Nature's Best Photography Awards Exhibition Opening Ceremony. June 7, 2013, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC.

Nature’s Best Photography Windland Smith Rice International Awards Exhibition at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. Washington, DC.

On Friday, June 7, 2012, I had the pleasure of attending the Nature’s Best Windland Smith Rice International Awards Reception at Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. The reception was held to honor the 2012 winners of the renowned photography competition, and I received an award for winning the “Landscape” category. The winning image was a 5 frames panoramic capture taken in Iceland from the cave behind the famous Seljalandsfoss Waterfall.

Seljalandsfoss is one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Iceland. Dropping from a 200-foot-high cliff to a deep pool below, this unusual waterfall of the Seljalandsá River has a unique indentation in the rock face that allows visitors to hike behind the picturesque falls. To take a panoramic capture of the Seljalandsfoss from this spot, photographer must be prepared for the intense mist and huge dynamic range, and nowadays also for the big number of fellow photographers, competing for this spot.

In 2009, when this photo was taken, there were not many photos on the internet taken from this spot. In fact, I think this photo inspired many others to do panoramic shot from this location.

Getting in touch with the natural wonders of Iceland used to be very exhilarating and enlightening experience to me. I still travel to Iceland every year, but now I'm lookig for less wisited locations.