Iceland Winter Photo Workshop
Here is a recap of my week-long winter photo workshop during winter to the south coast of Iceland. I’m going to start this post with a bit of a rant…..as I spent a week in Iceland leading a photo workshop I would write each night in the blog while the memories of the day were fresh. The idea was to have an amazing comprehensive post about our week in Iceland chock full of pictures and the little details that typically fade with memory. I was using my iPad Pro and the WordPress app on the pad. I worked and worked on the post and once the workshop was over, I was in a hotel in Norway and decided to post the 6+ page account of our adventure. I hit the “publish” button and immediately I could tell something wasn’t right. Long story short……all of that hard work was lost. Nobody could find or recover the post…it simply vanished. Sigh. So with that, I’ll try and reconstruct the detailed account of our photo workshop.
I landed in Reykjavik in the morning and met up with two clients at the airport and we shared a taxi to our hotel in the city center. If you don’t know, the cab rides are about 45 minutes and cost north of $100, so sharing a ride is always good. They do offer bus service, but it doesn’t drop you at your hotel and after an overnight flight from Seattle, I was tired and didn’t want to mess with public transportation. We were spending our first night at the Midgardur by Center hotel and thankfully our rooms were ready despite the early hour. Heading to the room for a quick shower and some work, I eventually took a quick nap (not having slept the whole night before) and awoke refreshed.
I ventured outside for a quick walk to stretch my legs. One of my favorite record stores anywhere is right across from the hotel! Lucky Records. Great selection of new and used LPs. Unfortunately I couldn’t buy anything because I didn’t want to lug it around Europe for the next two weeks.
That night my partner Orvar came to the hotel and we met our clients for a “meet and greet” to go over the itinerary and other logistic details. We then had a nice dinner in the hotel restaurant and retired to our rooms to get a good nights sleep before our adventure along the south coast begins.
Day 1
The next morning after a quick breakfast, we all gathered in the lobby with our bags to load up in to our passenger van to begin the adventure. With Orvar at the wheel, we headed east out of Reykjavik towards our first destination a little over 1 hour away. The skies were grey yet we had some decent visibility to see the beautiful landscape we were driving through. Miles of lava fields coated with moss, cliffs and hundreds of small waterfalls cascading off….it was simply beautiful!
Our first stop was at Seljalandsfoss waterfall. It’s a 197′ high cascade of water that is amazing to behold. Even for me who is surrounded by some amazing waterfalls, this one was a sight to behold.
What was challenging though was the number of tourists at these sites close to town. It was crazy trying to capture an image without someone in it. And what was more, the “Instagram tourists” were entertaining to begin with, then got highly annoying. These folks just seemed to travel around solely to take pics of themselves at cool places without ever really “being” there mentally. Women in lacy ballgowns or party dresses out in the ice and snow posing for pictures….then seeing the same women at the next stop with an outfit change! It was a sight.
Leaving there the snow started falling and we headed down a side road towards a herd of horses we had spotted on the way up. The Icelandic horses are famous for their looks and kind temperament. As we pulled up to the herd, there was no fence keeping them away
from us so they all headed our direction and swarmed around us. We all had to back away if we wanted to photograph them because they were in our face, in our backpacks, poking their heads in our van…..it was comical!
After getting our fill of the friendly horses (and soaked in the wet snow) we loaded up and headed towards our next stop. We had lunch in a small cafe near the Skogafoss waterfall, which is where I saw “goose burger” on the menu. I wasn’t sure if that was a real goose or not and I didn’t ask.
After photographing this beautiful waterfall (and fighting the crowds), we loaded up and continued heading east towards Vik.
Before we got to town, we stopped at an overlook over the beach. By this time the weather had really closed in and the winds had picked up significantly. We parked the van and it rocked on its springs, still we decided to give it a go. Walking a short distance to the overlook was a bit of a trial as the wind tried to rip the tripods out of our hands and the rain hitting our faces stung like little needles. Still, for most of the group, we were able to capture a few good images of this famous beach.
We eventually made our way to the town of Vik and after checking out a local beach that we’d shoot tomorrow, we checked in to our hotel. There are a couple of nice choices in Vik and we stayed at the Icelandair Vik Hotel, a modern structure with modern designs inside as well. After a quick change of clothes and starting the image download process, we met for a group dinner in the hotel restaurant. After battling the elements and the excitement of our first day, everyone was tired so we all headed to bed early to rest up for the next day ahead.
Day 2
After a nice breakfast, we packed up our luggage and loaded the van to continue our journey. The ideal situation would be a sunrise along the beach near Vik. However, the clouds were solid and we knew we wouldn’t see the sun. However, we still headed out to Reynisfjara beach to photograph the black sand and surf action. The other cool thing about this beach is that there is columnar basalt columns right on the beach which made for some great photographs to add to the more normal beach scenes.
