Winter photography tour of Iceland

February 28, 2020 Iceland

Photographer / Sawako Minami

I would like to share with you the story of a photography trip to Iceland that was planned in response to requests from visitors to the photo exhibition "Iceland: Drama of the farthest ends" held in 2019.
Most of the participants were veteran landscape photographers or traveling snappers who were quite enthusiastic about going to Iceland.
The weather in Iceland is particularly changeable in winter, requiring mobility. With any luck, we might even be able to see the aurora, so I set off equipped with the Markins Q10i-BK knob shoe medium format ball head that I have been using for around three years, an L-plate set (PP-K1 + LP-K1) for the Pentax K-1 Mark II, the main camera on this tour, and a PL-90 lens plate for the telephoto lens HD PENTAX-D FA★70-200mmF2.8ED DC AW.

The highlights of this photo trip were the ice cave, Diamond Beach, and the Northern Lights, but we estimated that there was only a 50% chance of capturing them all, as it depended on the natural conditions and the weather.

First, we decided to head to the south coast before the arrival of a storm, which was forecast to hit southern Iceland soon.
We then photographed the ice cave formed on the edge of the glacier of Katla volcano. This year is a good year for ice caves, which are said to occur once every five years. The structure of the upper part of the ice cave is interesting, so we used the Markins ball head and L-plate to take horizontal and vertical shots while facing quite upwards.
Taking pictures with as wide an angle as possible gives a sense of scale, but first of all, the inside of the cave is dim and a tripod is needed. Furthermore, if you try to take a picture toward the entrance, there is a large difference in brightness, and it almost always ends up being overexposed. So we set the HDR in the camera and had the participants stand up and press the shutter to convey the sense of scale.

Despite the heavy wide-angle lens and slow shutter speed, this equipment allowed me to take pictures without blur. Also, at another ice cave I visited, there were scenes where I had to kneel down while holding the tripod in the low space, but the small head was very easy to handle and I was grateful.

The next place I visited was Diamond Beach, where glacier ice comes out into the sea and washes up on the black sand beach, and on this morning it was filled with a mysterious light leaking through the gaps in the black clouds. The weather had been so bad that I was stuck in the hotel just a little while ago, so I couldn't predict what kind of waves would come in the sea. Sometimes the waves would follow me indefinitely, so I had to retreat with my tripod, and I had to repeatedly recompose the shot. I thought that I would never be able to do this kind of speed-demanding movement without the Markins ball head.

And the final highlight was the aurora. Even if the index (KP) is high, the aurora cannot be seen if there are clouds. Although the index was low on this day, we were able to see a small aurora through the gaps in the clouds. We wanted to see the aurora clearly swaying with the naked eye, but we could only see it with a camera. However, the participants who were able to photograph the aurora for the first time were still delighted and it became a fond memory.

We set out on the tour expecting a 50% chance of capturing the Ice Cave, Diamond Beach, and the Northern Lights, but I was very surprised that we were able to achieve all of our goals.
The participants really worked hard in the harsh conditions of strong winds and snowstorms. And I'm sure that in return for the harsh weather, they were able to bring home a lot of great work.
In addition, I also thought it was great that we had the chance to take some time to relax and photograph the friendly Icelandic horses.

Finally, this photo tour took place just as the COVID-19 pandemic was about to spread across Europe. I stayed at home for two weeks before traveling to Iceland and after returning home. Needless to say, we took the utmost care to prevent infection among the participants while we were there.
I am truly grateful that the tour was made possible, and I hope that around this time next year I will be able to visit without any worries.

Sawako Minami

A graduate of Keio University, currently lives in Tokyo. While working as an English interpreter, began taking landscape photographs in 2010. While engaging in friendly competition in the bimonthly “Landscape Photography” magazine contest, captivated by the natural charm of Iceland and held a solo exhibition “Iceland: Drama of the farthest ends” at Fujifilm Photo Salon Tokyo in February 2019.
Held a traveling exhibition in Osaka and Nagoya. At the same time, published "Traveling with a Camera in Iceland" (Fukei Shashin Shuppansha). Organizer of Iceland photography tours. Currently active as a landscape photographer. Domestically, continues to photograph the natural scenery of eastern Hokkaido.
PRSP member