Iceland 2013 Write-up: Long post, lots of words, lots of photos! Unlucky 56k'ers!
- Thread starter Phate
- Start date
some nice shots there 
been to Iceland before but it is still on list of places to go and see again.
How long you guys have been there ?
whole island in one week or longer?
£708 for car and accomodationaround island ? and I bet car was most expensive
need to plan a trip like your someday...
been to Iceland before but it is still on list of places to go and see again.
How long you guys have been there ?
whole island in one week or longer?
£708 for car and accomodationaround island ? and I bet car was most expensive
need to plan a trip like your someday...
We were there for 8 days in total, and yes the whole island in a week, the actual lap was done over 2 days more or less.
Yes the car fuel was the expensive bit, taking it in turns we were filling everyday about £50 a time.
Should have another day processed and done tonight, got a few important bits to sort out then I'll get on it
Thanks for all the kind words as always.
Yes the car fuel was the expensive bit, taking it in turns we were filling everyday about £50 a time.
Should have another day processed and done tonight, got a few important bits to sort out then I'll get on it
Thanks for all the kind words as always.
Day 6
Alrighty, time for Day 6. Hope you enjoy, bit more interesting than the previous day, although that wouldn't be difficult!
So this day we were heading down to Blue Lagoon, it was something everyone said is a 'must do' while there, so we did it.
The lagoon itself, was stunning, these were some of the smaller naturally heated big puddles outside of the resort itself.
I could kick myself for not doing a panoramic photo here, ah well never mind.
So, moving on from here we drove a little further down the road to the actual Blue Lagoon itself, there are a couple of photos of us in the lagoon, but hey I'm sure you don't want to see me all wet and hot
Ok, well it wouldn't be a Phate thread if I didn't gay it up somehow...
One thing I have to say though is...it's the oddest, most surreal thing I have ever experienced...for those who aren't aware, the Blue Lagoon is a natural spring heated by the islands strong geothermal properties, someone had the genius idea of building a spa next to it and charging for the privilege of using it...fair play, but the surreal bit comes from being in water the same temperature as hot bath water yet it being -20C outside...very peculiar. The water is a milky colour due to the sulphur in the water that naturally occurs.
After we dried off we grabbed the cameras and wondered around the resort and to the viewing deck, here is what its like from above.
So we left, then proceeded to walk back to the sulphur pools that were closeby to get more artsy shots of them.
Moving on, when driving we spotted this nice little stream next to the road, and we went for a trek.
From here we headed west, looking for a good spot where we hoped we would see more Northern Light activity (it had been almost 2 days after all)
We made our way to the coast.
We drove around an awful lot that night, unable to really find lights, so we started to head back, and about half we home we got a small glimpse of them!
It was a bit cloudy to do anything else with that.
And that concludes our 6th out of 7 day!
The final day includes quite a bit of aurora activity, hope you enjoyed the read and the photos
Alrighty, time for Day 6. Hope you enjoy, bit more interesting than the previous day, although that wouldn't be difficult!
So this day we were heading down to Blue Lagoon, it was something everyone said is a 'must do' while there, so we did it.
The lagoon itself, was stunning, these were some of the smaller naturally heated big puddles outside of the resort itself.
I could kick myself for not doing a panoramic photo here, ah well never mind.
So, moving on from here we drove a little further down the road to the actual Blue Lagoon itself, there are a couple of photos of us in the lagoon, but hey I'm sure you don't want to see me all wet and hot
Ok, well it wouldn't be a Phate thread if I didn't gay it up somehow...
One thing I have to say though is...it's the oddest, most surreal thing I have ever experienced...for those who aren't aware, the Blue Lagoon is a natural spring heated by the islands strong geothermal properties, someone had the genius idea of building a spa next to it and charging for the privilege of using it...fair play, but the surreal bit comes from being in water the same temperature as hot bath water yet it being -20C outside...very peculiar. The water is a milky colour due to the sulphur in the water that naturally occurs.
After we dried off we grabbed the cameras and wondered around the resort and to the viewing deck, here is what its like from above.
So we left, then proceeded to walk back to the sulphur pools that were closeby to get more artsy shots of them.
Moving on, when driving we spotted this nice little stream next to the road, and we went for a trek.
From here we headed west, looking for a good spot where we hoped we would see more Northern Light activity (it had been almost 2 days after all
)
We made our way to the coast.
We drove around an awful lot that night, unable to really find lights, so we started to head back, and about half we home we got a small glimpse of them!
It was a bit cloudy to do anything else with that.
And that concludes our 6th out of 7 day!
The final day includes quite a bit of aurora activity, hope you enjoyed the read and the photos
Soldato
Didn't realise there were pools outside of the blue lagoon, would have headed there. Although it's down as a must do we were put of by the €40 entry fee. They even charge €10 to just go in and take a look! Every corner of Iceland has amazing scenery, just too much to see. Some of the interior looks even more amazing but getting there is much more of a challenge.
