Black_amp_amp_White_Photography_-_January_2016_

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B+W

STOKKSNES, SOUTH ICELAND Frozen dune grasses and black volcanic sand make a perfect foreground

to the towering snow-covered mountain Vestrahorn at the eastern end of Iceland’s south coast.

Canon EOS 5D MKIII with 16-35mm zoom, 0.45 ND grad, 1/8sec at f/11, ISO 200

JÖKULSÁ BEACH, SOUTH ICELAND

Beached icebergs from the nearby Jokusarlon lagoon litter the beach

like glassy sculptures and offer endless creative potential.

Canon EOS 5D MKIII with 24-70mm zoom, 0.9 ND grad, 1/100sec at f/13, ISO 400

covered in a good day (starting with sunrise

at Geysir). I also love the wild Snaefellsnes

Peninsula north of Reykjavik, home to the

wizard hat mountain Kirkjufell, the remote

black wooden church at Budir, fantastic

lava fields and dramatic coastline.

O

f course, one of the main

highlights of a winter visit to

Iceland is the chance to explore

an ice cave. I’ll never forget the

first time I did that – I was totally awestruck.

Being in the cave was like being surrounded

by giant frozen bubble wrap. Bright blue

bubble wrap! But it got even better because

as the sun started to rise, golden light shone

through the cave entrance and bounced

around on the surface of the ice. The three

hours spent in that cave rank amongst the

most enjoyable of my photographic life –

a truly magical experience.

Normally, landscape photography ends

when darkness falls, but Iceland has

another trick up its sleeve – the Aurora

Borealis, or Northern Lights. Winter is the

best time of year to see the Aurora, which

is caused by charged particles colliding

with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere,

but you need a relatively clear sky as cloud

cover obscures the display, and there also

needs to be aurora activity, which can vary

enormously from day to day, even hour to

hour. I check the Aurora website several

times each day on Vedur.is, the Icelandic

Meteorological Society website, and if it

looks reasonable (anything from 2-up on

a scale of 0-9 is worth a punt) I head out

around 10pm. The activity – if there’s going

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