Iceland Dispatch #8 – Iceberg Alley

We are continuing to travel East along the coast today and will end the day in the town of Egilsstadir, about 350km East of Skaflafell where we have been photographing for the last couple of days. Along the way we plan to photograph the landscape south of Vatnajokull glacier, mountains and the beach by Stafness and the fjords to the East. We may also head up to Mount Snaefell or photograph along the Lagarfljot River, weather permitting. We will also make one more stop at the black sand beach near the Jokulsarlon lagoon to see if any fresh ice has been washed up onto the beach.

Last night we went back to the Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon to photograph the icebergs in soft overcast evening light. The lagoon is a very magical, peaceful and surreal place. It is very easy to spend hours wandering the shore picking out compositions amongst the icebergs.

Iceberg Reflections

Iceland Dispatch #7 – Jökulsarlön

We left our hotel in the Skaftafell National Park last night at 8:30pm for a sunset shoot at Jokulsarlon lagoon in the South of Iceland. We photographed the icebergs carving off the glacier in the lagoon until well after midnight in some lovely soft storm light. We then raced back to our hotel, grabbed two hours of sleep in the semi-darkness before heading out again for sunrise. Now, it’s just gone 8:30am in the morning local time in Iceland and we have just got back from shooting sunrise for the last five hours at the Jokulsarlon lagoon and nearby black sand beach.

Icebergs that have carved off the glacier flow down the channel to the sea and are taken out by the tide before being washed back up on the black sand during the return tide – each one a unique sculpture polished by the motion of the waves.

Black Ice Diamond

Now its time to crawl into bed again and get a few more hours sleep before heading back out this afternoon at 3pm for more sunset photography around the Jokulsarlon lagoon. The hours required for maximising the best light for photography in Iceland are torturous to say the least – but given the quality and duration of great light I wouldn’t have it any other way

Iceland Dispatch #6 – Travelling to Skaftafell

We have just arrived at our Hotel in the Skaftafell National Park – approximately 350km from Reykjavik. Along the way we stopped to photograph the cavernous waterfall Selfoss, the rugged Icelandic coastline at Kirkjufjara and the black sand beaches at Vik. Iceland is an absolute wonder. The landscape is incredibly surreal with moss covered lava flows, mountains, glaciers and waterfalls – in fact, there are waterfalls everywhere and I have already lost count of how many we passed in just a single days driving.There are photographic opportunities everywhere I look and it is just as well I am not driving the 4WD or we would be stopping every few minutes and never get anywhere. Thankfully our guide Daniel Bergman is steering us toward all of the better locations.

Kirkjufjara

Now its time for a power nap and some dinner before heading out to the Jokulsarlon lagoon at sunset to photograph the luminous blue icebergs that have carved off the nearby glacier. Sunset is about  8:30pm until roughly 11:00pm local time – yes; sunset lasts that long! Then there will be a short period of an hour or so of semi-darkness before sunrise and more photography. Sleep? Nah… to much to see and photograph!

Iceland Dispatch #5 – Midnight Sun

After dinner yesterday at a local Reykjavik restaurant (the fish soup was excellent) I went out on a midnight sun whale watching tour with Elding. This is not the first time I have been out photographing whales. In July last year I spent several hours photographing Sperm Whales off the coast of the South Island of New Zealand. But that was during the middle of the day in flat rather dull overcast light. This time the opportunity and hope was to be able to photograph the whales in the perpetual golden light of the midnight sun.

We did see some Minke whales and also some White-beaked Dolphins during the trip, but unfortunately they were at quite a distance and not overly excited by the boats presence. However, the weather was stunningly beautiful with perfect calm seas, lovely light and an endless sunset. It is hard to describe what the experience of the midnight Sun is like in Iceland. Its a seemingly endless sunset/sunrise with beautiful golden light that literally goes on for hours. It is incredibly special to behold.

Midnight Sun

Now I am off for breakfast and to meet up with my guide and small group of other photographers for the next ten days. We are heading over to Skaftafell in the Southeast in the morning where we will be based for two nights. From there we plan to photograph at the Jokuslsarlon glacial lagoon and the glacier and mountain landscape of the Skaftafell National Park. The drive from Reykavik to this first base is around 350 km. This will be my first foray into Iceland’s wilderness and I am itching to get some proverbial landscape ‘frames in the can’.

Iceland Dispatch #4 – And Lunch?

The area around my hotel has a good selection of restaurants and places to eat – its hard to choose when you don’t know where to start! So I started at the end of the street and will work my way back toward the hotel for dinner tonight. For starters lunch today – Black Angus Beef Burger and a Pint of Iceland’s Egills Gull for lunch – Yum!

Lunch