Every year as the old year ends and new one starts we trying to summarize what we achieved. This first summary chapter of 2018 is focused on landscapes. Some of the travels this year were spectacular and images are amazing. Enjoy the selection of some of the best.
Taking pictures, especially great ones requires time, patience, great eye but also some luck. However, when traveling luck may not always be on your side. When you are driving in a car, you see this amazing view but there is nowhere to stop a car, if you are on a train it will definitely not stop for you. What should you do? Be prepared for unexpected. This way , when you see a great view or wildlife in the distance or by the road, on the road you can be ready to take a picture.
You ask how to do that? Here are some pointers from my trips around Ireland and Iceland:
In many places in Ireland and Iceland it was impossible to pull over and stop. Mostly because the roads are narrow, they have no shoulder and traffic is unpredictable so stopping is not an option. Just check out the images below, both from Ireland. Even if the road seems clear do not stop to take pictures if there is no space to pull over.
Now, how can you prepare and what should you do to make those images look the best you can?
Here are some examples of pictures taken through the front windshield of a road ahead. Probably the most classic images you may see also probably the easiest to take. I use a manual mode only, which is a bit more challenging but gives me more control over how I want the image to look.
In most cases if you are driving in a car, you will be in a front seat with your seat belt on and with your primary view being forward. Technically, you can also take pictures to your side, through an open or closed window. Those can be a bit more challenging to get the speed correctly set for the photographing an object of interest. The closer the object is to the car the more likely it will be fuzzy. You can see that effect in the image below, with flowers closest to the road are fuzzy. If you do not get shots you want the first time just keep trying. It is worth it to just practice so next time you can get a great photo.
One other interesting point is that when you taking pictures from a car your horizon can get skewed, so more than likely you will need to do a little bit of rotation of your images.
This last image was actually taken with a Zeiss camera on my Lumia 950, amazingly sharp and beautiful picture of the clouds clearing up. With a phone camera the rules are the same as with a real camera. Do not be afraid to take photos out of a car or train, just remember to set up your camera correctly and practice. Good luck!
If any of you were waiting for my continuation of my Icelandic adventures, here is the next installment – waterfalls. Pretty much everywhere you have rocks, hills you see waterfalls from very tiny to huge ones. Iceland has lots of waterfalls and I mean a lot. Some like Gullfoss or Dettifoss are extremely popular with tourists, some a little less and others are not seen much at all. The biggest correlation I found was an accessibility of the site to large tour buses. So if you want to see some less traveled part of Iceland be prepared to take some side roads and add some time to your trip. It is worth it as you will see.
So let’s start with the most popular waterfalls – Gullfoss. The popularity is increased by the fact that these waterfalls are easy to reach by bus from Reykjavik, making it a nice day trip. The waterfalls are located on Hvítá river, span two tiers and flow into a deep canyon. The size of waterfalls is frequently measured in volume of water flowing through them per second. Gullfoss in summer has an average flow of 140 cubic meters per second. Just imagine that the biggest flow rate recorded is on Boyoma Falls in Democratic Republic of Congo with 17000 cubic meters per second. Three other well known waterfalls – Niagara, Iguazu and Victoria falls have flow rates of 2400, 1700 and 1088 cubic meters per second on average. This gives you some comparison scale if you have seen any of those waterfalls.
Here are some of the images from Gullfoss. Starting with one of the more iconic views showing the tiers of the falls.
When you continue on route 1 around Iceland, you will be able to see a lot more waterfalls, the next one is located close by the road and it is called Seljalandsfoss waterfall. This one is pretty amazing as you can walk around it, just ensure you have a raincoat with you and your camera is well protected. You will get wet! This waterfall originates from the volcano glacier Eyjafjallajökull and drops some 60 meters down.
Not that far from Seljalandsfoss is Skógafoss. Waterfall is visible well from the road and it does not take long to get there. A diversion well worth it just as it was for Seljalandsfoss. This waterfall is located on Skógá River and you can walk on the river bed if the flow is not too big. The cliffs on which the waterfall is located, used to be coastal cliffs, now located some five kilometers or three miles away.
Weather in Iceland does not always oblige and pouring rain has made some of the picture taking a little challenging. When we arrived at Godafoss or Waterfall of the Gods, the rain was pouring as much from the sky as it was from the waterfalls. OK, not quite but very close, combined with strong wind, it was not fun to walk a short distance to the falls and back. When you stop to see Godafoss, you should walk across the little pedestrian bridge and see both sides of the waterfalls. The view is completely different and amazing from both sides.
All of those waterfalls are pretty popular and you will find lots of tourists stopping by, hiking and taking pictures. The reason is that all of them are very close to the main road and buses can easily stop to drop people off. I found that at least one of the sites away from the main road is definitely worth visiting. Kolufossar falls on Víðidalsá river are spectacular and while there will be visitors the numbers are nothing compare to Gullfoss. Views are just as breathtaking but judge for yourselves.
The last waterfalls I will show you are Hraunfossar waterfalls. They appear from under the lava rocks and are springwater in origin. It is a spectacular view and really different from any other waterfalls you will see.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter of Iceland adventures. There is still more to come. Iceland has amazing places to see and even if the weather is not the best, you can still enjoy the trip and take some pretty great pictures.
There are many amazing places in Iceland but none like the Glacier Lagoon near Höfn just off route 1. It is a place impossible to miss as you drive on route 1 and only about an hour away from Höfn. The lagoon got created when the glacier receded from the ocean. Currently, the icebergs breaking off the glacier fall into this glacial lake. Most of the large ones stay in place till they get small enough to move freely in water. Smaller icebergs slowly drift out into the ocean. As they travel, icebergs break up and smaller pieces wash out on the black sand beach in Jökulsárlón, known as Diamond Beach. So when you are visiting the lagoon, you also have to take a short trip across the bridge to the beach.
In the images below you will see amazing blue ice. This is the natural color of the ice from the Breiðamerkurjökull, which is an outlet of the Vatnajökull glacier. The first time you see it, the blue hues are amazing and it feels a little surreal but soon you start seeing the different colors of blue, as well as white and grey.
The icebergs are dynamic and they break occasionally into smaller fragments. We witnessed the arch in the photo blow to collapse with a loud bang into the two floating blue pieces above.
One of the attractions in the lagoon is a boat ride. This will take you close to the icebergs and you can admire them from a completely different perspective.
If you do not feel like taking a boat ride, there are two trails, one close to the water and one higher up. They both give you a different view of the lagoon and both are beautiful. So take your time and walk around a little enjoy the views.
Diamond Beach is a black sand beach with ice crystals washed on it. These crystals melt slowly once they wash on shore. Everyday they will be changing and never be quite the same, so pictures taken on any day will be unique. We have seen mostly smaller pieces but occasionally there will be quite big chunks of ice on black sand.
And this is how you get to take those photos, I am the one in purple vest, lying on the beach. Thanks to my husband, Tom for taking this picture.
The spectacular beauty of the lagoon inspired some of the Hollywood directors to use it as a backdrop in their productions. Four movies have been shot on location and those are”A view to a kill”, Lara Croft: Tomb Rider”, “Batman begins” and James Bond “Die another day”.
If you are intending to take pictures in the lagoon, it is good to have a tripod, ND filter, and lots of time. Summertime is great for visiting Iceland but may not be the best for taking images with low setting sun, at sunrise or sunset, so depending on your preferences and plans this could be a factor for you to consider. No matter what, you will enjoy the spectacular views in the lagoon.
To leave you with something special here are the two short videos.
Diamond Beach
Boat ride
Iceland is a land of ice, fire and geothermal energy. This series of blogs will show you the beauty of Icelandic countryside, waterfalls, ice, black sand beaches, craters, lava fields, amazing geothermal pools and more. The world you will see is beautiful but also fragile. Icelanders have learned how to live in this not always most welcoming environment. They also make the most out of the natural resources of the island, such as the geothermal pools.
