2014 Selfie by MilesMorganPhotography

**VIEW ON BLACK... OR DON'T. IT'S YOUR LIFE** 2014 was a huge year in many ways. Some good, and some not quite. Since I'll be gone pretty much from now until mid-February, I doubt I'll have a chance to do any uploading before year end, so I wanted to finish 2014 with a post. This is in no way my favorite shot from Iceland. It's not even in my top 10, which isn't saying much because I'm already in my image-loathing phase. After seeing my buddy David Thompson's epic gallery from our trip (up on his website... check it out. It's mesmerizing) I now pretty much hating everything I came home with. This does, however, provide me with the motivation I need to do a return trip so it's actually probably a good thing. Despite not being my favorite, this image is probably the best representation of the amazing experiences I've had this year. No backstory for this image, but I would be remiss if I didn't offer credit for the idea. It would not have dawned on me to shoot this kind of shot if I hadn't seen the concept in the cool work of Joe McNally, Michael Shainblum, and most appropriate for this image, Lurie Belegurschi. As much as I wanted to do this with one frame, it was impossible. I just couldn't keep everything in focus, so this is a 2 image focus stack. At 24mm and hand held, it was either the lava, or my feet. I would have switched to the 14-24, but switching lenses in a helicopter with an open door is frowned upon. Something about loose objects going into the tail rotor and causing loss of control and plunging into a fiery pit of lava, blah, blah, blah. Lastly, I would like to express my appreciation and admiration to Matthias Vogt of Volcano Heli. What a cool cat. It was like the Hunger Games with all the photographers trying to jockey onto his heli to visit the volcano, and he handled the multiple (sometimes aggressive) requests with grace and charm. He's a great guy, and if you find yourself on the island, I HIGHLY recommend a trip. http://ift.tt/1t4pisX Happy Holidays. Thanks for your friendship, visits, warm comments, and humor. It's a pleasure to know you all - either in person or cyberperson. via 500px http://ift.tt/13lLIz6