All images © 2007-2013 Aaron Meyers
For the last 8 years I’ve gathered my friends in Yosemite National Park to celebrate my birthday (or, as of late, more of a “belated birthday” celebration). A few of us drove up early Friday morning and I watched an absolutely AMAZING sunset in Tuolumne Meadow: the sky to the east was filled with amazing lenticular clouds that glowed orange in the sunset. Afterwards, I hopped back in the car and drove to Olmsted Point. I knew that the moon wouldn’t rise until 2am and I had plenty of time to try to capture the Milky Way above Olmsted Point. I had recently downloaded the app “Sky Guide” and it told me the Milky Way would rise near Olmsted Point sometime around midnight. Most of my friends, including my photo friends, hadn’t arrived yet and I was all alone at Olmsted Point. It’s amazing how much creepier Yosemite can feel when it’s just you, crickets, and random eyes watching over you. Luckily the stars and the light pollution were so bright that I could see most of Olmsted Point without having to use a flashlight! In early June the Milky Way is more horizontal in the sky and I loved the way it almost paralleled the mountains as it crept towards Half Dome, almost as if it was flying through the sky on its way to take a break on The Dome! Nikon D800 w/Rokinon 24mm f/1.4: Foreground: 24mm, f/2.0, 30 sec, ISO 500 Sky: 24mm, f/1.8, 13 seconds, ISO 1600
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Without a doubt my favorite part of our 2 weeks in Iceland was the “ice-beach”. Over at Jökulsárlón (pronounced Yo-cool-sar-lon) the lake is created as the Vatnajökull glacier melts. Ice-bergs float along the lagoon before passing through a channel into the Atlantic Ocean. The waves break down the icebergs into smaller chunks and then wash onto the black lava sand beach. At low tide smaller chunks wash ashore and at high tide the beach is blocked up with larger icebergs. We arrived at the Jökulsárlón Ice-Lagoon as a storm began to brew. Colby Brown was teaching a workshop of eager students and I had a really nice chat with him before I made my way over to the beach. The low tide meant that I could get down into the water, close to some of the smaller pieces of iceberg. I waited until a wave came up to the ice and then started firing away. I loved the way the water and the ice danced together over the black sand beach. Because the ice is so cold is is free of most air-bubbles. Additionally, silt from the nearby mountains gives the icebergs an amazing blue color. At one point the glacier touched the Atlantic Ocean but since 1970 has retreated almost a mile inland, creating this 7 square mile lagoon. Definitely one of the highlights of the trip! Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8 ED-IF AF-S: 17mm, f/11, 1.3 sec, ISO 100