Geothermal pools or hot lakes are not exclusive to Iceland, they are found also elsewhere. Water in those pools is heated by the energy coming from the earth’s crust. Temperatures in some pools is too high to be used for bathing, but in others it is just perfect for relaxation. The one I will show you today – the Blue Lagoon, is between Reykjavik and Keflavik International Airport. In contrast to some others, those pools are are man-made, the water comes from close-by Svartsengi power station. It is also one of the most frequently visited geothermal spas in Iceland.
The Blue Lagoon is a great place to visit, especially when you are tired from a long flight. You will be relaxed and refreshed in no time at all. There are different packages or tickets you can purchase and you need to pre-purchase those selecting your preferred time of entry at the time of purchase. There are secure lockers you will be able to leave your stuff in, there is also a luggage storage by the parking if you want to leave your large suitcases. Basic package includes a towel and a drink but remember that the outside temperature in Iceland is pretty low, even in summer so an upgrade to next package with a robe can be a good solution.
Once you are ready to enter the pool area, you can check out the temperature in the pools. It is handy but you are unlikely to remember details once you are in the water. Do not worry though, water is comfortable, not too hot. You can swim, walk or just soak in the pools. As you play in the water, you may get thirsty, to take care of that there is a drink bar in the lagoon. It offers a selection of drinks, from water, through healthy juices, smoothies, soft drinks to wine or beer. Do not worry about money, at entrance you will be given a band to put on your wrist and it is used to record all of your purchases while inside the spa.
There is also a second bar. It is a mask bar, where you can get your free silica mask or get an upgrade to one of their special masks. Putting it on can be fun but avoid getting any of the masks into your eyes or on your hair. In this part of the pool you can see plenty people walking with the masks on their faces, shoulders and even backs.
Another option at the Blue Lagoon is to get a special package with in water treatment included. In a separate area of the lagoon, there are in water massage beds. And if all this is not enough for you, there is also a wall of waterfall, steam rooms and sauna. You can also stay on-site in a hotel. Rooms are definitely expensive but you will get a lot for your money. Some of the rooms include even a private lagoon. Yes, your own geothermal lagoon! Staying at the hotel on site lets you enjoy the spa when you want and pick and choose what you like. Being close to Reykjavik, it makes it possible to go there for an evening if you wish as well or spend your evening in a warm pool under the stars. This obviously not in the middle of the summer, when there is no real night to talk about.
As you can see area surrounding the lagoon is pretty surreal with the black volcanic rocks everywhere. In the distance you can see green grass on the hills surround the lagoon as well as the power station itself. The mist over the pools is hot water mist, as the pools are much warmer than the air around you. The moment you get out of the water is memorable, you suddenly feel cold, this is when it is great to have a robe to wrap yourself in it.
Relaxing in the water or outside water is great. You can get pampered in the water, you can also use relaxation lounge and sitting area inside, grab a snack or drink. Once you are too hungry to carry on relaxing, there is a snack bar, as well as full restaurant. And you do not have to get changed, just go right in, get seated and enjoy a meal with a view of the lagoon. Food is local and delicious.
Once you have relaxed enough and had some food to get you going, there is a shop, which sells cosmetics to keep your skin perfect once you are back home. As you are leaving the spa it is also good to see the surrounding area, which will take you close to the other pools which are not a part of the lagoon and offer views of volcanic rocks, delicate moss growing on their surface.
The Blue Lagoon is just one of the geothermal spas in Iceland and you can enjoy many others even around Reykjavik. Once you get into the countryside, there are some spas with fantastic views. So whatever your choice might be, you need to see at least one of those spas, they are unforgettable. It is a true experience in healthy lifestyle and relaxation. Perfect moment in time to enjoy.
Today we will concentrate on the second part of creating the book, finishing it and uploading for publishing.
Let’s start with the cover of the book. There are three different types: soft cover, hardcover with image wrapped on it or a linen hardcover with dust jacket. The only important thing to remember is that not all sizes of the book are available in a soft cover version. Softcover books less than 80 pages will also not have any text printed on the spine. If you have picked a large size book with only hardcover options and now want to change to a soft cover, you will need to resize your book. Just click on the change size icon and follow the prompts. Changing size may require adjustments of the layouts.