The rain and the tourists finally drove us off the beach to continue our eastward journey. Our next stop was Foss a side waterfall. A slim yet graceful waterfall that was flowing strong. The ice clinging to the cliffs aided in the feeling of winter though the temps weren’t particularly cold. And, with the grey skies and monotone landscape, I ended up shooting a lot of my images in monochrome instead of color.
From there our next stop was at an overlook at the terminus of a glacier. The glacier is called Svinafjells jokll (I think) and to see the stacked up blue ice was amazing!!! I love glaciers and ice and this was fantastic to see. Lots of great opportunity for abstract images working the shapes and patterns of the ice.
It was treacherous footing climbing on the rocks of the overlooks so all of us donned ice cleats to help us NOT fall down the face of the cliff. Thankfully everyone did a great job staying safe.
After about an hour photographing and exploring the area, we once again loaded up the van for a short ride east to Jokulsarlon Lagoon. This lagoon is at the end of a glacier so ice from the glacier calves off and starts floating in the water. When we arrived we saw icebergs of all shapes and sizes floating nearby in all shades of turquoise and white. It was an amazing sight! Some days there is no ice in the lagoon, so we were fortunate to have so much. Wind can also force all of the ice to the other end of the lagoon depriving visitors
of a unique experience.
We all scrambled in various locations looking for different ways to capture the shapes and colors of the ice. We spent at least 1.5 hours there, though snowstorms, wind and some rain. Everyone was very stoked for the conditions in the ice though and it made it all worthwhile.
As the sun set, we loaded up the van for the last leg of our journey today, ending at our hotel for the next 3 days. Our hotel is the closest around this area which is primarily where we wanted to focus our photographic attention. We called it the “country hotel” but it’s official name is Hotel Smyrlabjorg. We were some of the only guests at the hotel during the week as most tourists chose to stay in some of the bigger towns on the south coast. That made it all the better for us as we had the wait staff all to ourselves most nights. After getting settled in our rooms, we gathered in the dining room for some great food and storytelling of our day.
Day 3
We awoke to (again) grey skies and a big change with an increase in the winds in the area. After breakfast we loaded up and headed to our sunrise location at Diamond Beach which is at the outflow of the Joukarlsalon lagoon. When we arrived though, the winds were so strong, AND, there was no ice on the beach! So much for that location! On the way there though, we noticed some interesting pools of water alongside the road. The water had an amazing turquoise color and in most of the pools there were chunks of broken ice. Thinking this could make a good image with the mountains in the background, we headed there and found a parking spot.
Upon opening the door, reality set in quickly as the door was ripped out of hands and went flopping against the stops. The wind was blowing a constant 35mph with gusts above 50mph!!! For most it was difficult to stay on our feet, not to even think about being creative photographically. However, we all gave it a good try. I walked about 1/4 mile down the road with someone else to photograph a particular pool. Getting there was easy as the wind was at my back.
Once there though, trying to use the tripod proved almost futile as the wind kept trying to blow it over. If I hadn’t kept a hold of it, my camera and tripod would have gone skidding down the road.
Getting to the pool was one thing, but getting back to the van was another altogether! Walking against such a strong wind, I had to lean so far forward that if it stopped I would have fallen on my face. Plus, just the physical exertion of that constant pressure…I had to stop a couple times to catch my breath it was such a workout!
After we were safely in the van, we decided to head to Jokulsarlon lagoon and photograph it again. It can be a tough place to excel at so we like to bring folks there a couple of times to practice and refine their composition. Upon arrival though we noticed things had changed dramatically. No longer covered in snow or ice, the grounds around the lagoon were only muddy. There was far less ice in the lagoon and what was there had been scoured by the wind, exposing the deep turquoise. And, the minute we stepped out of the van it became clear that this would be tough…the wind was howling through the area. I ventured down close to the water where the wind had pushed some smaller chunks of ice. I didn’t bother with my tripod, choosing to hand-hold in the vicious wind. I knew that I couldn’t hold the camera super steady in that wind, so I bumped up my ISO and shutter speed and put the camera on burst mode, hoping that at least one of the bursts would be acceptably sharp.
After just a short time we all realized that this was a bit of a futile effort so we headed back to the van. Surprise! The wind had been largely at my back and I didn’t notice 1) how strong it was and 2) that it was picking up sand and small stones and flinging it through the air. So, walking back to the van, I was being sandblasted!!!! I literally had to cover my face with my hand to protect the exposed skin. Brutal.
We decided to head to a different lagoon that may provide a bit of shelter from the wind (and be cool to photograph). We pulled in to the parking lot of Fjallsarlon lagoon and tentatively opened the doors….wait, what? No wind!!!!
