It’s eye-opening to experience how my relation to Iceland evolves over time. I’m here for the fifth time, now spending the entire summer in the country, but haven’t seen the island for a decade. And it has changed a lot. And I also changed a lot.

It was hard to forget the Iceland I had in my fond memories and let myself see what’s in front of me. But once I began to free myself from the past, image making started to get rewarding again.

And the island is still capable of delivering great scenery, just in slightly different ways. Just like the one below.

Layers

This image was captured at a nice geothermal area – well, it was much better ten years ago, before an explosion wiped most of the features. But this time we went there chasing the reddish glow on the horizon, not the geothermal stuff.

Taken with the Canon 5DS R and Zeiss Apo Sonnar T* 2/135.

It’s not over until it’s over – this is a golden truth in photography. We were driving the whole afternoon for nothing. It rained, and the waterfall at our original destination wasn’t in its top shape. But on the way home we literally ran into this majestic scene. Took roughly 50 frames, exploring different compositions, and couldn’t be happier with the results.

Dark Mountains

Captured with the Canon 5DS R with the Zeiss Apo Sonnar T* 2/135 lens. Yes, one must bring a telephoto to Iceland.

Sometimes great photographic opportunities present themselves in unexpected situations. But as the saying goes, luck favors the prepared.

We were driving back to Reykjavík a few days ago when a colorful sunset started to unfold in front of us. We stopped at the first gas station, pulled out my iPhone with the Mark II Artist’s Viewfinder to look for an image. A few minutes later I stepped out of the car with a big smile – knowing that the image I’m going to shoot will work. Just had to take it properly.

Roadside Sunset

Out came the tripod, the Canon 5DS R, the magnificent Zeiss Apo Sonnar T* 2/135, as well as the 11″ MacBook Air. With 50 megapixels it’s essential to check for distractions on the image – in this case I had to exclude the fence that ran across the lower border which escaped my attention when I set up the shot through the camera’s viewfinder. But once I fired up Kuuvik Capture and took a test shot, it became clearly visible on the notebook screen. A quick framing adjustment, and just had to wait for the best colors.

Glaciers are almost always surrounded by clouds. Is it because the water vapor entering the air when ice melts? I think so. Nevertheless, parts of the mountains and ice revealed though holes in the clouds look mysterious and majestic at the same time.

This glacier lies some 20 minutes walk from the parking lot. Guess what? No tourists. This tells a lot about the contemporary tourism in Iceland. But I’m glad that we were finally alone.

Glacier Hiding

Photographed with the Canon 5DS R and the Zeiss Apo Sonnar T* 2/135 using Kuuvik Capture. Yes, I lug a heavy backpack, a tripod and a 11″ MacBook Air with me all the time. Even if it’s a few kilometers walk. But since setting up a shot takes several minutes, it’s a must to pre-visualize what I’m going to do. Fortunately I have an app for that: the Mark II Artist’s Viewfinder.