In just a little over 6 weeks I will be boarding the plane to Iceland, and this will likely be my last post until I am just ready to leave.
In my previous post, I talked about what I wanted to photograph. While it took quite a bit of time to develop the list of photo locations, the more challenging question was (and will be) how to photograph these. This question includes aspects ranging from technical (such as ISO setting, exposure, lens selection, depth of field, etc.), to logistical (such as time of day), to artistic (most notably composition). Virtually all of these aspects will depend on the weather, lighting and other things out of my control (like tourists!). And, while I have researched most of the locations extensively, it is impossible to predict how I will feel when I'm actually there and in turn how (or if) I will be inspired. So, the "how question" will have to wait to be fully answered.
This all said, it does make sense to do some pre-planning -- especially for the "must see" locations. This is to not only maximize the number of locations I will be able to visit, but also to increase the chances of capturing the "ideal" image. The most important part of the pre-planning (in addition to mapping out the locations) has been to list desirable weather conditions (not always sunny, by the way), ideal times of the day (which impacts lighting), and in the case of seascapes, the preferred tide. For most of the 5 and 4-star locations, I used the PhotoPills app mentioned in my previous post to determine potential vantage points and, in a few cases, the best time to take a photograph. For example, I would really like to get a shot of the sun rising just above the ridge of Búrfell mountain with Þjófafoss (Thofafoss in English) waterfall in the foreground, similar to the one shown below (the mist in front of the mountain would be a gift!).
The app can determine exactly when the sun will rise just above the ridge on a given day based on a selected vantage point. As you can see from from the screen shot below, on May 25 this will occur just after 5:41 am!
The red pin is the vantage point, and the black pin is the selected spot on the ridge line, chosen by trial and error. The dashed yellow line indicates the angle of the sun. The fact it is dashed means that the sun will actually be obstructed at the indicated time. When the time is advanced just a couple minutes, the dashed line becomes a solid line, so this means this is the magic moment!
Of course, this all depends on the weather, not to mention me getting to the designated spot in plenty of time to set up (the road in this example is reportedly pretty bad, and I may need to hike the 3 km).
OK, enough with the technical stuff. As I mentioned above, one aspect of the "how" is the artistic element, most notably composition. I have some basic ideas in this regard, but because of the number of variables involved, it is impossible to fully pre-plan every composition. However, one of my goals is to minimize taking "stock" and predictable photographs that most other photographers would produce. For example, virtually every photographer who has visited Iceland has the image below of Kirkjufell mountain and Kirkjufellfoss waterfall in their portfolio (just search images in Google, and you'll see what I mean). Sure, there are minor differences involving lighting, weather, etc., but they are all essentially the same composition.
Here's another example, Skogafoss:
Most photographers have the image on the left as well (often with the person standing in front to illustrate scale), but fewer have the image on the right, which was taken from above the waterfall. Now it's debatable whether the first picture is a actually "better", but the point is that the second one is atypical and presents a unique perspective of this amazing waterfall.
To be sure, I will likely take many of the iconic Iceland shots just to have them (and also because they really are cool pictures). But, I want to challenge myself to capture images that are special and truly representative of my personal style. Otherwise, why go, right? To this end, my mantra during the trip will be to take my time, study the scene intently, and pre-visualize the image I want to create (e.g., how will it look hanging on a wall or in a book?). Only then should I set up my camera and click the shutter!
Ísland er ég kominn! (Iceland, here I come!)