It was a minor miracle but the air was calm and relatively warm. We grabbed our cameras and tripods and hiked up the trail to an overlook over the lagoon. When we crested the rise, several of us started walking faster or running down towards the water. There was the most amazing sight before us, a beautiful lagoon, gorgeous icebergs, mountains in the background and a RAINBOW over all of this!!! We wanted to hurry down to the water to capture the rainbow before it disappeared. It was an amazing scene!
We all found compositions we liked and started shooting and shooting as the rainbow moved across the mountain, capturing it in different positioning relative to the peak. That rainbow lasted for almost an hour….I just couldn’t believe it! Finally tiring of the rainbow, we started seeking out other images in this lagoon. The reflections of the mountains off of the ice was superb, especially with no wind. The glacial terminus provided some good compositions as well. Then, we found a large iceberg with a hole that had been worn in it, again providing more comps for us to create.
After what was close to 2 hours, we finally decided to move on, having captured so many great shots in perfect Icelandic conditions! We headed a bit further west to a grass roofed church, called LItla-Hof located near Hofskirkja. This is a common construction technique in Iceland and it’s a great way to insulate as well as incorporate the building in to the landscape. It was raining pretty good while we visited here, yet everyone got some good shots of this iconic church.
About this time it was time to think about sunset and where we wanted to shoot. Since we had such an amazing experience at the rainbow lagoon, we decided to head back there for sunset, but this time at the west end of the lagoon so we could shoot the entire length of the water with a mountain range in the background that we hoped would pick up the sunset light. The great thing about this location was there was a lot of ice on the shore that made for some great foreground interest.
We enjoyed some amazing color (one of the few times we saw color during the week) above the near mountain, not the distant range, so we all shot some amazing images to finish out our day.
Day 4
Today is the visit to the ice cave, which is one of the highlights of the trip. We arose early, had a quick breakfast and loaded in the van to head to Jokulsarlon to meet up with our guide for this experience. It is highly recommended, and oftentimes mandatory, to have a guide and adequate vehicle to get to the ice caves as the trip and experience is not for amateurs.
We met our guide Oli in the pre-dawn hour and loaded up in to his van for the 40 minute drive to the staging area. The vehicles that these folks use are heavily modified vans, Sprinter vans or even Expeditions…all with massive balloon tires. These tires are horrible on the pavement, but when you get off-road, they are well worth the hassle for the extra traction and compliance over the rough “roads” they travel.
We drove down the highway and then at an unmarked spot, turned off on to the gravel. I could see a faint track leading off in to the distance and assumed this was the “road”. Oli stopped and hopped out of the van….he was letting air out of the tires so they were softer for traction and ride comfort. We spent the next 25 minutes bumping up and over the road, through twists and turns, across creeks, until we finally arrived at the end of the road. We were still a fair distance from the glacier so we had a walk ahead of us.
We unloaded our gear and then donned climbing helmets (required). We put our headlamps on the helmets and then slowly headed off on a vague trail towards the glacier. For the most part the trail was flat over uneven ground with just a couple of sections of scrambling. After 25 minutes Oli called a halt and said that we needed to put on our ice cleats. Once we had them on, we lined up to descend staircase chipped in to the ice, down to the bottom of the glacier. The glacier is called Breidamerkurjokull and the cave we were visiting is called the Saphire Cave. The caves form and go away each year with the shifting nature of the glacier, so each year the guides find new ones and ensure they are safe for clients to visit. Once we were all down, we headed to the cave opening. There was one small group already in there, but thankfully they were just finishing up. We quickly got to work deep inside the cave, knowing that more people were most likely coming up behind us.
The ice at the bottom of a glacier is typically hundreds of years old and it has been compressed under immense weight, forcing out all the air bubbles. So, the ice is BLUE and it’s so very clear. Its a jaw dropping sight for sure!
Photographically it is difficult shooting. Water dripping down on you and your camera, plus a very high dynamic range scene, plus time pressure knowing others would soon be there.
We all worked relatively fast and got some great images in the bank. Eventually more folks showed up and being non-photographers, walked right in to our shots and scenes and made photography difficult. I thought this might be a unique place our a group photo, so I got everyone together and we snapped a nice pic in front of a wall of ice!
As this area was getting super crowded, we started the hike back to the van. Along the way we walk across a makeshift bridge over a stream and I thought there might be a nice image in there so we stopped for a bit to shoot the waterfall/stream.
We eventually made it back to our van and we headed back to the hotel for lunch and a brief relaxation since it was a pretty taxing morning for folks. After lunch, we loaded up the van to head out for the afternoon and sunset. It continued to be very overcast so any hopes for a colorful sunset weren’t high, yet we were ever hopeful.