As you can see in this example the dust jacket was created with the title and author on a front page and on the spine of the book. However, title does not appear clearly in the image and font is a bit awkward. This is pretty normal in the first version and it is easy to change to your liking. Changing colors and font may take a few tries before it looks just right. It is easy to reposition the text boxes in Edit Layout just as we did before. If the decisions on text, color and font are too hard to make, you can print a few examples, show the options to family or friends, get a second opinion.
Adding extra text to the flaps or back of the book gives you more space to tell the reader about yourself and the book itself. While text on single color background is not a problem, adding it to a photo with varying colors can be a bit tricky, just like the back page above. Just because the layout allows you to add text, it does not have to appear there at all. As you would have noticed the book pages and the cover are white, there is an option to change the theme of the book to a dark or a patterned one. You can check options under Themes icon. If you do not like it just undo it to return to the previous version.
The next important step it to determine how your title page is going to look like. It can have an image on it or not, there are a few layouts provided. This page can be really creative to stand out or can mirror the book cover, the choice is yours. The following page is a copyright page. As I mentioned it before, when making a photo book it is important that you hold the rights to the images you are going to include in your book. If you are using someone else’s images or graphics or any protected content, you need have their permission and add their names to the copyright page. This is particularly critical when you will be wanting to sell your book.
Laying out the images of the main book content is the real fun. Any beautiful panoramic photos can be used to create a two-page spread. In one of my previous books I used the image of Windows in Arches National park as a spread. It makes a great impact when you open a book. In this book, I used Cliffs of Moher as a center spread.
Another feature, you might have noticed are headers on all the pages of your book. Headers can be easily edited to display content of choice: title, author, page number or custom content. In contrast to trade books, you can modify on which pages your header appears. Any changes to the font of the header have to be applied to either selected or all pages in a book. Page numbers will by default appear in a footer and again that can be edited in the same manner as a header. Inspect your pages and if the header or footer look awkward on a page, like in an example below, you can adjust that by removing the text.
Headers and footers cannot be edited in layout view, meaning their position cannot be altered, they cannot be added or removed. However, not all layouts have a header or a footer. Generally, any full-page images will not display a header and footer. If for whatever reason you want to alter that, select a layout with these features and create a full-page image box on it.
Now it seems that the book is ready for a preview and proofreading. On the right you will see a button to preview book. Once you click on it, a non-editable preview will appear. Now you will be able to see how your printed book will look. It is easy to go back and edit details as you review the book or make notes and then go back and edit all the parts needing attention. There is no right or wrong way of doing it, whatever works for you as long as you manage to catch all the problems.
Once you are happy with the book, you are ready to order it. If you would want to change a size of the book, this is the last time you can do that for a photo book. Any changes of opinion later may mean resizing your content and going through the checks anyway all over again.
After clicking Order Book, a final checklist appears and you can use a spell check at this stage if you have not yet done it before. I strongly suggest to do it as there is nothing worse than printing a book only to find a spelling mistake in it. For those of you who do not have an account on Blurb there will be an option to register. For those of you using an older version of BookSmart, make sure that you upgrade to the latest version. If your version is old, book will fail to upload. Do not panic, close the software, download and install new version, then re-open the book and continue.
Once the book is uploaded you can create an e-book for different devices or a .pdf file which is accessible on nearly all devices. This is also the time to set up book for selling if you wish to do so. This is always possible to enable selling later. I suggest ordering a copy for yourself first to see how it looks all printed out, before setting it up for sales. You can market your book through Blurb, Amazon or Apple iBooks Store. You are not locked to a single distributor and books can be printed on demand, so there is no upfront cost or storage issue with boxes of books. Use Blurb guidelines for setting this up.
I hope you enjoyed making a book! Leave a comment or connect on social media to show off your creations. My book will soon be available as well.
The first book that I will show how to create is a Photo Book. I will be creating a book about trip around Ireland. Let’s get started. There will be two parts to this post. In the first one, I will show how to create a book. In the second, we will review book, add finishing touches and upload for printing.
I am using Windows 10 and this is where the images are coming from in my posts. You can use an Apple computer as well for the process, there are also some editors specially for iPad and iPhone. Other software you will need, is an image processing software. It can be anything you like as long as you can create .jpeg or .png files. I use Adobe Lightroom for most of the processing, occasionally also Corel PaintshopPro 2018. You also have an option of importing images from SmugMug.
In Lightroom it is good to create a collection of images you want to use, so picking the ones for the book is easier. This is the most time-consuming part of the creation process. Generally, we have way more images than should be in a book. So how to cut down on this number?
If you created previous books, BookSmart will open the last book created or ask you what you want to do. Select New Book Project, under File in main menu of from the front screen. The first screen will ask for the book title, author and book size. Pick a title, it can be changed later but having a few untitled books on the computer will make things really complicated later. In order to figure out the size of a book and number of pages you want in a book, click on pricing button to see how much a book will cost. Make sure that you are looking at Photo Book pricing as this is what we are creating.
The cover choices available for a selected book format are listed as well. It is possible to select the cover later in the process and you can change your mind up until uploading the book, so do not worry about them right now.
As to the actual book structure and content. In your book of 20 pages, the first page is a title page, second page will be a copyright page and the last page is left empty for the logo. So effectively you will have only 17 pages for your photos and any text you want to add. Depending on price you want to pay for your book you may want to add some more pages or not. If you want to sell the book, a price is also important.
Next step lets you pick an already existing layout or start your book from scratch. I clicked on Start Book Now. This opens-up the editing software on the front page of the cover with information you added at the beginning and this is where you can change it.
On the bottom of the screen is a book navigator. There are two ways of navigating, one on the arrows and the second on clicking the pages you want to edit. Pages can be moved around the book by dragging and dropping them in a new position. New pages can be added from the Add Pages drop down menu. The center of the window is occupied by the book pages. On the left there are alternative layouts and below space for images.
Importing images is not complicated, as long as you know where they are on your computer. Select Get Photos and identify your folder. There you can pick individual photos or import all of them. You can delete any unused images from the import list to clean it up.
As you have noticed the pages of the book show image sections and text sections. The easiest way to make a change to the layout is by choosing a different page layout from the variety of ones already available in the program. If none of them suits you, click on Edit layout and save it as your own with a new name.
Editing the layout is very simple. You can add Image Box, Text Box, resize, duplicate existing containers, bring them to front or send them to the back. The features can be aligned with respect to each other. An important note is that a Display trim guidelines feature should be enabled so no text or image will be layout in a pink area that will be later trimmed.
Now you should be able to make your own layouts and save them so they can be re-used later in your next project.
To Add images to the book, click on the page in book navigator. Once it is highlighted, you can drag the image to the image container. In order to substitute an image, delete it by using backspace and drag a new photo into its place. It is also possible to focus on a part of the image by using Zoom slider. By dragging the image in the container you can select to show just a part of the photo. When adding text, it is better to use a slightly smaller font than you would use in your regular documents. I have usually used 11 point font for main text. Another word of warning, not all fonts are licensed for e-books. At the top of the font palette there are e-book friendly fonts, however, for just printed version you can use any font. There will be time later to proof read a .pdf file to make sure that font is not too large.
It is time to stop now to let you create a book. In the next part we will finish the book and upload it to Blurb. Feel free to ask questions in the comments if you have any.
I was always amazed by old clocks when visiting historical castles and palaces. They were all handcrafted by very skilled artists not just watchmakers or tradesmen. Many of them unfortunately do not work anymore, which is a pity. Take a look at some of them shown below, they are beautiful.We can only imagine the sounds they would make if they were still working.
Here are some of the amazing images I took in the Warsaw Castle, Lazienki and Wilanow.
It is only a small selection what is presented in those historical locations.
Old Town in Warsaw is one of the most commonly frequented places in Warsaw, especially by tourists. It has changed a lot over the centuries and even over the past few decades. The Old Town was damaged significantly during the WWII and got restored after the war. There were some additional restorations carried out over the last few decades making it look like you see now.
