted the contrast (or overall levels) just a touch. I was trying for higher contrast in the camera, since that's my preferred output.

The difference you may be seeing was that I was using a different camera. Lots of the shots from the earlier trip were with a Nikon, which by default shoots in a cooler tone than Canon. That's actually why I decided to go with the Canon line a couple of years ago - warmer tone. I did have a Canon for part of my trip last time, but it was still a different camera.

[bruhinb]

Clearly one or more of those adaptations work well for richer detail and warmer color. As somebody who cannot resist all manner of after-the-fact digital hackery it's awesome to see somebody nailing the image so consistently with such simple post processing.

[canyonwren]

It's true, we have *really* different styles. :D My ideal is to create the perfect shot in the camera, but I do love dinking around with Photoshop at times. You've got the craft of creating the weirdly modern landscape down, with a definite twist of the futuristic, or something. It's like looking back at modern ruins from some technicolored future.