Man of Honour
Another set of stunning pictures.
Thanks mate
Man of Honour
Thank you! and dooo itttt- I'm looking at another trip there for around the same time, March. Expedia have got sales on at the minute which are utterly mouth watering
If you want any indepth information (or anyone else for that matter) feel free to email me: [email protected]
We did a long weekend some time ago and I'd like to go back especially to see the Northern Lights. I'll have to bribe my wife to come with me as she's been to both Iceland and Greenland on a number of occasions.
Soldato
I love the last one from Day 6. The slight green tinge from the lights adds so much depth to the image I feel
As a side point, I'm so glad it's not just me that takes literally months to edit a large holiday shoot
kd
As a side point, I'm so glad it's not just me that takes literally months to edit a large holiday shoot
kd
We did a long weekend some time ago and I'd like to go back especially to see the Northern Lights. I'll have to bribe my wife to come with me as she's been to both Iceland and Greenland on a number of occasions.
The greedy cow! Put your foot down man
I love the last one from Day 6. The slight green tinge from the lights adds so much depth to the image I feel
As a side point, I'm so glad it's not just me that takes literally months to edit a large holiday shoot
kd
Haha! Well when I got back I took a quick look at a few particular shots but at the end of the month I'm going to be ordering some prints, including a large canvas and an alumini print from Loxley as I have a 25% discount code, expires the 30th of this month so it's been a drive to sift through and get them finished.
Over 5000 images does take a while to sort out though
Thanks for the comments
One day left to process, might even get them done tonight
Associate
Blue lagoon was great when I visited. After a few days visiting around was nice to just relax all day long in there. We got rain, snow and sunshine in the same day - fantastic chilling in the hot water with now all around you and coming down from the skies.
Yep, its pretty surreal in its own way!
Going to try and get the last Day done before Monday as I go away on holiday and I've got quite a lot of photography work coming up after the trip.
Going to try and get the last Day done before Monday as I go away on holiday and I've got quite a lot of photography work coming up after the trip.
As you have all probably guessed now, I didn't manage to get them finished before I went away
Will get them finished next week for sure as I am ordering some Iceland prints on payday so want them all done to pick from
Will get them finished next week for sure as I am ordering some Iceland prints on payday so want them all done to pick from
Associate
- Joined
- 6 Jul 2010
- Posts
- 1,187
Awesomes
I went to Iceland on a day trip once, it was ***** freezing.
I didn't even take out my camera
I went to Iceland on a day trip once, it was ***** freezing.
I didn't even take out my camera
As you have all probably guessed now, I didn't manage to get them finished before I went away
Will get them finished next week for sure as I am ordering some Iceland prints on payday so want them all done to pick from
This thread fails.
Yep total failure
Its like the mrs getting jaw ache just as your about to........
Associate
Keen to see the last of the pics
I'm half icelandic but don't go there anywhere near as often as I should. Last went in Summer last year and had an awesome time, didn't have my DSLR at the time though and you've quite simply made me want to go there again right now.
One of the comments in regards to the interior of the country - it can be a very harsh place and generally will be driven to by the many jacked up 4x4's you see. Iirc my uncle has a Rav4 and he went on a driving trip with some friends (his being the smallest of the cars there) and had to be pulled out of a river which the 'road' crossed - lost his number plate in the process too! That said as a result it does offer a unique isolated view of the world. This is talking about the very inside of the country on roads which are closed in winter, rather than just inland to farming communities etc.
Blue lagoon is expensive but really it's for tourists - Icelandic speakers can normally get a discount but it's sometimes just as much fun to find a hot spring to take a dip in. Obviously lacks the facilities mind!
For me one of the best things about Iceland is that it's not been ruined by the health and safety stick just yet. (e.g. at Gulfoss where you can get right up to the waterfall)
I'm half icelandic but don't go there anywhere near as often as I should. Last went in Summer last year and had an awesome time, didn't have my DSLR at the time though and you've quite simply made me want to go there again right now.
One of the comments in regards to the interior of the country - it can be a very harsh place and generally will be driven to by the many jacked up 4x4's you see. Iirc my uncle has a Rav4 and he went on a driving trip with some friends (his being the smallest of the cars there) and had to be pulled out of a river which the 'road' crossed - lost his number plate in the process too! That said as a result it does offer a unique isolated view of the world. This is talking about the very inside of the country on roads which are closed in winter, rather than just inland to farming communities etc.
