Iceland - Oct '18

When I told my folks and friends that I am going to Iceland, the immediate question was “Why again?”. Yes, I did a trip in 2013 along with my brother in Aug ’13. That was more of a fun trip and less of photography and we covered almost the entire Iceland. When Darter Photography, announced the Iceland tour, I was excited and without any hesitation signed up for the trip.

The landing city is Reykjavik and the airport is Keflavik. Most of the connections from Mumbai have two stopovers. Since I wanted to avoid an additional stop over, I took Mumbai – Amsterdam – Reykjavik and Reykjavik – Heathrow – Mumbai.

I decided to leave a day earlier and join the Darter folks. This helped to get over the travel fatigue and be ready for the exciting photo sessions.

Travel Date : 16th Oct ’18 to 27th Oct ‘18

Company : Darter Photography

18th October 2018

Today I was exploring the streets of Reykjavik. It is interesting to walk through the narrow streets, shops, eating joints etc. In Reykjavik, one can find all sort of cuisines – Thai, Vietnamese, Indian etc. and of course many pubs.

Hallgrímskirkja Church

Sunset Reykjavik

Restaurant - One of the colourful buildings

The Group

19th October 2018

Having spent a relaxing day in Reykjavik, the group was all set to embark on the journey to photograph this beautiful country. When I came out of the hotel to board the bus, I was stunned to see a monster of a vehicle waiting for us. It is a Mercedes, totally modified to suit any road condition and fitted with a WiFi connection that was working throughout our trip. This was a major attraction amongst tourists during our other days of travel. We had tourists taking pictures of the vehicles and selfies with the vehicle.

Our first stop was at Skogafoss. This waterfall is situated on the Skógá River and with a drop of 60 meters and a width of 25 meters. It was a disappointing light condition and a difficult day a well. It was cloudy, windy and rainy. I was contemplating whether I should expose my camera to this condition. Gathering courage, I stepped out of the van with my gear, covered with water proof jackets and warm clothing.

Our next stop was at Seljalandsfoss. The waterfall is part of the Seljalands River and drops about 60 meters. Though the conditions improved a bit, it was still a difficult situation to capture the waterfall.

Night stay was at Vik, Hotel Katla.

20th October 2018

Today we headed to Dyrhólaey, a small promontory located on the south coast of Iceland, not far from the village Vík. We started from the hotel hoping the day will be better than the previous day. But a road sign which said a wind speed of 60 m / sec (about 200 KM / Hr) was very disturbing and scary. After reaching the place I tried to get down from the van and walk and it was impossible to even walk a few inches. We moved further up and I took a huge risk of having my tripod and taking a couple of shots. Thank God nothing happened to my kit.

On our way to the next destination we had an accidental stop at Foss á Síðu. This small waterfall with the autumn colours around it was one of best pictures in this trip. Jökulsárlón – Glacier Lagoon was our next photo stop. From what I have read and seen, this is one of the beautiful place for sunset photography. We reached the place bang on time and waited for some drama to happen. Clouds refused to clear and the sun refused to come out of the clouds result of which the waiting did not yield any result. Since we had planned for one more session the next day, I left the place with some hope.

That night we stayed in Hotel Smyrlabjorg.

21st October 2018

Our first stop this morning was at the black sand beach (other side of the Glacier Lagoon) to capture sunrise. Though the condition wasn’t great for a sunrise shot but with the Ice crystals in the beach, the waves hitting the crystals and coming over the black sand, I managed to get some spectacular shots. After a relaxing time in the hotel we set again to the Glacier Lagoon, hoping and praying for a nice sunset. And the prayers worked !! The orange and red colours in the sky, with ice crystals in the foreground, the colours reflecting on the crystals and water, was a sight of a lifetime. I was wondering whether I should just stand and stare at the beauty or start squeezing my eyes in the camera. The photography DNA took over and I managed to capture a few brilliant shots.

That night we stayed in Hotel Smyrlabjorg.

22nd October 2018

Today we were told that it is going to be a long drive. We will be moving from southern Iceland to the Northern part. We stopped at Vestrahorn for sunrise shots. The condition was again bad with clouds and fog and hence sunrise was out of question. But then I used the condition to the best of my ability and captured a few shots.

As we started our long drive to Myvatn, we experienced snowfall, both sides of the road with white sheet of Ice and the mountains covered with ice. We were experiencing rain, cloudy condition, fog and sunlight and now snow. In a matter of just 5 days we experienced all possible weather conditions.

We were told that the probability of Northern Light is better in Northern Iceland. With that hope in mind I retired for the day. That night we stayed in Hotel Myvatn.

