Unveiling the Beauty of Water Abstractions in Iceland: My First Captured Photograph

“Nature has mysterious infinities and imaginative power. It is always varying the productions it offers to us. The artist himself is one of nature’s means.”

-Paul Gauguin

Introduction

Capturing this photograph led to the moment I felt that I could make my dreams a reality. Iceland had always felt magnetic, urging me to visit, and I was fortunate enough to take a trip there in the spring of 2022. While visiting with my good friend, I carried around my Sony a77 camera in hopes of capturing some of the country's raw and rugged beauty. We spent the first day driving north along the western coast to Snaefellsjokull National Park, stopping along the way to embrace the views surrounding us. We arrived at our destination and set about exploring. Leaning over a cliffside, overlooking the crashing waves and ocean beyond, I extended my arms, right eye looking through viewfinder to the distortions being created, and pressed the shutter.

Iceland has unique elements of water, featuring glaciers, hot springs, geysers, waterfalls, and oceans. Being surrounded by so many pieces of the same coin, I was inspired by the changes the water can have on its environment, and that the environment can have on water.

Water represents fluidity, depth, nourishment, purity, and life itself. It adapts to its surroundings, seamlessly flowing over and around any obstacles that it may face, sometimes even forging a new path for itself. The visual impact of water is nuanced, as is the emotional impact, and has a different effect on every individual. For some, it may create a feeling of peace, tranquility, renewal and flow, for others it may lead to feelings of power, strength, and force. To me, it represents life in its purest form.

In this post, I hope that you are able to find inspiration, emotional connectivity, and a deeper appreciation of abstraction in nature.

Setting the Scene: Iceland’s Natural Canvas

Iceland has a landscape like no other. Commonly referred to as the land of "fire and ice", it is comprised of contrasting elements of nature. Here, you can find volcanoes, massive glaciers and waterfalls, lava fields, and other features that inspire abstract photography, both from land and from above. The landscape is in constant transformation, with active volcanoes creating new landmass, leading to the development of mountains, while the glaciers, rivers and other elements of water repeatedly freeze and thaw to erode and sculpt the terrain. Along the coastline you will find fjords and peninsulas, black sand beaches, and glacial outlets like iceberg lagoons. The center of the country is known as the “Highlands”, with colorful mountains, deep canyons, waterfalls, lava fields and glaciers. The unique aspects of each region lead to differences in weather and weather patterns.

This seemingly hypocritical topography has weather conditions that can drastically shift in minutes, creating even more depth and variety to the visual sights you may encounter. One minute the sky may be full of clouds with rain pelting down, the next it will be bright and clear with a rainbow stretching from one horizon to the next. This leads to different lighting, texture, movement, and transformations. The fluctuations in weather and general inclemency can be attributed to the meeting of more temperate Atlantic air with glacial Arctic air.

The Photograph: Composition and Visual Elements

The photograph, “Icelandic Flow”, captures the ocean at its endpoint, crashing against the bits of hraun (or ‘lava rock’) that sit quietly at the bottom of a cliff. The added element of kelp moving in synchronized dance with the flow of the water creates a visual abstraction for the viewer to appreciate. Often unsure of what they are looking at, the viewer is able to dissect different pieces of the image to decipher the content in their own way. It can be beautiful to watch an individual as they look upon the photograph for the first time and to see their brain working in its own marvelous way.

The hraun add darkness, shadows, and stillness.

The ocean adds hues of blue and white, lightness, and motion.

The kelp adds playfulness, fluidity, and depth.

The overcast sky allowed each element to create its own part in the symphony and did not distract by putting the focus in any one particular place.

As I had mentioned while setting the scene, I was leaning over the edge of a lava cliff, perhaps 60-75 meters above the water. The day was overcast, but not yet dark. In order to capture the movement of the kelp and water, I needed to use a shutter speed that would stop the flow in its tracks. To do this I used a shutter speed of 1/90, a moderately fast setting that allowed me to freeze the motions while letting enough light in. Fortunately, with the brightness from the clouds, I was able to decrease my ISO to 100 (ISO controls your camera’s sensitivity to light. Lower ISO [i.e. 100] decreases the light sensitivity, whereas higher ISO increases it). Due to the distance of the subject to where I stood, I kept my aperture at f13 to create a deeper depth of field so the focus area was larger and I could capture every element.

