Phototrips in January are always refreshing, rinsing of the stale state of Christmas and new years and taking in fresh air and fresh views at the beginning of a new year.

Kleifarvatn Lake on the Reykjanes Peninsula, South West Iceland

Hotsprings in a frozen lake

January has thus far been very cold and windy, which usually means that the grey cloud soup that hangs around the south west of Iceland in winter, is lifted. Often displaying clear skies or interesting cloud patterns that really come alive during sunrise and sunset. Those two not so far apart during this time of year maybe 5 hours between them, a very good thing for landscape photography.
These photos are from the Reykjanes peninsula and the south west coast a spectacular area for photography and sightseeing, only minutes away from the Capital region.

Knarrarós Lighthouse near Stokkseyri on the South Coast of Iceland

Photography by Photographer Snorri Gunnarsson All rights reserved ©2011
Ljósmyndun Snorri Gunnarsson Ljósmyndari ©2011

Since coming home in the beginning of the year I have been a frequent visitor at my sister´s farm, Sturluhóll in north Iceland. She and her husband are farmers, with sheep and horses- so usually there are many subjects for photography.
Below is a gallery with images taken at Sturluhóll. I did a couple of posts on Sturluhóll when I visited Iceland in 2008 you can view those ones here and here – for more images press the more link below….

Photoshelter has been around since 2005; their focus in the beginning was archival storage for photographers and later they added means for subscribers to sell their images. This is still a large part of Photoshelter and as a subscriber I highly recommend their service.
A new feature was introduced in November, the Photoshelter Collection. This is a Stock Agency but with a couple of twists. First of all it has a higher commission percentage for the photographer than most Stock Agencies. Photshelter Collection also has a different agenda than other agencies; it focuses on what they call “Contemporary” stock.

Traditional stock, called “Pro Stock” and an editorial category called “News+” is also accepted but the focus is on the Contemporary Collection.
Many photographers submitting to Photoshelter Collection have raised concerns about this focus and lively discussions about the merits of the top Contemporary contributors have emerged on the Photoshelter discussion forums. These discussions are of course very susceptible to each commenter’s taste and personal focus.
I find it refreshing to have an alternative outlet in stock photography, there are many places for more “Pro” or traditional stock at other agencies and Photoshelter is trying to fill up a niche and establishing themselves in a crowded market.
I have been submitting photos to the Collection and have added a link to the right at this website. The majority of my work has been classified as Pro Stock but a few have made it into the Contemporary Collection. I really feel like the process of submitting to the Photoshelter Collection, very educational, when the images have been reviewed it is interesting to see where each one has been placed. This has actually made me go deeper into my collection of photos and given new life to photos I thought were doomed for a sad and lonely existence on my hard drive.
As always with submitting work for review it can be frustrating but it is always a learning process and very interesting to see the taste of others, in particular the tastes of professional photo editors. This is invaluable to people like me starting out their professional Photography career.