Black Sand Beach of Iceland

Black sand beach Iceland

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.

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Salt Fields of Bolivia, Salar de Uyuni

Salar de Uyuni

The salts fields of Bolivia or Salar de Uyuni, is a shallow basin of reflective water sought after by many tourists and photographers.

After numerous days of 10 hour drives, we finally arrived at the salt fields of Bolivia or Salar de Uyuni.  We started our journey in northern Chile and had driven on many miles of dusty roads and crossed mountains over 16,000 feet. We had been taking medications to minimize the effects of high altitude.  However, by this time most of us had either experienced food poisoning or altitude sickness.  I was down a day from dehydration.  We were dead tired from photographing stars through the cold mountain air and then driving for hours through mud hut towns to our next destination.  Now the fun was about to get into high gear….

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Our 32 Day Cruise, Lisbon to Montreal

Seaborn Quest Cruise

Thirty-two days on the Seabourn Quest, our longest cruise yet.

Our 32 day cruise began in Lisbon, Portugal.  The Portuguese say Lisboa.  Our cruise itinerary seemed to include every place that ended in “…land.”  That would include England, Ireland, Scotland, Iceland, Greenland, many islands and finally Newfoundland.  We accomplished our main  goal.  Get out of the August heat of Idaho.  Greenland may have been my favorite.

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A Walk Around New Mexico

 

For me, this photo has the quintessential qualities of Northern New Mexico, beautiful clouds, blue skies, and adobe architecture.  Much of this trip was spent simply walking around Santa Fe and Taos, not necessarily on a photo trip, but still looking for great photographs.

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Perast, Montenegro

 

Our Lady of the Rock church, Perast Montenegro

Our Lady of the Rocks church, Perast, Montenegro

Perast is a small fishing village in Montenegro consisting of a single street which runs along the Bay of Kotor.  Driving this road in the early morning fog in my rental car, I was shocked to learn this narrow lane was actually a two lane road.  The wild gesturing of the locals convinced me this was true.
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Split, Croatia

Split Harbor at Dusk

Split Harbor at Dusk

The main attraction in Split is Diocletian’s Palace, built in the 4th century by the Romans.  Today it is simply part of the old city with fancy shops and many restaurants primarily for tourists.  Split had the busiest harbor we have seen since Gibraltar.  There was a constant flow of cruise ships, ferries and yachts.
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Bucharest, Romania

Bucharest Turrets

Turrets on a Bucharest Orthodox church

 

We normally drive or take the train while traveling in Europe.  However, European travel restrictions (Schengen Agreement) dictated we get out of Spain as well as twenty-five other European countries and head for a country not part of this agreement.  We would be illegal aliens if we remained in Spain.  So we boarded our first ever European flight from Barcelona to Bucharest.
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Alhambra Fortress and Granada, Spain

Alhambra Sunset

Alhambra Sunset

The Alhambra is a Moorish palace and fortress complex located at the top of a hill in the city of Granada, Andalusia Spain.  It was built in the 8th century by the Moors, or if you are a fan of the Seinfeld Show the Moops.
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Iceland in November

Icebergs and Northern Lights

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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