Recent trip to Iceland

[butterfly]

Hi everyone,

On a recent trip to Iceland, I agonised for weeks over what gear to take (dslr, 4x5). In the end I took it all, which nearly killed me humping it everywhere. With lots of time to set up and take photographs, I took probably one of two with the Ebony and 10 with the Canon (and a few with a digital compact for good luck).

Well, after returning home, I have learnt the following:

Shooting colour neg is better than Velvia. The extreme contrast range was too great for the slide film to cope.

Forget the DSLR. I've ended up with 8 really great keepers (by my standards), one's I would hang on the wall, and hundreds of so-so's from the Canon. In fact more keepers from the Ricoh GR digital!

I am confident with the Ebony and see no reason to take the DSLR. It just adds so much weight.

I have learnt now that it is better to enjoy the holiday, set up the 4x5 when there is a real photograph to be had, take my time and enjoy the process. This is something that I was advised on when I posted a question about what to take.

I am now looking for the smallest back pack possible to hold the Ebony 45SU and associated gear.

btw, the film went through Stanstead Airport UK x-rays on the way out and Keflavik airport on the way back with no ill-effects.

One scan of a portra neg attached. I ahve not uploaded a photo before so I had trouble resizing. The image size was less than 650x650 the filesize was still too large. Probably after messing around with it, it will not look great. The original print is so sharp I am really pleased with it.

Regards

Steve

[John Bowen]

Steve,

Nice image. It sounds like you had a most enjoyable trip. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

John

[Emmanuel BIGLER]

Thanks Steve for the feedback. Jokulsarlon, I presume?

I appreciate the idea of enjoying the landscape and taking few LF pictures instead of spending the whole day with the eye riveted behind the eyecup of a SLR or D-SLR

I've been to Iceland in summer only so I would have some questions regarding your winter trip (you say : recent)
- my understanding is that only Road Number 1 is open, but no backcountry roads ; comments ?
- since we are close to the Arctic circle what can you comment on the availability and quality of light at this time of the year ?

[butterfly]

Hi, it was the only time we could manage to go this year, and had many concerns about the weather. However, we had probably all the different kinds, on some days roughly alternating every half-hour! (Rain, snow, sleet, really strong wind and then glorious sunshine) - it made for great photography! In a week we had 3 days of brilliant sunshine, 2 days of pouring rain and the other days a mixture. Not so bad.

The wind can be strong - so be ready to weigh down the tripod. Mine went over twice thankfully without the camera attached.

At this time of year only route 1 is driveable with a few minor roads and then only so far, and also you can do only the South. But there is still many places and things to see. Overall we had a fantastic experience and I would recommend it to anyone.

All the main places of interest were devoid of people, so it made for easier photography without the coach loads of tourists at the main waterfalls, geysirs and landmarks.

The only downside is that the food is frighteningly expensive!

I was so glad I took my Ebony. It was a real test, but it performed flawlessly in all weathers.

Steve

[butterfly]

Sorry, meant to add that we went just a couple of weeks ago, February 8th to be exact.

[Gudmundur Ingolfsson]

Links that are usefull for those planning a trip to Icedland:

Maps:
http://www.lmi.is
http://www.edda.is

Weather:
http://www.vedur.is or http://www.cnn.com

Road Conditions:
http://vegagerdin.is

[Emmanuel BIGLER]

Many thanks to Guðmundur Ingólfsson for first-hand information !
The Icelandic Survey (Landmælingar Íslands) has a nice web site where you can zoom-in to your favourite places ! Superb !
I wish I could visit Iceland in winter some day. So far I only know Iceland in winter from books and magazines...

[trink408]

It is a goal of mine to visit Iceland at some point in my life, very intrigued by the land there.

Thanks for sharing your experience, glad to hear you had an enjoyable trip...

[Michael Rosenberg]

I have been to Iceland twice, both in the summer (early July and late July/early August). I had a fantastic time with the long daylight. Even though I was there for two weeks each time I had not made it around the island! The strong winds are a challenge, and I found that carrying a drawstring bag to hold rocks off of the center pole and spreading the legs as far as the gitzo would allow was a great help.

I would love to go back some day, both in the summer and in November and March.

You can see some of my prints on me web site in the Iceland Gallery room.

Mike

[Rory_5244]

A very nice, and reassuring post that the LF yielded aesthetically better pics than the digital gear! I really must try some colour negative film in LF.