Warsaw castle was damaged during the 1939 war with Germany with famous pictures showing burning clock tower in September 1939. However, it still stood over the city. It got nearly completely blown up after the 1944 Warsaw uprising. When you visit the castle, it is still possible to see reminders of this time in the foundations that survived the war. The castle got rebuild after the war pretty much de novo. It now stands proudly in the Old Town once again. The interiors of the castle have been beautifully reconstructed according to the historical information available.
The castle was an important site not only the royal residence. It was used for the meetings of the Polish parliament. The old meeting room seen here on the left. Later the parliament rooms got moved upstairs. The Senate room now hosts a copy of the Polish Constitution signed on 3rd May 1791. There is also a painting by famous Polish painter Jan Matejko showing the scene after the signing of the Constitution. Many famous people are shown in the painting with the king in the center holding the Constitution.
My favorite room is the marble room hosting portraits of 22 Polish kings painted by Marcello Bacciarelli. It includes the big portrait of last king of Poland – Stanislaw August Poniatowski.
There are many more things to see in the castle, with all the beautiful little decorative details. It is worth a visit to see all the amazing things that are in the castle and learn about its history.
Once you leave the castle most people head to the main square in the Old Town. On your way one of the churches you pass, is the Saint John’s Cathedral. This is the church in front of which Matejko placed the scene seen in his painting of Constitution of May 3, 1791. It also had to be restored after the war, while not completely destroyed it was significantly damaged. It hosts organ concerts in the summer and sometime at other times of the year. The only time that visitors are permitted is when there is no mass celebrated. If you do come inside be respectful as it is a place of worship and not a meeting point, so keep your conversations to a minimum and very quiet.
As you continue along the street you get to the square. The houses surrounding it were also reconstructed after the war. They house a lot of little shops, museums, cafes and restaurants. This square has been pictured in many movies taking place in Warsaw. In wintertime, before Christmas there is a holiday market held here.
In the old days the town was surrounded by the fortifications known as Barbakan. What you can see now is all modern construction, however, it was constructed on the original foundations.
One of the amazing things to do around the Old Town is walk on the little streets, stop in for a coffee, go into a church, visit many little shops or just explore. It is fun, you get to see many beautiful houses, decorations and some streets offer views of the river.
Come and enjoy your time in the Old Town. After starting here, you can explore the other royal residences in Warsaw.
As all good things the adventure in Ireland is nearing its finish line. We had about half a day to enjoy the most beautiful weather in Northern Ireland.Some of that time was spend on walking around Belfast University area and the city.
After a bit of relaxation in the city, I was catching up with a Flickr friend in Donaghadee, east of Belfast. A drive took us through Bangor on some of the busy roads to the coast. I visited Bangor some years before and while it is a nice place, it gets really busy, so heading to close by Donaghadee was a great idea. It is easier to find parking there and it has some great locations for photoshoots, like the lighthouse in the harbor, south pier or the castle.
A hike to the castle towering over the town is short and easy, and most of all worth the effort. However, if the weather is poor, it will get windy at the top, so bring warm clothes and a tripod. View towards the harbor is great and you will be tempted to try a lot of different shots to capture it all.
Area around Donaghadee is worth exploring as there are many interesting sites for an inquisitive photographer. One of the stunning sights is a windmill located close by. Exploring the area with a friend was really great. I wished only that I had more time to enjoy the day. A beautiful sunny day in Northern Ireland is very valuable and rare.
However, we had to slowly head back to Dublin, so after a short stop for some lunch we hit the road and went back south. There are multiple places on the way that you can stop at and explore. Our goal that evening, however, was a visit to the pub area of Dublin and listening to some live music over a pint.
As it was Friday afternoon, there were many choices for good music. We went to Temple Bar, one of the best known sites in Dublin. The bar is very busy, you will pretty much get some standing room, if you come over with friends, you should head there a bit earlier to score a table. There is a great selection of beers on tap, some snacks as well. However, if you are hungry it is better to stop at one of the local Irish restaurants before heading to the bar.
As the evening was getting to a close, we were heading back for the last relaxing night before getting on the plane back. It was a great trip, a bit short but worth every minute and views were just amazing. The last picture from Dublin is the view of the city by night. Goodnight Dublin! Goodbye Ireland!
Dublin by night
Agnes Caruso Photography 