While the logistics of the shot are useful, the purpose of the image is to evoke feeling and imagination.

Emotional and Artistic Impact

Abstraction in water can evoke a plethora of moods depending on each individual and their own life experiences. Some feelings may be tranquility, mystery, or trepidation. Perhaps one feels a sense of freedom or of fear.

To me, the feeling of wanderlust bubbles to the surface. I had finally made it to the place I had dreamed of. I was in the process of making my dreams a reality. Whenever I look at this photograph, I feel a sense of pride and motivation. To keep going, to keep dreaming, to keep believing in myself.

To push the boundaries of traditional landscape photography, one can implement techniques to shift light and color, similar to artwork belonging to Impressionism. It may come naturally, or it may be something that is sought after. Regardless of whether the technique comes easily or not, I urge you to challenge the standard.

By breaking the mold, we can see the power of ambiguity and open interpretation. The beauty in having more than one right answer. The power to create your own definition. Your own truths.

Technical Insights and Challenges

Capturing these abstractions in moving water does not come without its challenges. Your goals may shift based on your environment, the lighting, the subject, the weather, or your equipment. It may be that the lighting does not allow you to have a fast enough shutter speed to capture the movement the way you visualize. You might not be able to get the angle you so desire. There are layers to every shot and every decision that is made by a photographer. What sacrifices you make. What you refuse to accept.

When choosing water as your subject, you must determine how you want to play with the movement and fluidity. If your goal is to create a scene that feels alive, or you simply want to create a blur effect, then you will want to decrease your shutter speed. Give your camera more time to allow light in, therefore creating motion blur for any moving subject. This can lead to soft edges and lines, streaks and blurs. If your goal is to create definition, completely freeze the moment in time, then you increase your shutter speed. This will lead to sharper images with action shots of fast-moving subjects being crisp and in focus. Other things to consider are whether or not you are using a tripod or holding the camera with your hands. It does not matter how strong or still your hands are, there will always be a slight amount of movement when you physically hold the camera yourself. Therefore, the slower the shutter speed, the more time your camera has to let light in, the more opportunity there is for the movement of your own hands to impact the shot. Think of photographs that capture the night sky. When those are taken, a photographer will use a tripod so the control matter of the subject is not impacted. This does not mean that you need to use a tripod (I personally did not use one for this shot, or for my other abstract water photography), but it is certainly an option.

The last note I will give on this subject is the need for patience and observation. Nature has a mind of its own. It is not a subject that you can control or tell what to do, where to go, how to act. Allow yourself to become a conduit for the power that nature holds rather than trying to force your own desires unto it.

Broader Implications and Inspiration

This photograph marked the beginning of my journey capturing movement and water. I have slowly worked to build the composition of this specific body of work, and all in different cities, parks, and continents. I have found that I am constantly being drawn to water. Enthralled by its majestic visuals and nurturing, lulling sound. I so desire to share its grace with others and continue to form an even wider frame of mind.

It is my goal that viewers are inspired to foster mindful observation of the environment that surrounds them. That they look for awe in the ordinary. I urge and encourage photographers and nature lovers alike to seek beauty in the often overlooked details.

Storytelling is a powerful tool and skill. Abstract photography tells a story, but often makes the viewer question and wonder. It leaves room for interpretation and personal emotional expression. It shows the viewer that this is a small fraction of the bigger picture, or a frozen moment of time that continues to live on without us watching. At the end of the day, that is the power. Nature continues to live even when we are not there to capture its life. The same can be said for ourselves. Do not stop living or wait to start living your life simply because someone else is not there to capture it. Do it for you.

Conclusion: What This Photograph Achieves

“Icelandic Flow” captures the essence of the country’s dynamic and ever-changing landscape. It is an interplay between nature’s unpredictability and artistic vision. It utilizes technical decisions and emotional drive. The end result is a photograph that holds depth, power, and harmony.

I invite readers to look deeper into natural abstractions and find a deeper appreciation for what is around them.

I hope that this image has as much of a lasting effect on you as it has had on me. I am forever grateful for your support, feedback, and patience.

-Alicia Rose

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  Iceland 2022. My first captured photograph. Titled "Icelandic Flow", by Alicia Rose.