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Breathtaking view over misty Vestmannaeyjar (Westman Islands).
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Vestmannaeyjar (Westman Islands) is a town and archipelago off the south coast of Iceland.
The largest island, Heimaey, has a population of 4,135. The other islands are uninhabited, though six have single hunting cabins. Vestmannaeyjar came to international attention in 1973 with the eruption of Eldfell volcano, which destroyed many buildings, and forced a months-long evacuation of the entire population to mainland Iceland.

The islands are named after the Irish who were captured into slavery by the Norse Gaels. The Old Norse word Vestmenn, literally “Westmen”, was applied to the Irish, and retained in Icelandic even though Ireland is more easterly than Iceland. (The Norse Gaels often called themselves in contrast Ostmen or Austmenn – East-men)
Not long after Ingólfur Arnarson arrived in Iceland, his blood brother Hjörleifur was murdered by the slaves he had brought with him. Ingolfur tracked them down to Vestmannaeyjar and killed them all in retribution.
On July 16, 1627, in an event known as the Turkish abductions, the islands were captured by a fleet of 3 ships of Barbary Pirates from Algiers, who stayed there until July 19 under the control of Ottomans. They had earlier raided in Austfirðir and another raid under the command of Murat Reis from Salé in Morocco had taken place in Grindavík in June of that year. The pirates enslaved 234 people from the islands and took them to Algiers (after a voyage which lasted 27 days) where most of them spent the rest of their lives in bondage. One of the captives, Lutheran minister Ólafur Egilsson, managed to return back in 1628 and wrote a book about his experience. In 1636, ransom was paid for 34 of the captives and most of them returned to Iceland.
The area is very volcanically active, like the rest of Iceland. There were two major eruptions in the 20th century: the eruption in 1963 that created the new island of Surtsey, and the Eldfell eruption of January 1973, which created a 200-meter-high mountain where a meadow had been, and caused the island’s 5000 inhabitants to be temporarily evacuated to the mainland.
From 1998 to 2003 the island of Heimaey was home to Keiko the killer whale, star of Free Willy.
The islands are famed in Iceland for their major annual festival, Þjóðhátíð (National Festival), which attracts thousand of people. The festival was originally held in 1874, concurrent with Iceland’s celebration commemorating the 1000th anniversary of the inhabitation of Iceland. Vestmannaeyjar residents had been prevented by weather from sailing to the mainland for the festivities and thus celebrated locally.

The islands feature as the primary location in Yrsa Sigurðardóttir’s novel Ashes to Dust, which uses the 1973 eruption of Eldfell as a key element in the plot.
[Source: Wikipedia]

Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
Aperture: f/8
Exposure time: 1/400s
Focal length: 140mm
ISO Speed: 100
Processed with PS CS6

Wonderful view onto Lake Brienz from my paraglider, taken with my GoPro HD Hero2 helmet camera.

We flew five times from the Axalp (1820 m.a.s.l.) down to Brienz (563 m.a.s.l.) yesterday.
It was a very intensive day, we trained for the practical paragliding exam somewhen this autumn…
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Lake Brienz (German: Brienzersee) is a lake just north of the Alps, in the Canton of Berne in Switzerland. The lake took its name from the village Brienz on its northern shore. Interlaken and the villages Matten and Unterseen lie to the south west of the lake. The shores are steep, and there is almost no shallow water in the entire lake.
Lake Brienz is the first lake in which river Aar (German: Aare) expands. When it leaves Lake Brienz, it soon joins Lake Thun.
The lake lies in a deep hollow between the village of Brienz on the east and, on the west, Bönigen, close to Interlaken. Its length is about 14 kilometers, its width 2.8 kilometers, and its maximum depth 260 meters, while its area is 29.8 square kilometers, and the surface is 564 metres (1,850 ft) above the sea-level. On the south shore are the Giessbach Falls and the hamlet of Iseltwald. On the north shore are a few small villages.
The character of the lake is different to its neighbour, Western union online that of Thun. Its chief affluent is the Lütschine (flowing from the valleys of Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen).
The lake is poor in nutritients, and consequently fishing is not very important. Nevertheless, in 2001 10,000 kg fish were caught. There have been passenger ships on the lake since 1839. The ships are operated by BLS Lötschbergbahn, the local railway company. There are five passenger ships on the lake.
[Source: Wikipedia]

GoPro HD Hero2
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure time: 1/2383s
Focal length: 16mm
ISO Speed: 100
Processed with PS CS6

My son David and I took a hike to the Blüemlisalp mountain hut on 2’834 meters above sea level. We stayed overnight at the hut and enjoyed a splendid view onto the surrounding summits as well as a fantastic 3-course meal.

I’m gonna post a couple of pics of this experience the next days…

My backpack was already too heavy, so I decided to let my Canon gear at home and pack up my cheap Samsung ST-65 and of course my iPhone 4S instead…afterwards, I regret it a bit…so please excuse the poor picture quality and the image noise…
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The Blüemlisalphütte is a mountain hut of the Swiss Alpine Club SAC in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.

It lies a few meters above the Hohtürli pass, a crossing between Kandersteg and the Kien Valley, north of the Blüemlisalp glacier at an altitude of 2’834 m above sea level.

Access is from Oeschinensee (4 h, 1,200 meters) or from the Griesalp in Kiental (about 5.5 h, 1,400 meters).
[Source: Wikipedia]

Samsung ST-65
Aperture: f/5.9
Exposure time: 1/600s
Focal length: 135mm
ISO Speed: 80
Processed with PS CS6

View from the Sydney Tower looking north to the Harbour Bridge and North Sydney.

Taken back in 2007 when Sidney was the final destination of our four months New Zealand and Australia trip. It was raining all the time…
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Sydney Tower (also known as the Sydney Tower Eye, AMP Tower, Westfield Centrepoint Tower, Centrepoint Tower or just Centrepoint) is Sydney’s tallest free-standing structure, and the second tallest in Australia (with the Q1 building on the Gold Coast being the tallest). It is also the second tallest observation tower in the Southern Hemisphere (after Auckland’s Sky Tower, though Sydney Tower Eye’s main observation deck is almost 50 m (164 ft) higher than that of Auckland’s Sky Tower). The Sydney Tower is a member of the World Federation of Great Towers.

The tower stands 309 m (1,014 ft) above the Sydney CBD, located on Market Street, between Pitt and Castlereagh Streets. It is accessible from the Pitt Street Mall, and sits upon the newly refurbished Westfield Sydney (formerly centrepoint arcade). The tower is open to the public, and is one of the most prominent tourist attractions in the city, being visible from a number of vantage points throughout town and from adjoining suburbs.

Whilst the Shopping centre at the base of the tower is run by the Westfield Group the tower itself is occupied by Trippas White Group (who own and operate Sydney Tower Dining) and Merlin Entertainments (who own and operate the Sydney Tower Eye and Oztrek).
[Source: Wikipedia]

Canon EOS 350D
Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC
Aperture: f/7.1
Exposure time: 1/400s
Focal length: 18mm
ISO Speed: 400
Processed with PS CS5 and Nik Software’s Silver Efex Pro 2