Milky Way - Jökulsárlón, Iceland

From my September trip to Jökulsárlón. This is a location where you can shoot different shots every time you are there. It changes greatly from season to season, day by day and hour by hour so it always comes up with something new every time I am there.

This time the air was clear and cold with no moon light. The clarity of the air was exceptional and I have never in my life seen so many stars here in Iceland. This is the first time I could see the end of the Milky way here in Iceland as it is not that easily visible at this high latitude (64°N).

Having a 5D MK II also meant I could shoot at really high iso to capture it. At iso 6400 it still produces acceptable image if the are correctly exposed.

We fished a couple of iceberg out of the lagoon and placed them on the beach. I then used a flash light to light it up for part of the exposure.

Shooting Information:
Aperture: f3.5
Shutter: 30 sec
ISO: 6400
Focal len: 16mm

Comments and faves

  1. ★

    provbenson2009, Andrew Kumler, wild prairie man, Matt Champlin, and 1336 other people added this photo to their favorites.

  2. provbenson2009 (33 months ago | reply)

    WOW!!!! Thats a beautiful place you live.

  3. Andrew Kumler (33 months ago | reply)

    Amazing photo..Looks fantastic..

  4. Night Mode (33 months ago | reply)

    great shot!


  5. jon.atli (33 months ago | reply)

    Flott mynd, meira að segja stjörnuhrap í bónus

  6. Lárus SA (33 months ago | reply)

    Stórglæsileg.

  7. wild prairie man (33 months ago | reply)

    This is absolutely spectacular!

  8. Matt Champlin (33 months ago | reply)

    amazing work - love the ice in the foreground

  9. fourdollared [deleted] (33 months ago | reply)

    Beautiful shot in so many ways, very emotional.

  10. Jordan Lye (33 months ago | reply)

    amazing, Dylan use ISO3200, your is 6400..... I should consider 5D Mark II

  11. Kiddi Kristjans (33 months ago | reply)

    Dude! Mindblowing !! Never thought this was possible!!

  12. Sandra van Hoek [deleted] (33 months ago | reply)

    that is way cool! Never seen a shot like this! Very nice work!

  13. Diana Michaels (33 months ago | reply)

    Ertu að djóka í mér... ?????
    Va-a-a-a-a-a ... á !!!

  14. daniel_gafanhoto (33 months ago | reply)

    Awesome!

  15. Ivan Sohrakoff (33 months ago | reply)

    Oh, now you're just showing off, Orvar! Super night shot, man. I really like the crisp detail you got at such a high ISO. Did you use any noise reduction at all?

  16. kh-photos ~ Kurt ~ (33 months ago | reply)

    What a special image! Thank you for sharing this beautiful moment.

  17. wrtrekker (Jerry T Patterson) (33 months ago | reply)

    I'm in AWE ! This is so nice .... a number of people are doing night shots but the way you've done this tops all them !!! Superb work Orvar.

  18. stoicviking (33 months ago | reply)

    Amazing! Never seen such a starry sky photo from Iceland.
    The image quality doesn't do it justice though.

  19. danishpm (33 months ago | reply)

    Beautiful shot!

  20. Flashbaxxx (33 months ago | reply)

    Incredible, It's so beautiful !!!

  21. mptemp2 [deleted] (33 months ago | reply)

    Absolutely stunning!!

  22. Mike Sly (33 months ago | reply)

    Amazing Image

  23. MGP (33 months ago | reply)

    Your best, I guess

  24. *BZd* (33 months ago | reply)

    OMG, 30 seconds for a such choppy, bright Milky Way? Lucky man, have you ever heard about light-pollution?

  25. mau_tweety (33 months ago | reply)

    Fantastic

  26. c e d e r (33 months ago | reply)

    Wow, what a stunner!!!! Great great job including the ice - goes so well with the stars! Must say I was rather surprised it was taken in Iceland, since I never see the milky way on my swedish latitudes (only when I travel)

  27. Fede la lince (33 months ago | reply)

    magic...or divine!

  28. mjiphoto - Mika (33 months ago | reply)

    Very well done, lovely shot!

  29. Vision Photo-Graphique (33 months ago | reply)

    Great shot !!!

  30. Fabio Bianchi 83 (33 months ago | reply)

    No words...excellent shot!

  31. piereport (33 months ago | reply)

    Wow..spectacular shot!!!

  32. DavidFrutos (33 months ago | reply)

    Spectacular Milky Way!!!

    --
    Vista en las fotos de mis contactos. (Yo también quiero esto)

  33. This photo was invited and added to the *The Best of Landscape around the world* group.

  34. This photo was invited and added to the Scenics & Wilderness (Admin Invite Only) group.

  35. This photo was invited and added to the A "Quality Only" Club -Admin Invite+Moderated Post group.

  36. orvaratli (33 months ago | reply)

    : I used some noise reduction. Over exposing the shot helped alot with noise and downsampling it for the small size seen here hides alot of the noise aswell.

  37. Hjalti Vignis (33 months ago | reply)

    Hvað er að frétta, þetta er með ólíkindum. Hef bara aldrei séð svona áður.

  38. AnneMäenurm (33 months ago | reply)

    Wow,this is amazing! Complimenti!!!!!!!

  39. AnneMäenurm (33 months ago | reply)

    Congratulation!!!!!!!

  40. Maurizio Fontana (33 months ago | reply)

    Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
    Fantastic!!!

  41. cpra (33 months ago | reply)

    So you basically just put your camera on the tripod and exposed 30sec? Amazing. I need to try this in the winter.

  42. jamesr0012 (33 months ago | reply)

    this is amazing, especially given the high iso and how crisp the shot is. a definite fave...and an inspiration to push the iso!

  43. orvaratli (33 months ago | reply)

    : Wait a half a year for the 5D MK III (or 3D). I have a hunch that it will have a greatly improved high ISO.

  44. orvaratli (33 months ago | reply)

    : Basically yes. There are technical details to consider though that can be tricky, like focus and setting the right aperture. You want to have it as large as possible but still with enough depth of field and corner sharpness. A very good wide angle lens is needed for this.

  45. S.Botelho (33 months ago | reply)

    Great job!

  46. Agust Atlason [deleted] (33 months ago | reply)

    Mjög flott!

  47. Laurent T (aka thery_lg) (33 months ago | reply)

    Wow, impressive!

  48. russian_woodpecker (33 months ago | reply)

    amazing beauty

  49. Le***Refs *PHOTOGRAPHIE* (33 months ago | reply)

    wow! very beautiful scene!

  50. This photo was invited and added to the night fever group.

  51. Kaja Þrastardóttir (33 months ago | reply)

    Súper vinnsla. Svakalega flott mynd.

  52. Dietrich Bojko Photographie (33 months ago | reply)

    outstanding capture!
    --
    Seen in my contacts' photos. ( ?² )

  53. Styrmir Kári (33 months ago | reply)

    Þetta er náttúrulega bara snilld.... er hálf orðlaus hérna... aldrei séð þetta hérna á íslandi.

    Hvaða dökka lína er þetta samt þarna neðst á himninum?

    --
    Seen in my contacts' photos. (?)

  54. orvaratli (33 months ago | reply)

    : Ég hafði heldur aldrei séð svona áður hérna í Íslandi. Er ekki viss með þessa línu, líklega fjarlæg þoturák/ský.

  55. Sibilus_Basilea (33 months ago | reply)

    just a incredible image. Sad, that we never see such a sky where i live

← prev 1 2 3 4 5
(235 comments)
keyboard shortcuts: ← previous photo → next photo L view in light box F favorite < scroll film strip left > scroll film strip right ? show all shortcuts