Take Advantage of Unusual Subjects. [DC-10 airplane wreck, Solheimasandur, Iceland.]

Take Advantage of Unusual Subjects. [DC-10 airplane wreck, Solheimasandur, Iceland.]

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You can buy this Fine Art Print here.

DC-10 airplane wreck, Solheimasandur (near Vik), Iceland. Fine Art Print by Alberto Mateo.

Few locals could think four decades ago that the mistake of a pilot who connected the wrong fuel tank would produce a touristic attraction in the middle of a remote uninhabited beach in the coast of Iceland. The remains of the DC-10 that had to make a crash landing is nowadays one of the most visited places around Vik, as if there were not enough place to go: the basalts of Reynisfjara Beach, the impressive cliffs of Dyorhaley, and the elegant shapes of Reynisdrangar are not far away.

The hike from the parking where the car is left and the remains of the plane takes about one hour. A signaled dirty road has been built on the lava so the path is perfectly marked, but the weather is capricious and care must be taken not to lose the way.

It was sunny the day I took this image, but very windy. Storm clouds passed over the horizon. In fact, I was able to shoot two of my favorite pictures I took during the photographic trip I took of clouds above Petursey: A panoramic composition, and this one with a more usual ratio.

The lunar landscape around is stunning. The sensation of vastness you get when you walk in these solitary lava fields is impressive, but if there was something that made the difference the day I shot this photograph, were the clouds. They moved fast and changed dramatically the photographic possibilities of this location. They look even better in black and white (as most of the landscapes I shot in Iceland).

The lunar landscape around is stunning. The sensation of vastness you get when you walk in these solitary lava fields is impressive, but if there was something that made the difference the day I shot this photograph, were the clouds. 

I used my Nikkor 80-200 2.8 because it gave me a better perspective of the plane and allowed me to create a composition that isolated the plane against the background of dark boulders. I tried first a wide angle-angle lens, but distorted the shape of the airplane and made the people more predominant in the composition so changed to my Tele, and moved farther away from the place to search for new compositions.

I set a nearly open aperture to isolate my subject, the plane against the background, on Aperture Priority mode, low ISO (100) and the Shutter Speed fell on 1/3200 of a second (the amount of light was very high).

The camera was handheld. I shot kneeling because the gusty wind was very strong and moved my big Tele in my hands.

I did not have time during this journey to visit this location under different weather conditions, but I believe that impressive images can be taken with this subject.

It is a pending job for the day I come back to this beautiful Island. 


TECHNICAL TIPS:

FILTER: I used a B+W 702M - 77mm Graduated Neutral Density 0.6 (2 stops) filter to make the get the high values of the white clouds nearer to the dark values of the lava boulders. 


EXIF DATA:

Camera Model: Nikon D800
Lens: Nikon 80-200 AF used at 145mm
SETTINGS: Aperture: f3.2 | Shutter Speed: 1/3200 seconds | ISO: 100


LIST OF USED GEAR

Tripod: No Tripod, handheld.
Backpack: LowePro with rain cover (absolutely needed in Iceland)
Filter: B+W 77mm GRAD ND (702M) 2 stops Graduated 0.6 Neutral Density Filter, 2 points, very soft transition.
Memory Card: Sandisk SD Extreme 64Gb 

NEXT SCHEDULED POST: Lava rock and surf, Vikurfjara Beach, Vík í Mýrdal, Iceland.


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This print is available as an Open Edition Fine Art Print. Click here to visit the shop.

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