An azure colored lake provides color in the Iceland highlands.
The Iceland highlands are known for their relatively bright colors. Most of the color is from low growing mosses, contrasting with the black volcanic sands as well as rich, colorful mineral deposits. These colorful highlands were not a destination for us. Rather they were simply something to fly over to get to the next collection of abstract rivers scenes. However, we liked them so much we returned the following day.
This photo represents sheer joy for Greg and me. We had traveled maybe a quarter way around the world to find the abstract designs of the water runoff of the Icelandic glaciers and were giddy with excitement with our success in photographing these crazy abstract river designs, Iceland from the air.
We had both seen similar scenes in books of award winning photos and were drawn to the abstract designs of Iceland from the air. Greg did ALL of the planning and driving. I happily tagged along. It was pure joy when we got up into the airplane and realized our hours of travel and Greg’s hours of planning were a success. Below our tiny airplane were crazy, inexplicable, myriad of designs. Somehow, these were formed by the glacier river runoff. White, blue and brown designs were all equally confusing. We knew our Iceland journey was going to be a success.
The Black Sand Beach in Iceland is a tourist destination along the main road in southern Iceland, east of Reykjavík. Here you can expect wedding photographers, tour buses, food trucks, patrolled paid parking and a few avid photographers.
Winter is a better time of year to visit the Black Sand Beach of Iceland. There are some wonderful hotels nearby. Winter is best from a photography point of view because the light is better with the sun lower in the horizon, bigger storms and larger icebergs on the beach. During the summer months, the iceberg remnants are having a contest to see which can melt away the fastest. In the winter it is a struggle of survival for the heartiest photographer. I visited in the winter of 2015. Iceland Winter Visit. Our goal in 2024 was to photograph Iceland from the air, from both an airplane and a helicopter. But first we need to travel to our tiny inland airport, photographing southern Iceland along the way.
Puffin swimming, presumably looking for fish.
I was excited to see my first ever puffins and photograph them while cruising the islands off the coast of Iceland. I knew my resultant travel photographs would never compete with professional nature photographers who sit on a hillside and wait for the perfect moment to capture a puffin. However, out of the many hundreds of photos taken from the moving, bouncing Zodiac boat, two photos were acceptable to show here.
Icebergs and Northern Lights
I was fortunate to have a photographer friend in Springdale, Utah, Seth Hamel, invite me on a November trip to Iceland at the same time as I was exploring my own winter Icelandic adventure. It eventually all just fell into place and I was soon flying IcelandAir on my way to Reykjavik.
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