23rd October 2018

At 1 AM in the morning, the phone started ringing in the room. My roommate answered the phone and then woke me up in a hurry and said Northern Light. That one word made me jump out of the bed, started wearing the layers, got the entire kit and moved out as fast as possible. Though the intensity of the light wasn’t that high, I still managed to get a good shot by a lake side, with the green light over a cloud and the cloud reflecting on the water. Kudos to the hotel team who were continuously monitoring for the appearance of the Northern Lights.

We headed to Godafoss and Aldeyjarfoss. Godafoss is located in the Bárðardalur district of North-eastern Region. The water of the river Skjálfandafljót falls from a height of 12 meters over a width of 30 meters. The Aldeyjarfoss waterfall is situated at the northern part of the Sprengisandur Highland Road. The interesting feature of the waterfall is the contrast between the black basalt columns and the white waters of the fall.

One more day at Hotel Myvatn.

24th October 2018

Today our plan was to capture sunrise at Myvatn. Just opposite to the hotel there is a huge lake with a backdrop of mountains and a place where we could go up to capture sunset. It was again cloudy but in a matter of no time the condition changed drastically with beautiful colours in the sky and the colourful lights reflecting on the lake covered with a sheet of ice.

Not much of activity for the day. That night stayed at Hotel Laugarbakki.

25th October 2018

Today we headed to Hvítserkur to capture sunrise. Hvítserkur is a 15 meter high basalt stack along the eastern shore of the Vatnsnes peninsula, in northwest Iceland. The rock has two holes at the base, which give it the appearance of a dragon who is drinking. I had looked at a few amazing sunrise shots in the internet and mentally planned a few compositions. But in Iceland you can’t be sure as to what you want is what you will get. The weather was extremely bad, absolutely no light, dull clouds and foggy. I took an initial shot from the top as I felt going down was a bit risky especially with the path covered with snow. But I took the help of Kári (our guide and driver), managed to go down and take a close up shot.

That evening we had planned to get a few sunset shots with Kirkjufell and a waterfall, as the foreground. Kirkjufell is a 463 meter high mountain on the north coast of Iceland's Snæfellsnes peninsula and probably the most photographed mountain in the Iceland. After spending sometime during sunset we headed to our hotel. Being our last night, we were hoping to get a better view of the Northern lights. The combination of Kirkjufell, waterfall and Northern Light will be an dream of a composition. At around 10 in the night, we saw a glimpse of the light and we rushed to Kirkjufell. But by the time we reached there the intensity of the Northern light wasn’t that great, thought it was visible.

The night we stayed in Hotel Framnes in Grundarfjordur.

26th October 2018

We wanted to give a last shot at Kirkjufell for a sunrise before heading to Reykjavik. The Kirkjufell area was covered with snow and with the light showing some mercy on us, I managed to get a few beautiful compositions.

Given a choice I would have probably spent a couple of weeks in Iceland. We headed back to Reykjavik for us to get back to our destinations the next day.

27th October 2018

I was in the flight and heard the announcement of closing the door to take off. While on one side I am happy coming back home but on the other side there was a sense of sorrow of missing this beautiful country – friendly people, photo opportunities in abundant, experience of varied weather conditions, cuisine options etc. etc. I closed my eyes rewinding a week back and playing the beauty of Iceland.

A few Tips :

a. From Reykjavik, flights go to Gatwick and Heathrow. So, while booking ensure you land in the airport where you have the connecting flight

b. Many will say that one will need a UK transit Visa. However, if the landing and departure is from the same airport, it is only a terminal change and hence no one even checks the passport

c. To visit Iceland one will need a Schengen VISA and for Iceland it has to applied through Denmark Embassy. Apply at least 4 to 5 weeks before the travel date as processing by the Denmark Embassy takes time.

d. Iceland is an expensive place. A meal for one person with a coffee will cost nothing less than Rs. 1300 to Rs. 1500. Hence it may be a good idea to plan and carry some ready to eat options before leaving.

e. Self-driving is the best option to see the beauty of Iceland. It’s left hand drive but it’s very comfortable to drive

f. Pick the right season especially if you are going for photography. Summer is good but will be crowded. I feel the season we went is probably the right one.

g. To get the best pictures of Iceland, a planned short trip of a week or 10 days is not sufficient. One has to plan at least for three weeks and that too without any fixed agenda. Considering the drastic weather conditions, with fixed agenda it will be difficult to get the best and right pictures.

Thanks to the mentors Arun Bhat and Siddhartha De for this wonderful trip.

Note : Description of places visited is taken from Wikipedia.

To view the album go to --> http://iceland-oct-18.gopsview.com