2015 Readers' Photo Contest Gallery: Wiers and Finalists

Shane Wheel captured this breathtaking scene while exploring the Vatnajökull Glacier National Park in Iceland. The park, home to one of the largest ice caps in Europe, was the perfect setting to create an ice-cave self-portrait. “I wanted to capture the color, texture, and size of the cave in a way that created a sense of space and perspective,” Wheel explains. To truly give a sense of scale, he needed to place a figure in the scene, and with no other options he knew the figure would have to be he. By marking the spot where he would stand, the photographer was able to set the exposure and a self-timer on his tripod-mounted camera to capture the shot. This was the first time Wheel had photographed himself in a landscape and it proved to be a very successful technique.

TECH INFO: Nikon D810 with 20mm f/1.8 IF-ED AF-S Nikkor lens on Manfrotto 190 tripod; 1/8 sec at f/11, ISO 100. Edited in Phase One Capture One Pro 8.