Wind Back - Iceland 2016
A third of Iceland’s population lives in the capital city of Reykjavík. Many of the rest live scattered across the rugged landscapes, some in the shadow of mountains.
If you asked any landscape photographer where they would most like to visit, Iceland will probably be at the top of the list. With its rugged mountains, gushing waterfalls, and fiery volcanos it has really captured the attention of many photographers (and tourists) over the last decade. When I first went with a school trip in 2008 the number of visitors per year was around 400,000 (with a population of 317,000, which in 2020 is around 364,000), fast forward to 2017 and this number had risen to over two million. Numbers have begun to slacken since the peak in 2018, and this is partially due to Iceland’s budget airline Wow Air going bust in early 2019. Numbers will be dramatically down in 2020 due to the global pandemic, though there is a general feeling that Iceland has suffered from overexposure.
In the first of my Wind Back series I look at my photos from (late March) 2016 that I re-edited this year on the fourth anniversary of the trip. This is an interesting experience for me as I had vastly inferior gear than I do now (Nikon D3200, with most photos taken on either the 18-55mm kit lens or my trusty nifty fifty) but I was visiting perhaps the most dramatic landscapes I have ever been to. A lot of advice online says to spend the money on visiting interesting locations rather than buying better gear (in the hope of better image quality) and this rings true for this. Re-editing the RAW files with several years more knowledge, I was impressed by how detailed the files looked, certainly better than I remembered! A reminder to hit the road again when we are able to, even if you can only go with limited gear.
One of Iceland’s famous Geysers. Examining the sharpness of this image highlights that you don’t need the most expensive gear to get a sharp, detailed shot.
One of my great weaknesses in landscape photography is my obsession with panoramics. While once upon a time this was only possible with specialist panoramic cameras this is now accessible to anyone with a digital camera, where separate images can be stitched together using software such as Adobe Lightroom & Photoshop. Whilst they can look very impressive, they are often taken with very little thought other than ‘capturing what I see’ which doesn’t make for a very compelling image. This panorama of the Ice Lagoon is a perfect example of this. Whilst it may give a sense of scale with the people in the foreground, it is an otherwise empty, boring, and imbalanced photo. There is too much sky, too little foreground and it lacks a true subject to anchor the eye, the largely empty expanse of water just does not do it. I could have captured an equally bad image using the panoramic setting on my phone. Next time I would be better off looking for smaller, interesting details, showcasing elements which would have been a good representation of the Ice Lagoon when viewed as a set.
Iceland’s famed Ice Lagoon. This wide angled panoramic doesn’t do it justice.
My only only interesting detail shot from my time at the Ice Lagoon. Ice has beauty that can only be truly appreciated up close.
A tricky aspect of this trip from the perspective of photography is that I went with friends who were not photographers. Landscape photography is often a rather anti-social affair, either getting up at the crack of dawn or heading out at dusk to get the best light. This was not an option for me as we were working on a schedule of a normal holiday and at this point I did not having a driving license, so there was no prospect of taking the hire car for an early morning spin. A way to resolve this would be to either go again on my own or as part of a photography tour. However, going with mates without cameras dangling from their necks has its advantages. Perhaps one of the things I did better is capturing the action of some of our activities. Having people in shot adds not only to the sense of scale but also a physicality to traversing the landscapes. A little bit of camaraderie never hurts either!
The long walk up Eyjafjallajökull. This volcano’s name resonated around the world in 2010 when it erupted, prompting the cancellation of thousands of flights.
Long walks are thirsty work and what better way to replenish your fluid levels than straight from a volcanic spring.
A significant reason to look for the smaller scale aspects in a landscape is originality. If you go after these big vistas the chances are that this has been photographed many times over (and probably much better by someone who had the perfect lighting when they were there!). By looking for the smaller details you can create more unique images that no one else may be able to capture. Looking through my images this is something that is strikingly lacking and needs to be a focus for any of my future work. It is also worth noting that this trip only covered the south coast, which is the most visited by tourists, by getting off the beaten trail further north or further inland would provide better opportunities for more unique photos. The best images are often found off the beaten track where few others are looking.
My favourite image from the trip, the broken bridge is itself visually interesting even without the mountain backdrop. However it could have been improved by stepping to the right to completely separate the bridge from the nearby building.
It has been fascinating to re-visit these images with the knowledge I now have four years later. Though my gear and skill level has improved I am still making some of the same old mistakes and this has been a good reminder to avoid the obvious and pay closer attention to find a more unique and original image. With the inability to take panoramas and limited shots on a roll, this will be an area that film photography will really help me with. Now I have my film camera I just need the ability to travel to these far-flung locations again. Let us hope for better prospects in 2021.
Have you been to Iceland? Which country are you most keen to visit for landscape photography? Let me know in the comments below.
If you enjoyed this blog then please consider leaving a tip below.
