STORY BEHIND THE STILL
José Ramos talks us through his enchanting landscape capture
PHOTOGRAPHER: José ramos WEBSITE: joseramos.com LOCATION: iceland
TYPE OF COMMISSION: Personal
SHOT DETAILS: Sony a7r with Zeiss 16-35mm f4 lens, 30secs at f14, iSo 100
ABOUT THE SHOT: José Ramos is a Lisbon-based photographer, specialising in landscape imagery. Having been published in a range of magazines, including
National Geographic, his style captures the delicate colour and lighting of the locations he studies. This image, shot in the Hverir Geothermal area of Iceland, has an otherworldly appearance, yet demonstrates the common volcanic activity of the region.
“This is one of those images showing that our planet is very much alive and constantly renovating itself,” says José. “Just like most places in Iceland, beauty and epicness lies around every corner, so this was yet another exquisite place I really needed to capture.” When shooting in such a well-photographed landscape, it’s important to highlight the most characteristic properties. In this case José focused on colour. “In this scene I was hypnotised by the strong bluish tones of the boiling mud pool, and the contrast with the steaming fumaroles and menacing sky. The whole scene had an extremely strong sulphur smell and it just looked like I was witnessing the breathing of a living planet. This image was an attempt to encompass these elements, brought into greater aesthetic harmony through the use of a long exposure.”
Once José had introduced some creative flair through the extended shutter speed, he needed to conquer the practical difficulties. “The ground near the boiling mud pools can easily reach 100ºC. There are thin ropes in specific places where the ground is too hot, so sometimes it’s not easy to compose shots.” To push the colour theme, José post-processed with this in mind. “I processed the photo in Adobe Camera Raw, adjusting exposure, white balance, highlights, clarity, H/S/L of some colour channels and added a bit of ‘dehaze’ to strengthen the blues and add more contrast.