Pioneer to the Falls

After hiking 2km at 2am in Dettifoss, northwest Iceland to shoot a waterfall in the most perfect setting, Páll Stefánsson forgot to take pictures. As he walked back to the van with his son, he realised that he didn’t capture the “perfect tumbling water,” and what seemed like an inauspicious shoot actually formed a central thread in Páll’s landscape work. After that trip, he began to document Iceland’s innumerable waterfalls in a way that was true to himself. “Three years in a row, I went back on the same day, trying to recreate it, though it was never quite the same,” he laughs. “But that tells you something about the natural world. It’s always changing and never still, so you have to experience it, devote yourself to it, and show its real face in a natural way.”

Water, and therefore waterfalls, can exist in three states. They can be tumbling liquid, ethereal vapour, frozen ice, or sometimes in Iceland, all three at once. And, Páll is at pains to point out these amazing places don’t only exist in the golden light of dawn and dusk. So really, no portrait of the country’s innumerable falls would be complete without a broader view using his Alpha 7R IV.

“One morning, for example, the forecast was very, very bad, but I went up north to Foss í Fossá      because after the storm, I knew it would be interesting,” he says. “I booked a hotel in a small village nearby and the snow got so deep that they called me and said ‘do you really think you’re going to make it?’ The blizzard was so thick that I didn’t know which side of the road I was on! In the morning, the light was just as beautiful as I expected – but the waterfall was completely frozen, and its black cliffs turned white. It was in a different state. Unusual and unseen. The frame was perfect with the 50mm G Master lens.”

He also lavishes great praise on his Sony G Master optics. “The 50mm f/1.2 is the best I’ve ever owned, and I’ve owned many lenses! The combination of the sharpness and speed of the G Master lenses is incredible. I want that wide-open performance because I like to work at the lower ISOs and combined with the resolution of my Alpha 7R IV, the quality is unbelievable. More than enough to make the large landscape prints I need to.”

As for the exposure and composition of his waterfall subjects, Páll offers a tip that sounds like an ancient Scandinavian proverb. “You should be honest with the waterfall,” he laughs, “and don’t      make fun of it! What I mean is to take a picture that looks as natural as you’d really see the scene.      For instance, when it comes to aperture, I don’t stop down too much. I don’t experience these places in front-to-back sharpness, so why would I shoot them that way? I like to use a tripod, even when I have a faster shutter speed, because it slows me down and helps me frame better.”

That approach extends to his choice of lenses, too. “I definitely prefer a more natural perspective,” Páll explains, “so most of my waterfalls are taken with the 50mm G Master. When you make landscapes in that way, you don’t see the lens so much, just the subject! It’s more real. But in the following image, I use a longer lens, the fantastic 135mm f/1.8 GM, with the camera on 1:1 aspect ratio to get a tighter frame.”

In shooting around, or even under, waterfalls throughout the seasons, build is also tremendously important for Páll. “There are times I want to get very close and show the height and the power of the falls, so I get soaking wet and cold,” he laughs, “but in the end, it’s the shot that’s important. You can always dry off. And I’ve found that my Sony cameras and lenses are the ones that can really keep up with me. I’ve put them through so much rain and cold and water, but I’ve never had a problem.”

Those exposures, both in body and in light, are really at the core of Páll’s approach and central to his success. “Look,” he finishes, “you have to enjoy these moments and if you’re a nature photographer, of course, you like to take pictures of the outdoors. I think the thrill you feel in being there always comes through. So, make sure you take time to observe and enjoy your surroundings, and that respect you have will show through. You might be shooting rushing water, but you should never be in a rush yourself.”