LF PHOTOGRAPHERS IN ICELAND

[Alan Barton]

Im thinking about a trip to Iceland next year (summertime!) with an 8x10. Is the re anyone out there on this wonderful forum that lives in Iceland and can provid e advice etc?? Many thanks

Alan Barton

[Gudmundur Ingolfsson]

I would be glad to be of help!

[diversey]

Will go to Iceland this summer. Any suggestions for large format photography? I’ll bring my 4x5 camera with several lenses. 4-day car travel to south Iceland along the ring road from Reykjavik and stay in Reykjavik for 3-4 days. Thanks!

[Gudmundur Ingolfsson]

A problem with wind is best solved with a solid golf umbrella. If you want landscapes those are everywhere but I would try to avoid those overexposed clichés everyone snaps.

[BrianShaw]

Find Daniel Stone’s username and PM him. He’s been there with LF, perhaps several times.

[r.e.]

Will go to Iceland this summer. Any suggestions for large format photography? I’ll bring my 4x5 camera with several lenses. 4-day car travel to south Iceland along the ring road from Reykjavik and stay in Reykjavik for 3-4 days. Thanks!

Starting four weeks ago, Capture One's head of training, David Grover, and Capture One "Ambassador" Paul Reiffer held six live streams on their trip to Iceland. They left for Iceland on June 6th and made content for Capture One as a company, including for its new iPad app which was released two days ago. They started their trip in south Iceland, in Vík í Mýrdal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%ADk_%C3%AD_Mýrdal) (second video). This is the first of the six videos, and deals with planning their itinerary and expected conditions (weather, light, etc.) in Iceland:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EqO2fuP5Hs

[diversey]

Thanks for your tips. Will go to Costco in Reykjavik to buy a golf umbrella. Costco here in USA sells it $19.99 for one golf umbrella and one regular one😀. Are there any photography galleries and art museums there?


A problem with wind is best solved with a solid golf umbrella. If you want landscapes those are everywhere but I would try to avoid those overexposed clichés everyone snaps.

[diversey]

Thanks! Will check with him.


Find Daniel Stone’s username and PM him. He’s been there with LF, perhaps several times.

[diversey]

Thanks, r. e! Interesting, good timing. Will watch those videos.

[Chester McCheeserton]

https://reykjavikcitymuseum.is/reykjavik-museum-of-photography

Be prepared to experience weather conditions like you haven't before, namely sideways rain.
I would rent a 4wd vehicle, do some research and avoid stopping along the ring road anyplace you see a tour bus.

[StuartR]

The current show at the Reykjavik Museum of Photography is done by a large format photographer. Her name is Jessica Auer, and splits her time between Canada and Iceland. I think the majority of the work, if not all, was done on a Chamonix 4x5.

As for advice, I would agree with Guðmundur. Beautiful landscapes are not that hard to find, but you are coming at the most crowded time, so you will probably want to avoid the largest tourist spots, at least for your photography. It is still worth seeing a lot of them. I don't think you will need to deal with such extreme conditions, as you will be coming in July. It may be windy and rainy though.

Other general advice: don't ever turn your back on the waves at Reynisfjara...several people have died in the past few years, including one this year. The waves are not consistent...everything is fine until all of a sudden a much larger wave comes and sweeps people off their feet into the sea, even good swimmers.

It is hard to find or buy any large format photography materials here, so make sure you come with everything you need.

[r.e.]

you are coming at the most crowded time... It may be windy and rainy... Jessica Auer ... splits her time between Canada and Iceland

In their video series on shooting in Iceland in June (post #6), David Grover and Paul Reiffer say that visiting photographers were not taking advantage of 20+ hours of light. At busy places, photographers were packing their cameras at the end of the afternoon, failing to realise that they could have the site to themselves by waiting a bit or going later. Perhaps because it was only the second week of June, they also say that sites, leaving aside Reykjavík, were not as busy as they expected. Weather was so changeable that they quickly started using their itinerary as a rough guide and focused on where weather reports said conditions would be favourable.

Jessica Auer is from Montréal, but as you say splits her time between there and Iceland. This is her website: https://www.jessicaauer.com

If I were going to Iceland this summer, one of the first things I'd check is whether Víkingur Ólafsson (https://vikingurolafsson.com) is giving a concert somewhere. His official schedule doesn't show an appearance in Iceland, but maybe something informal?

[StuartR]

The days of reliably having the major sites to yourself are over, at any time of day in summer. But it should be manageable. The local media is reporting that the level of tourism is back to what it was in 2019, if not slightly higher. 2019 saw around 2 million tourists (there are 360,000 locals), with the busiest months being June, July and August. The best light at this time of year generally starts around 8pm and runs until 11 or 12, depending on whether there are obstructions between the sun and your subject. Sunrise is around 3am, so it picks up again then and the light can be nice until the early morning. Light during the day can be nice, but it is rather harsh and directional unless it is cloudy.