We headed back to the diamond beach at the outflow of the Jokulsarlon lagoon. This time there was a ton of ice on the beach!!! This is also a difficult place to shoot, knowing how to create compelling compositions. We all “slowed down” and walked along the beach for a bit absorbing the scene before pulling out our cameras. There were icebergs/chunks strewn all along the black sand beach, each a different shape and size. One of the goals in shooting in this location is to isolate a single berg, or a cluster of them oriented in the comp in a pleasing way. Then, you can choose to either shoot against the black sand, or my preference, wait for a wave and catch the different patterns of foam as the wave recedes. You also need to be a bit careful out here as the ocean can move these bergs and hit you, pin you or just cause chaos. One always needs to have one eye on the ocean even as composing the image.
Because the skies continued to be grey, I worked in a monochrome mindset. Even the color images came out basically monochrome so I didn’t have to do much conversion if I wanted a true monochrome image.
We had agreed to meet back at the van at 5pm. Unless, it was said with a bit of sarcasm, there is a sunset and then we’ll stay out for the light. Well, 5pm fast approached and we were all satiated with the iceberg beach. Some folks had packed up and others were just finishing up the last comps. As we were standing around chatting, we noticed a small hole in the clouds and a bit of color starting to appear. We commented on it but didn’t really believe it would transform in to anything meaningful. Yet we kept watching it and wouldn’t you know, real color started to happen. Everyone on the beach started scrambling to find a berg/comp to take advantage of the brief window of light, which lasted for maybe 15 minutes.
After the color had faded, we were all super happy with the brief show during a grey week of weather. We loaded up and headed back to the hotel for a nice meal and a warm and comfortable bed.
Day 5
Today is the day we need to head back to Reykjavik. We awoke to rain, rain, rain and weren’t too optimistic as we loaded up the van after breakfast. Plus, the wind was continuing to blow hard, which doubled down the weather hit. Folks were tired from running hard all week and the conditions meant that there weren’t a lot of location options available close to the hotel. Normally we go back to diamond beach on the last day, but not today, we had our fill last night.
So, we started the drive West looking for opportunities and energy to battle the elements. One thing we wanted was a bit more with the horses, so we found a herd close to the road and stopped and photographed them for a bit. One particular horse kept leaning over and trying to nip me as I was photographing. It got so annoying I almost thumped it on its nose, but didn’t :-). The cool thing about this location is that there was a waterfall behind the horses (but their hair was wet which dampened their beauty a bit)
We stopped in Vik to attempt to photograph the church on the hill. Conditions weren’t great with a lot of low clouds/fog but a few of us gave it a try.
Then our next stop was a small church we had visited previously, though not photographed, and we wanted to see if we could capture a few images of it.
However, the wind had picked up so much, it was a steady 40-45mph with gusts over 60mph. Crazy wind!!!! Most of us got out of the van and huddled behind it trying to shelter from the wind. Even so, the buffeting was crazy and we had to really have a fast shutter speed to try and get some semblance of sharpness.
When Orvar tried to get back in to the van and shut the door, he almost physically couldn’t! The wind was pushing him so hard he had to hang on for dear life and had to use all his Icelandic might to pull the door closed. After this episode, everyone was fairly done and tired, so we made a short trip back to Reykjavik and our hotel. Along the way we could see that the wind was so strong it was blowing the waterfalls sideways, and, even back up!!!
We enjoyed one last group meal together at a Thai restaurant close to the hotel. After days of lamb, fish and soups, having some spicy Thai food was a blast to my palette. It was amazingly good. At the end of dinner, the group said goodbye to Orvar and we retired for a much needed rest in our comfy rooms.
The Day After
I had one day to myself in Reykjavik before flying to Norway to conduct my next workshop. So, I did what most people do in town and walk around and look at the tourist sites.
First stop was the Sun Voyager statue along the waterfront. Sun Voyager is described as a dreamboat, or an ode to the Sun. The artist intended it to convey the promise of undiscovered territory, a dream of hope, progress and freedom.
Then it was on to the Harpa music hall. A wonderful place to shoot abstract images
And rounding out the “big 3”, was a visit to Hallgrimskirka church, which is over 244 feet tall and resembles columnar basalt. It was snowing so hard outside that I didn’t really come away with any images of the exterior that I liked. However, the church was open to visitors and I made a lap of the beautiful inside.
Conclusion
Any time of year is a special time in Iceland. It is a magnificent country, filled with friendly people, tourist friendly with an amazing landscape that has so many different looks and moods throughout the year. If you’ve never been, I encourage you to think about making the easy trip to this magnificent country!
About me:
I am a full time photographer, workshop leader and creative educator based in the Pacific Northwest. I lead workshops in the US and abroad and teach photography and post processing in person or remotely. For more information please visit www.johnpedersenphoto.com
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