Moonlight casts a beautiful glow on a church in Vik, Iceland

March 2, 2018 at 12:23AM
My wife, Beverly and I were vacationing in Iceland. We were headed into Vik for supper when we came around a corner and saw the church with the moon behind it. We quickly stopped the car. I realized I had left my tripod back at our room, so we took turns using Beverlyís. The moon was shifting positions very quickly, so we had to hurry. It was all over in about five minutes. The beauty of the full moon, the ethereal clouds, and the silhouette of the churchís cross appearing against the
Church in Iceland (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

THE Traveler: Kevin Hawkins of New Hope.

The scene: Moonglow casts its gentle light on a roadside church in Vik, along the southern coast of Iceland.

The trip: Hawkins traveled to Iceland with his wife, Beverly, in September. "It would be difficult to go to Iceland and not come back with many images suitable for framing. The landscape, mountains, waterfalls, sheep and Icelandic horses are so photogenic it is almost surreal," he wrote in an e-mail.

How he got the shot: The couple were driving to dinner in Vik when they turned a corner and saw the church lit from behind. They quickly stopped the car and took turns sharing a tripod for their cameras. "The moon was shifting positions very quickly, so we had to hurry. It was all over in about five minutes," wrote Hawkins, who shoots with a Nikon D7200. (This photograph was taken with a Nikion 80-400mm lens.) By the time they left, several others had stopped to shoot the scene with their cellphone cameras. "The beauty of the full moon, the ethereal clouds and the silhouette of the church's cross appearing against the moon provided for a nearly spiritual experience. And speaking as a photographer, it was a sight I'll never forget," he added.

more viewfinders: See more reader travel photos at startribune.com/viewfinders.

Share your photos: To submit your travel photo for consideration to Viewfinders, share it on Instagram tagged with #STtravel, or e-mail a jpeg to viewfinders@startribune.com.

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