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Time to change the mood somewhat from the last couple of posts. If this image conveys the feelings of darkness, gloom, chaos and stormy weather, it is because these were the exact conditions that we encountered when taking this photo near the village of Vidareidi (Viðareiði) on the island of Vidoy in the Faroe Islands. The weather forecast was not very encouraging but we decided nonetheless to explore the outer parts of the islands starting at Vidoy. We were lucky enough that at least the rain eased off as we made it to this remote village but the wind remained very strong and these were some of the toughest conditions that I photographed in (in my personal experience of course).
I contemplated whether it was wise to go out there while we sat in the car for good few minutes after we arrived, as the wind and odd shower battered the car. In the end, bravely or foolishly - take your pick here, I decided to put on a tonne of clothing, including waterproof garments, got my camera and tripod as ready as I could to ensure minimal fiddling once outside, and wondered into the gloominess.
After navigating through waterlogged muddy paths I was able to reach the shore and found a view that I instantly liked. I still had to descend slowly to get closer to the water and wave action and I did that very carefully, especially taking it step by step on wet rocks. I managed to find a spot that was reasonably protected from the waves and where I thought it to be safe enough to deploy the tripod. The wind was coming in gusts now and I was watching out to ensure that it was not going to push me or camera over. I stayed a fair distance away from the edges but close enough to the mad cauldron or maelstrom of waves crashing in every direction possible on the rocks below.
The rain kept mostly away but there were still few random drops carried by the wind from the sea. The wind was also picking up the spray from the crashing waves, which resulted in me having to wipe the filter in front of the lens between each shutter press. I could not keep all the water out, however, because the light was stable and I took a number of takes of the same composition, I was able in post processing to pick water spots in each image and blend in same areas from other frames that were water free. I used five different frames to build this final one to achieve a hopefully spot free image at the end.
The other fun part of this photography excursion was the wind that was blowing in gusts from my left at about ninety degrees to my face. You can actually see the water flow on the opposite cliff being blown sideways. The break between gusts was sometimes less than a second so it almost felt continuous and the left side of my face was getting numb. I do not know if you ever tried taking photos in strong winds but after about five, may be ten minutes, I had tears running down my eyes and found it almost impossible to look through at the camera. May be a big transparent rain/wind cover that I could put over myself and the camera would be something to think about in the future but honestly I don't think I would have been able to use it in this kind of wind. I had to also position myself slightly on the side of the tripod to block as much of the wind as possible from hitting and disturbing the camera.
In the end, I had quite good fun battling the weather and photographing the coastal scenery on that day. I remember getting back to the car very cold but still with a big smile. I also enjoyed very much working on the image at home, which brought back all these memories that I was able to share with you. I love taking photos but it is just one element in whole experience of getting out into the nature that I also enjoy greatly. I hope you find the story interesting and that today's image allows you to at least imagine the rough weather which we experienced at Vidareidi.
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