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.
Iceland from the Air
But first we had to get to these unique river design areas by plane. We would be flying at a bit over 100mph. The actual speed was not so important as simply realizing that we would not be able to stick our hand or camera outside the airplane. The plane doors remained on, but the windows were open.
There would be no playing with the airflow with your cupped hand outside the window as we did traveling by car as a child. I still do this now out of sheer boredom while driving in Nevada and Utah, using my hand as an airfoil in an effort to stay awake. We were warned numerous times not to stick our camera lens outside the airplane fuselage. Invariably, a photographer gets wrapped up in the excitement of the scene and will get the camera lens too far outside. Once the camera was caught by the wind, the camera lens would immediately get slammed against the back of the window. This would happen over a dozen times during the next two days. At other times a great photo was ruined as I got the green glow of the tinted window in my photo.
NOTE you can click the video to FULL SCREEN, the ESC will return to normal viewing.
Glaciers
I cannot explain how this black sand gets twisted into these designs within the glacier. We first had to fly over many large glaciers on our way to photograph rivers from glaciers at higher elevations. There are many glaciers in Iceland. CLICK on any of the photos to get a larger, more detailed view…
We had just come from the Black Sand Beach. Apparently, there are black sands in the mountains too. Well, it is after all an entirely volcanic formed island. Somehow, over the thousands of years, the sand gets wrapped up and twisted within the glaciers.
Experts are seldom around when needed. I would like to know more about these black line curves in these glaciers. How do the black sand lines get so intertwined and twisted in the glacier? These photos were taken prior to any river abstract scenes. I had already considered our trip viewing Iceland from above a success seeing these striated glaciers.
A success indeed. We had already found the Abominable Snowman.
Keep in mind that we are flying at well over 100mph so there is hardly any time to focus and compose. The first day I used fixed focal length camera lenses. The second day I used zoom lenses, so there was an additional step in shooting photos. I used two cameras and two different length lenses so I would not waste time changing these in the drafty airplane.
This glacier shows the color gradations going from the white sunlit areas to the more cool blues tones in the shade.
Apparently this brown pond is the result of the glacier melting, so I was surprised it is so brown. Certainly there is no water turbulence. Maybe during severe rainstorms there is runoff from the dirt. Finally some color.
Blue and Brown Glacier Rivers
Blue and brown river abstract. I have no clear explanation, just joy and amazement… Iceland from the air and at 100+ miles and hour.
There were many different and varied sections of the rivers we flew over. Some were primarily very brown, others only blue or white. Trying to show all of the varied colors and designs would be visual overload for all but the most ardent fan of abstracts. For me, these photos are so interesting since I do not really understand them or know how these designs come about.
The tan areas look very dry or dusty. How is that possible? Well, maybe that is wet sand. I believe the large black blobs are more black volcanic sand.
Intricate design of blues and whites, skinny rivulets.
While vibrating and bouncing along at 100+ miles an hour, we were trying to compose photos, position the camera for more interesting diagonal lines vs. straight vertical or horizontal. Trying to not cut off an interesting section of a river at the top or bottom. Should we compose for a homogeneous scene of primarily one color or allow for gradients from blues to whites? Hesitate for more than a second or two and the scene was gone, on to the next.
We also had to shoot at a high shutter speed, despite the distance from our subject, due to the constant bouncing and vibrations of the plane.
The colors seemed to be in sections, some areas mostly brown and others a very different blue. Not all color variations could be explained by the position of the sun or shadows, in my opinion.
Man hasn’t the imagination to think of shapes that do not exist in nature…
White Rivers
CLICK on these photos for a larger, more impressive image…
I’ve learned that no matter how beautiful a photograph is, if you use ‘varicose veins’ in the title, it will not sell…. This is my favorite Iceland from the air photograph.
The rock or sand beach on the left is included to provide some anchor to give some sense of place. So many photo possibilities within this one photo…. if you like abstracts.
When the rivers were more full, there would be fewer intricate designs. So there is a delicate balance between too much water and too little water flow.
Mostly Blue Tones
For abstracts the photographer can elect an abstract and confuse the viewer, or can include some recognizable land to provide some clues to better understand the photograph. Here I included some land and rocks to provide some information of the overall scene. I could have zoomed into the center, providing no clues.
Looks like another Black Sand Beach in the middle of the river. So why is there no evidence of black sand elsewhere in this river scene?
Rivers with Strong Reflected Sunlight
Bands of black sand in the river were more common close to the ocean.
Black islands among a large blue river.
I consider my trip seeing Iceland from the air as one of my very best photograph trips ever. I feel we got exactly what we had hoped for. How often does that happen in life, let along a photography trip a quarter way around the world?
Why the designs change in sections of the river is a complete mystery to me. This is part of what makes this trip and collection of photographs so appealing to me.
It appears there is a lot of water and it is running fast, as many waves or rapids can be seen in the rivers
Our Iceland from the Air Journey Continues…
The river breaks into one last abstract design before finally flowing into the ocean.
After this photo, we turned around and headed back to the airport. We were descending, obviously landing, but neither Greg nor I could see the gravel landing strip among the surrounding terrain. We were happy to know we had another airplane and a helicopter flight remaining in our journey.
Nicely done and explained! i always enjoy your postings! You have had some extraordinary experiences since you retired!! I’m glad that I have had the chance to follow your adventures since we were in class together.
WOW …. this is a whole lot more fun than your Salt Flats of Bolivia journey. Albeit the prose is not as humorous but a lot more giddy with delight 🙂
The images are also a lot more giddy with delight 🙂
Looking forward to the next installment.