Poking out of the gulf
stream in the North Atlantic is Iceland, an island country with such varied
terrrain that it provides a wonderland for photographers. This September, I
spent a week travelling mostly around the southern part of the island, and would
like to share some thoughts on what it’s like to travel and photograph there.
First of all, a note
about Icelandic seasons. I was forewarned that September is a time of
transition, weatherwise. Regardless, I thought it the best time for me to go,
because I needed some dark skies if I was going to see the Aurora Borealis. It
takes a while for the glow of the sun to disappear in the evening, though, because
the sun doesn’t go very far below the horizon at that time of year.
Glimpse of the Northern Lights at Budir |
The reality, however,
was that the entire week was forecast at or nearly 100% chance of rain, and did
it deliver! Only one evening was relatively clear and pleasant, but rain was
forecast to roll back in later. That gave me only a narrow window to catch a
glimpse of the northern lights, but it was somewhat weak at that time in the
evening. Bottom line –for night skies, go in fall, winter or early spring, but
expect to be shut out by the weather.
In order to see the
variety of volcanoes, icebergs, black sand beaches and ocean wildlife that
Iceland offers, you’re better off renting a car than taking a bus trip. Highway
1 is the ring road that encircles the entire country, and is well maintained.
From there, a number of major and secondary (ie. rough gravel) roads go inland.
Some roads are closed in winter as they become treacherous or unpassable.
One thing to keep in
mind is that there are long stretches along the ring road where nary a gas
station can be seen. Filling the tank and grabbing snacks should be done at
every opportunity.
Speaking of snacks, or
food in general, be prepared for sticker shock when in Iceland. A typical
simple meal, such as burger and fries is going to set you back $20-$25. All of
the guesthouses I stayed at that included a breakfast in the price provided a
generous buffet each morning. If you fill up on breakfast, you can probably
save some money at lunchtime by getting by with a prepackaged sandwich at a gas
station.
My rental Skoda Octavia |
Another oddity is that
the pump doesn’t automatically print you a receipt. You have to insert your
credit card again or you will have no record of the transaction. Some pumps
also refuse to allow transactions from some bank-issued cards, so take several
with you. And, as with food, be prepared to pay double for gas.
If you have an
unlocked cell phone, you might also consider buying a SIM card. I purchased a
Vodaphone Premium Starter Pack on the Icelandair flight for about $35 CDN. This
gives you 2 GB of data, 50 minutes of overseas calls and unlimited talk and
text within Iceland. I found coverage to be excellent on my travels. Emergency
services in Iceland, by the way, can be reached at 112.
My Photographic Destinations |
Now – the photography.
I downloaded and read ‘Photo Guide to Iceland’, a free e-book, long before the
trip. Written by two Icelandic photographers, I found it extremely useful in
planning out where to photograph, and therefore where to pre-book guesthouses.
Once at the various sites,
I was pleased to find that nobody was there collecting an entrance fee. The
only time I had to pay at these sites was to use the washroom, which is
generally 100 ISK (about $1.10 CDN). Keep loose change handy!
Hruanfossar |
By far, the most
plentiful photogenic sites are waterfalls (“foss” in Icelandic). It’s like the
whole country is leaking out of every pore! To photograph them with best
effect, a tripod and remote shutter release are mandatory. I took the column
out of the legs and removed the handles of my tripod to allow it to pack nicely
in my checked baggage, so don’t worry about taking it with you. Then, if you
want the water to look creamy as it tumbles over the waterfall, you will need
to use a neutral density filter of at least 5 to 6 stops. Stop your lens down
to f/18 or smaller, set ISO to 100, and aim for about a 1 second exposure.
Anything longer won’t improve the effect, and in fact will increase the risk
that you will get a slightly blurred shot if the wind moves it (and it does
blow strongly there). Variable ND filters will do the trick, but beware that at
higher density settings (ie. more stops) you will start to see a cross-like
pattern resulting in dark patches. I’m going to ditch the variable in future and
carry a fixed 5 or 6 stop filter instead.
Mount Hekla Volcano in Cloud |
It’s not hard to find mountains, glaciers and volcanoes brooding in clouds. In order to capture the full range of tones in such scenes (particularly if sunshine is breaking through the clouds) I resort to exposure bracketing. This involves taking three shots rapidly in sequence; one normal exposure, one underexposed by two stops and one overexposed by 2 stops. This is easily done with the camera’s AEB (Auto Exposure Bracketing) setting. Then, I like to use High Dynamic Range software like Photomatix to produce a final image that exhibits a tonal range not achievable with a single exposure.
Of course, there are a
lot more subjects for the photographer to capture than the ones I have
mentioned, including geysers, geothermal areas and moss-covered lava rock formations.
In the meantime, you can see what I have photographed in my online gallery at http://bit.ly/2ziEmOp.
At the risk of
sounding like I have lots of things in Iceland to moan about (including rain!),
I have to say something about Keflavik airport, and then I’ll zip it. In
defence of the designers of the terminal, the plans were probably cast before annual
tourist traffic reached the 1.5 million mark. Today, though, it can sometimes
be nothing short of chaotic.
In North America, most
airport terminals have a wide corridor and gate areas with ample places where
people waiting to board can sit. At Keflavik, a ‘gate’ more or less consists of
a door to buses that take you to the plane. If you want to sit, there are
usually seats in the middle of the corridor and not necessarily near your gate.
When one or more gates get called, you end up in a massive crowd that blocks
the corridor. You’re not even sure if you’re in the right lineup at times! To
make things worse, arriving passengers have to
barge their way across the boarding lineups. End of rant.
All that said, Iceland is a
beautiful place to visit and photograph. Just about everyone speaks English,
and eloquently. People are helpful and welcoming. The terrain is stunning.
Reykjavik is charming. What’s not to like? Just go –you won’t regret it.