I always think of 360 degree panoramic photography is a good way to let people see what an area is like without them having to actually go there. When I look at this picture now I it does not feel the same at all. There were so many other elements when I was there that the picture just can’t give you. The noise, the spray, the wind. It’s the combination of all of these that allows Dettifoss to let you know that it is one of Europe’s most powerful waterfalls.

Taking the photo:
When I get to a new area that I want to take a panoramic photo in I normally have a good look around first to try to decide where I want to take the shot from. With Dettifoss I did this to an extent, but when I saw this spot I knew that’s where the photo had to be taken. There was one problem with this… And it was a pretty big problem. The spray from the waterfall was drowning the area and it made it very difficult to take the photo. I stood around for about half an hour with my camera on the tripod ready to go with all the settings programmed in ready to take the shot, though I had to keep a water proof cover on my camera so stop it getting covered in water and rock partials. Most of the time the wind was coming from the waterfall due to the force of the water pushing the air out of the way, but sometimes a small gust would come from the west and push this air and the spray away in the other direction. It really was a waiting game. I had to wait for a time where the sun was out from behind the clouds and a gust came from the west which was long enough to allow me to take the series of pictures needed for the panorama. All this time waiting around getting wetter and wetter. I was really glad that I had arrived here on my motorbike and kept the waterproof gear on. After what seemed like forever I finally decided this was the best conditions I was going to get. The camera lens was covered in drops of water almost right away, but I kept shooting anyway while I had the cover off of my camera.
After shooting the sequence I quickly left to get my camera dried off. I couldn’t wait to know if the picture had turned out or not, but I would not find out until all of the images were stitched together.
Here is the end result of that long shoot and the much longer processing time to get rid of most of the water droplets from the lens.

Here is Dettifoss.