A lot of the reason people leave the tourist sites is because many need to get dinner, and there are few options for dining in the countryside, so most go back to the hotel. This is especially true for groups, which tend to disappear during this time. For that reason there is sometimes a lull in the later dinner hours (8-9 etc). Most people do not want to work during the best periods of the light because it is hard to hold that schedule...especially the morning side of things. The period when the sun is down is typically not great to photograph in, so it means that you have a 3 hour lull in your shooting if you want to shoot both ends of the good light. Depicting the major sites without people is now somewhat disingenuous anyway...also, do you really want to be the 17 millionth person to take a picture of Skogarfoss or Kirkjufell from the waterfall viewing point? They are worth seeing, but I agree with Guðmundur that you are probably better off saving your film for some of the less known sites. That said, we are both probably grumpy because we live here and have seen too many pictures of those places.

I agree with you about Víkingur. He is great. No idea if he is performing this summer, however.

[Tin Can]

For many years I just bought scenic postcards and sent them to family and friends

If I had a camera and usually did not

I shot the people I was with, not on cliffs

I knew postcards were better than...so I always sent them, up until we all got lost in computers

When I used to travel I sought locals to talk to, in a month I became a regular at a good pub and a vegetarian as it was the best food in London

Most fun like that was London fake 2K, met 4 married Norwegians same hotel, we had a blast

Memories are not Prints

[r.e.]

The best light at this time of year generally starts around 8pm and runs until 11 or 12... Sunrise is around 3am, so it picks up again then and the light can be nice until the early morning. Light during the day can be nice, but it is rather harsh and directional unless it is cloudy...

...do you really want to be the 17 millionth person to take a picture of Skogarfoss or Kirkjufell from the waterfall viewing point? They are worth seeing, but I agree with Guðmundur that you are probably better off saving your film for some of the less known sites. That said, we are both probably grumpy because we live here and have seen too many pictures of those places...

I agree with you about Víkingur. He is great.

For people who live in "the south", those hours are likely to be a bit of a shock. If my own experiences in the far north are anything to go by, there's also a biological clock issue to deal with unless one takes steps, such as heavy hotel room curtains, to block out what's happening with the light and pretend that you're still in the south. Of course, then one misses some of the best times to make photographs.

I have a home in Newfoundland. It shares a latitude with Paris, so length of day isn't an issue. However, ten years ago there was only the occasional photograph on the internet of notable sites in my area, and now it's an avalanche. If the travellers who make those photos are happy with them, that seems cool to me. Most people who make photographs, probably including most large format photographers, are doing it for personal satisfaction and to remind themselves of well-spent leisure time. In any event, compared to the repetition of photos of a small number of so-called iconic sites at U.S. national parks, photographs of familiar sites in Iceland are a rarity.

One thing that I noticed in the Grover/Reiffer videos (post #6) is that Iceland is taking steps (erecting barriers) to prevent tourists from killing themselves and/or destroying natural habitat. This is also becoming an issue in Newfoundland, where some tourists apparently don't get the concept that standing a few centimetres from the edge of a 100m cliff in changeable winds isn't clever, not to mention disregard for precarious wildflowers. So far, Newfoundland hasn't erected barriers, but the stupidity and thoughtlessness of some tourists, thankfully a minority, may make it necessary.

As someone who plays the piano, I think that Víkingur Ólafsson is both extremely talented and a breath of fresh air for classical music.

[diversey]

Thank you all for your suggestions and tips, which are really helpful! I hope I can learn some Iceland history and culture, enjoy sightseeing, visit art museums/galleries and take some good LF pictures (unnecessary iconic site pictures) on this trip.

[r.e.]

Thank you all for your suggestions and tips, which are really helpful! I hope I can learn some Iceland history and culture, enjoy sightseeing, visit art museums/galleries and take some good LF pictures (unnecessary iconic site pictures) on this trip.

I'm jealous :) Have a great trip!

[diversey]

Thanks! :o


I'm jealous :) Have a great trip!

[popdoc]

To the “locals”, given your knowledge of lighting, atmosphere, and geology, what ISO for B&W and color film? Im traveling with family (kids and 5&6 year old grandkids). Will have Hasselblad and debating if I can pull of bringing a stripped down version my 4x5 Linhoff kit.
Any and all suggestions appreciated!
Thx!

[Gudmundur Ingolfsson]

A ISO 100 -160 is fine on a sunny day. When it is overcast and or rainy or windy ISO 400 is an advantage especially to stop motion.

[MartyNL]

Im traveling with family (kids and 5&6 year old grandkids). Will have Hasselblad and debating if I can pull of bringing a stripped down version my 4x5 Linhoff kit.
Any and all suggestions appreciated!
Thx!

In my experience, it sounds like you'll have plenty on your hands with just MF. I've used a Fujifilm 645zi, handheld, in these kind of situations and it's been very liberating, for everyone..! :)