I have gone around Iceland about 7-8 times before going on my recent trip. I have gone about 5 times with my former band to play at Eistnaflug Music Festival in Neskaupsstaður. But I have not gone the round trip before with the mindset of taking photos. I got hired to shoot a wedding up North in Sauðárkrókur. My wife took our twins away for the weekend so I decided to go the long way around. With one thing in mind, to get a photo of my dream location, “Vestrahorn”.
The weather was great to start out with, it was supposed to rain in the South, but should clear up the further East I drove. It is a 6 hour straight drive to Vestrahorn without any stops, so it was a big gamble to trust the weather.
I decided on the way I would stay with my best friend in Eskifjörður, that should be a 3 hour drive East from Vestrahorn, and an easy drive to the wedding up North the day after. The weather was still good and I looked forward to seeing Jökulsárlón (Glacier Lagoon) again, and get some photos with my GFX 50S. An hour away from the lagoon, the sky opened up and it started pouring down, Monsoon rains, I kept my hopes up and was positive it would clear up by the time I reached Jökulsárlón.
I had arrived to Jökulsárlón, and it was pouring down, the most rain I have ever seen in my life.
Not discouraged, that never happens, I still was hopeful of getting photos I would be proud of.
As I ventured deeper into the East. I had only one thing on my mind, that was to photograph my dream spot, Vestrahorn. I was going to get a photo no matter what the weather said. It wasn’t clearing or drying up. I set up a stay with one of my best friends up East in Eskifjörður for the night and would be about a 3 hour drive from Vestrahorn.
I was now driving towards my dream spot, to my utter surprise and sadness, I could not see the mountain for fog and rain. I parked the car right in front of it and waited for an hour, nothing happened, never saw anything. I was texting with my friend Aron Reynisson, who is a professional photographer with all the experience money can buy, he gives it to me straight 10 times out of 10, I respect and love that. He told me to stay put, so I did. I found a little box, I set the camera up and I waited on the beach for another hour. Finally I could see it appearing more and more, it was a surreal feeling for me, I could see it now. The mood there was unlike everything other I have ever experienced, it was almost scary. I kept looking around me, feeling the presence of something. It made it all the more worth it. The end result was something I just felt OK with at the time, now, it’s one of my all time favorites:
