This was one of the many photographs I took during several hours shooting from the top of one of Landmannalaugar’s highest mountains as the sun began to set and the light continued to improve. The colours and textures in this part of Iceland are totally surreal and make for beautiful subject matter for landscape photography.
Abandoned Blue Berg Makes the Daily Dozen at National Geographic
I just learned this evening that the photograph ‘Abandoned Blue Berg‘ that I took in Iceland last month near the Jokulsarlon glacial lagoon has made the ‘Daily Dozen‘ at National Geographic Magazine. The Daily Dozen is a selection of twelve of the best user-submitted photographs as chosen by photo editor Susan Welchman. A selection of the daily dozen photographs are then subsequently published in the magazine.
Iceland – Abandoned Blue Berg
Unfortunately, I am at home with a nasty case of the flu at the moment. I have managed to dodge the ‘flu-bullet’ for the last several weeks whilst everyone around me has been sequentially struck down with it (everyone has been falling like dominos around here). Alas, its snuck up on me and I am currently laid up with all the usual symptoms. The weekend was a write off and I have had no energy for even a short editing and processing session in front of the computer until now – hence the lack of posts over the last few days.
During one of my last few days in Iceland I drove back to the Jokulsarlon Glacier lagoon and the nearby black sand beaches to see if any fresh icebergs had washed ashore – as indeed they had. This iridescent blue iceberg, polished by the waves was beautifully back lit and was glowing from within when I set up my tripod and took this photograph. For scale, the iceberg is about the size of a small car. A higher resolution version of this photograph is on my main Portfolio website under Iceland. Prints are available upon request.
Iceland – Lone Pebble
On my last evening in Iceland I decided to drive back to the small town of Vik and the nearby coastal area of Kirkjufjara where there are a number of sea stacks, black sand beaches and other interesting basalt rock formations. I had first visited this location on one of my first days in Iceland with the group I was travelling with; but we had been there during the middle of the day when the light was less than ideal. As Vik was on the way back to Reykjavik and the airport it provided a good opportunity for one last evenings shoot before leaving Iceland.
As it turned out and much like the first visit the wind was blowing a gale as I drove along the rocky track into Kirkjufjara. I had the entire location to myself bar a couple of cyclists struggling against the ferocious headwind on the way back to the main road. I am not sure what it is with cyclists in Iceland – but they seem hell bent on riding no matter what the prevailing weather conditions.
With the strong on-shore winds there was a huge amount of sea spray in the air; which made keeping the front element of the lens and filter clean rather difficult. However, it was worth persevering and as the sun began to set the combination of sea spray and golden light provided a good opportunity for some photography on my last night in Iceland. A higher resolution version is on my Portfolio website under Iceland. Prints are available upon request.
Iceland – Pot of Gold at Landmannalaugar
There is something truly magical about the light in Iceland during the summer solstice. It’s more than the fact that it never really gets truly dark and that the waking hours are so long. There is a transparent ethereal quality to the light that seems to be a combination of extremely clean pollution free air and the oblique angle of the sun as it rises and falls at 66 degrees north. Its one thing to have gorgeous light as a landscape photographer; but its quite another to have gorgeous light that lasts so long.
As I have already blogged about my time at Landmannalaugar was extremely special to me – and not just because this was a location I had read so much about and had researched extensively. It was special and dear to me because my patience and that of my shooting companion Dmitry was so richly rewarded with wonderful Icleandic light after spending several hours freezing at the top of one of Landmannalaugar’s highest peaks.
The story goes that five of us had arrived at the summit of one of Landmannalaugar’s highest peaks to be greeted by overcast conditions, howling winds and a rapidly falling temperature a full three hours before sunset. We had been photographing extensively on the trek up to the summit, but had still arrived earlier than anticipated. Everyone except Dmitry and I quickly decided to bail out and head back to the 4 wheel drive for supper – and I admit the thought of a hot cup of coffee and a tub of that Icelandic berry yoghurt almost had me joining them.
Dmitry and I decided to tough it out and hunkered down as best we could on the lee side of the mountain in the hopes we would get some good light as the sun set. As the hours passed we got colder and colder until finally as the sun began to set the gods flicked the ‘magic’ switch and the clouds broke up, the wind completely died and we were rewarded with some truly stunning light. This photograph was taken from the summit toward the distant rain showers and rainbow as the sun threw beautiful golden cross light across the volcanic mountains. Even now, I get a real visceral thrill looking at the photographs from this shoot. For me, this photograph captures the essence of the magical translucent light Iceland is capable of. A higher resolution version of this photograph is on my Portfolio website under Iceland. Prints available upon request.
www.WILDNATUREPHOTOTRAVEL.com 