Blue lagoon is expensive but really it's for tourists - Icelandic speakers can normally get a discount
but it's sometimes just as much fun to find a hot spring to take a dip in. Obviously lacks the facilities mind!For me one of the best things about Iceland is that it's not been ruined by the health and safety stick just yet. (e.g. at Gulfoss where you can get right up to the waterfall)
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Thanks for the kind words as always, and yes their approach to safety is brilliant...ie if you're stupid enough to fall over, then you probably deserve it
Will get the remaining photos done and up soon! Fly home tomorrow
Will get the remaining photos done and up soon! Fly home tomorrow
Ermahgerd...I'm finishing this thread!
Sorry for the delay, I've been through a lot, have recently had a major operation, changed jobs, looking to buy a house and what with other client work unfortunately this just kept being put to the bottom of the pile.
Anyway, I'm here now and finishing the thread. Also, it's the 1 year anniversary of the trip, had both Kevin and Mark over the other night for dinner and we began discussing our next trip - More info to come on that soon..
--------------------------------------------------------
Day 7
One thing we discovered in Iceland was that to take a photo of something pretty, you could pretty much point and click anywhere, and you ended up with one.
For example, when driving we stumbled across a geo thermal plant with some stacks and decided to photograph it, why? - Well because, why not?
Shooting into the sun for a change! ehem!
Our main goal for the day was to head to one of, if not the biggest waterfall in the country, Gullfoss! - Then afterwards to find a good spot for our final night of Northern Light shooting.
And we found it...
It's hard to possibly comprehend just how loud and big this thing is, along with trying to comprehend just how much water must be flowing over it all the time, I'll let the photos do the talking!
First off we walked down the slippery path to try and get as close the 'fall as possible, promptly ignoring the 'Do Not Cross' signs.
Also, not far from Gullfoss, was the Geysir that we visited beforehand, so we decided to stop back there and try out a few different ideas!
Moving on from there we found an extinct volcano...
The day was getting on by this point so we wanted to find our final location of the trip for a light show, reports were expecting it to be a good one, so we were geared up for it.
We looked on the map and found a nearby location which seemed to suit...
Needless to say we were blown away when we turned the corner and we sure had high hopes.
I was bloody tired by this point!
Darkness was falling...
And so did the lights!!!
And thats it! That was one of the last photos I took!
Thanks very much for reading and sticking with it throughout the thread, long time overdue I know, I hope you enjoyed it
#TeamIceland
Sorry for the delay, I've been through a lot, have recently had a major operation, changed jobs, looking to buy a house and what with other client work unfortunately this just kept being put to the bottom of the pile.
Anyway, I'm here now and finishing the thread. Also, it's the 1 year anniversary of the trip, had both Kevin and Mark over the other night for dinner and we began discussing our next trip
- More info to come on that soon..--------------------------------------------------------
Day 7
One thing we discovered in Iceland was that to take a photo of something pretty, you could pretty much point and click anywhere, and you ended up with one.
For example, when driving we stumbled across a geo thermal plant with some stacks and decided to photograph it, why? - Well because, why not?
Shooting into the sun for a change! ehem!
Our main goal for the day was to head to one of, if not the biggest waterfall in the country, Gullfoss! - Then afterwards to find a good spot for our final night of Northern Light shooting.
And we found it...
It's hard to possibly comprehend just how loud and big this thing is, along with trying to comprehend just how much water must be flowing over it all the time, I'll let the photos do the talking!
First off we walked down the slippery path to try and get as close the 'fall as possible, promptly ignoring the 'Do Not Cross' signs.
Also, not far from Gullfoss, was the Geysir that we visited beforehand, so we decided to stop back there and try out a few different ideas!
Moving on from there we found an extinct volcano...
The day was getting on by this point so we wanted to find our final location of the trip for a light show, reports were expecting it to be a good one, so we were geared up for it.
We looked on the map and found a nearby location which seemed to suit...
Needless to say we were blown away when we turned the corner and we sure had high hopes.
I was bloody tired by this point!
Darkness was falling...
And so did the lights!!!
And thats it! That was one of the last photos I took!
Thanks very much for reading and sticking with it throughout the thread, long time overdue I know, I hope you enjoyed it
#TeamIceland
Associate
Awesome photos
That extinct volcano is crazily eerie isn't it, when you go down into the crater it blocks out all noise pretty much. That said wasn't frozen over when I last went, just completely still
Gulfoss on the other hand is frankly just awesome, flows about 150 cubic meters of water every second or something daft! Almost got developed into a powerstation back in the mid 1900's but luckily they ran out of money and sold it back to the state
Incredibly jealous of your northern lights photos, any idea what settings you used to capture them?
That extinct volcano is crazily eerie isn't it, when you go down into the crater it blocks out all noise pretty much. That said wasn't frozen over when I last went, just completely still
Gulfoss on the other hand is frankly just awesome, flows about 150 cubic meters of water every second or something daft! Almost got developed into a powerstation back in the mid 1900's but luckily they ran out of money and sold it back to the state
Incredibly jealous of your northern lights photos, any idea what settings you used to capture them?