Iceland: Double Rainbow & Iconic Waterfall

[Mike Buckley]

My wife and I have seen many waterfalls in our travel and hiking experiences. Iceland's Skogafoss is my favorite so far, though I'll always look forward to seeing others for the first time including Iguazu Falls and Victoria Falls. Skogafoss has the combination of a drop-dead beautiful setting, the easiest accessibility imaginable, a predictable double rainbow in the afternoon, and large water flow yet reasonable intimacy. Everything about Skogafoss is so wonderful that I was actually complaining that so few people were there to enjoy it; no people were digitally removed from any of the images shown below.

#1: Double Rainbow



#2: "Beam me up, Scotty."



#3: Dancing in the Rainbow



Skogafoss requires no bright sun or a rainbow to be beautiful. My wife's images (post-processed by her assistant) show the other mood of Skogafoss.

#4: Subdued Majesty



#5: Misty

[jeeperman]

What a fantastic series! Mike, the first three are stunners and would fit well in any thravel brochure or such. Great work. If people get the chance to see these images, you will see more people at these falls.

[Manfred M]

That brings back more memories Mike; although your wife seems to be more civilized than mine who insisted that we climb to the top.

[Donald]

Mike - You have surpassed yourself.

It seems churlish to start comparing and contrasting, but..........

Image #2 is just breathtaking.

You should be very, very proud of your work in producing these images.

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you to Paul and Donald!

Image #2 is just breathtaking.

It's the model, Donald. Always take a good model with you. Then place her at the bottom of a rainbow in front of an incredibly beautiful waterfall.

Seriously, I'm so glad you like that image. I used an 85mm focal length on a camera with a 1.5 crop factor to obtain the angle I had in mind. That focal length may not make it seem like I was very far away, but I had to yell directions to my wife due to the noise of the falls. "Two steps to the left...you're other left!...Pretend you're looking through your binoculars!", etc. I'm sure the the yelling made the few tourists that were there think I was mad at her, which of course was exactly the opposite. I was SO grateful for her patience and that she had intentionally worn the yellow jacket for the image I had in mind.

After the brief shoot, she asked for combat pay. That's because there was a LOT more mist where she was standing than I realized.

Immediately after I got her positioned, the breeze blew the moisture in a direction that caused the bottom of the rainbow to move directly toward her and envelop her. If you look closely at the largest image size, you can probably see that the rainbow is actually behind her. Indeed, the end of the rainbow was only about about 2 meters in front of me. Once we were done, she rushed back to me and explained the surrealistic moment of watching the rainbow suddenly move toward her. So, the experience not only produced a reasonably good photograph, it also produced perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime experience for her.

I explained afterward that this is proof that there is no pot at the end of the rainbow. Better yet, after nearly 30 years of marriage, there's no question that she's far better than any pot of gold. So, the riches of rainbows are further extolled by the photograph.

[Mike Buckley]

your wife seems to be more civilized than mine who insisted that we climb to the top.

If you look closely in the first image, you night be able to make out two people on the horizon on the right side of the waterfall very close to the falls. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on your point of view, the color of their clothing blends impeccably well with the mountainside.

It was actually a disappointment that we had no time to take the walk not only to the top but also further up the river. The walk up that river is one of the "top ten" walks in the guide book about hiking in Iceland that I used. Just today, we promised each other that we will spend the day taking that hike if we ever return to Iceland. So, it seems that your wife has impeccable judgement.

[Kathy O]

Breathtaking!! I love rainbows and waterfalls, 2 of my favorites in one photo!! You did a great job of capturing the moment, it would have been hard for me to contain my excitment and actually get a photo taken!! Thanks for sharing!

Kathy