Reaching the Dettifoss waterfall in winter was no easy task. The road to get there was classified as “extremely slippery, travel not recommended” due to ice and melting snow.
My friend and I decided to take the risk. The road was slippery but still manageable on the way there. However, on the way back, in the darkness and cold of the night, it was much more stressful. We almost slid backward with the van on the first incline.
Once there, a 20-minute walk through deep snow, crampons on, was necessary to reach the waterfall! Once in front of it, the view was breathtaking. The power of the water could be felt as much through its flow as through its roar. Unfortunately, the waterfall isn’t perfectly aligned on the North-South axis to have the auroras right above. The only hope was that if the auroras appeared at night, they would be strong enough to light up the eastern sky above the waterfall.
Back at the van, waiting for nightfall, the clouds cleared just in time! And, as almost usual during the trip, the auroras followed shortly after. Once again, they exploded!
We headed back toward the falls. I set up my first camera to start a timelapse, then the second for a panorama. Just then, I realized I had forgotten the plate to mount it on the tripod… No tripod, no photos!
No choice, I went back to the van for a 40-minute round trip, alone in the silent night. The auroras, growing bigger and bigger, danced above me. I recalled an article I had read a few days earlier about a polar bear spotted in the area before being taken down. There was no chance of encountering one, but it still made me pick up the pace. A stressful but unforgettable experience.
That night, the aurora was crazy and took so many different shapes. The final result looks like a Phoenix! 🙂
📷
Panorama of 49 images
Canon 6D, Sigma ART 20mmSky: f/1.8, ISO 1600, 5 sec
Landscape: f/1.8, ISO 3200, 6 sec
Indoorsman101 on
I’m supposed to say butterfly, but specifically I saw Mothra first
Annual-Cheesecake374 on
Moth… now I have to write more… ok, there we go. I see a moth.
Beerasaurwithwine on
Mothman or Owlman, littish head but the eyes are big, with outspread wings. Very cool.
Kal_PAD on
It’s a Legendary Pokemon! Too bad Ash is retires now.
OkRush9563 on
OH MY GOD IT’S MOTHRA!
Hm, sorry, I don’t know what came over me.
bjerh on
Butthole to be honest. A colourful one at that
otter111a on
Dragon. Wings spread. Looking down to its right/our left.
The spread open legs similar to what I saw in Thailand once.
Great Rorschach test. There’s always a sexual element to the images
Lilscheisse on
A hummingbird! But it made me type more characters to post this!
xupl on
Looks to me like a phoenix taking dive, head pointing downward on the bottom part of the picture
Chogo82 on
I just watched X men dark phoenix and can confirm that’s the phoenix force.
Aah__HolidayMemories on
A small, off-duty, Czechoslovakian traffic warden!
SophiaRaine69420 on
It looks like a beautiful celestial Butterfly faerie! 🧚♀️
15 Comments
Reaching the Dettifoss waterfall in winter was no easy task. The road to get there was classified as “extremely slippery, travel not recommended” due to ice and melting snow.
My friend and I decided to take the risk. The road was slippery but still manageable on the way there. However, on the way back, in the darkness and cold of the night, it was much more stressful. We almost slid backward with the van on the first incline.
If you’re interested, you can find more of my work on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/tinmar_g/)
Once there, a 20-minute walk through deep snow, crampons on, was necessary to reach the waterfall! Once in front of it, the view was breathtaking. The power of the water could be felt as much through its flow as through its roar. Unfortunately, the waterfall isn’t perfectly aligned on the North-South axis to have the auroras right above. The only hope was that if the auroras appeared at night, they would be strong enough to light up the eastern sky above the waterfall.
Back at the van, waiting for nightfall, the clouds cleared just in time! And, as almost usual during the trip, the auroras followed shortly after. Once again, they exploded!
We headed back toward the falls. I set up my first camera to start a timelapse, then the second for a panorama. Just then, I realized I had forgotten the plate to mount it on the tripod… No tripod, no photos!
No choice, I went back to the van for a 40-minute round trip, alone in the silent night. The auroras, growing bigger and bigger, danced above me. I recalled an article I had read a few days earlier about a polar bear spotted in the area before being taken down. There was no chance of encountering one, but it still made me pick up the pace. A stressful but unforgettable experience.
That night, the aurora was crazy and took so many different shapes. The final result looks like a Phoenix! 🙂
📷
Panorama of 49 images
Canon 6D, Sigma ART 20mmSky: f/1.8, ISO 1600, 5 sec
Landscape: f/1.8, ISO 3200, 6 sec
I’m supposed to say butterfly, but specifically I saw Mothra first
Moth… now I have to write more… ok, there we go. I see a moth.
Mothman or Owlman, littish head but the eyes are big, with outspread wings. Very cool.
It’s a Legendary Pokemon! Too bad Ash is retires now.
OH MY GOD IT’S MOTHRA!
Hm, sorry, I don’t know what came over me.
Butthole to be honest. A colourful one at that
Dragon. Wings spread. Looking down to its right/our left.
The spread open legs similar to what I saw in Thailand once.
Great Rorschach test. There’s always a sexual element to the images
A hummingbird! But it made me type more characters to post this!
Looks to me like a phoenix taking dive, head pointing downward on the bottom part of the picture
I just watched X men dark phoenix and can confirm that’s the phoenix force.
A small, off-duty, Czechoslovakian traffic warden!
It looks like a beautiful celestial Butterfly faerie! 🧚♀️
Flying lizard
https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/blogs/creatura-blog/2014/05/dragon-lizard-draco-volans/
Butterfly. I don’t know about Mothra. I’ll google it 😊