Iceland Photography Workshop 13th – 20th October 2023
**There is provisionally just 1 place left on this amazing trip**
Cost: £3495
Iceland is a unique jewel thanks to its diverse landscape heritage. Majestic waterfalls, surreal blue ice sculptures, epic seascapes and picturesque coastal scenery. From sunrise to sunset you will not miss a chance to capture the unique magic of the enchanting light at the edge of the Arctic Circle.
Autumn is a time when Icelandic landscapes are at their finest. On this 7-day photography workshop you will be immersed in the stunning sights of the southeast coast’s iconic landmarks; Diamond Beach, Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon, the dramatic peaks of Vestrahorn and Eystrahorn and the breath-taking beauty of the Skaftafell National Park.
This is a wonderful time to be in Iceland, when nature begins to wind down for the long winter ahead. At this time of year Iceland is a land of contrasts bursting with texture and colour, it’s a season that brings with it a series of changing forms, light and colours. It’s true that by October the days are growing fairly short, but the temperature is not yet as cold as it gets in the winter and the Northern Lights can be seen dancing in the dark autumnal nights.
Our workshop will focus primarily on capturing some of the southeast’s finest landmarks, when the conditions are at their best during the golden light of the sunset and sunrise. And when darkness falls, we will spend plenty of time out hunting the Aurora Borealis as well.
Expect to see one of Europe’s most imposing glaciers, photogenic ice and rock formations, dynamic coastlines, volcanic black sand beaches, thunderous waterfalls, and much more besides. A time to embrace the rugged beauty of Iceland and take some amazing pictures to last a lifetime on this photography workshop.
You’ll have seven nights pre-arranged accommodation in single occupancy rooms for the duration of the workshop, as well as spacious and comfortable transportation between hotels and to all of your shooting locations.
Cost of the 7-day workshop, excluding UK flights, insurance and meals (breakfast is included whenever we take that opportunity!) but inclusive of all transportation, entry fees plus guiding/tuition £3495.
Your Workshop Leaders:
We are lucky to have Malcolm Stott as our guide. He has more experience of Iceland than he would care to admit. He fell in love with this magical island on his first visit here with the British School Exploration Society and that was way back in the ‘Cretaceous Period”!
Since those early days’ Malcolm has spent many weeks each year, enjoying the wildlife and appreciating Iceland’s amazing landscape, while carrying out ornithological studies and botanical surveys on behalf of the Iceland Nature Conservancy Council and the Natural History Museum. He collaborated on the first management plan for the Skaftafell National Park, so he is very familiar with this beautiful region of SE Iceland.
Later he worked as an independent Naturalist Guide for several leading UK tour operators and now, in semi-retirement he finds time to work alongside Wildlife in Pixels where he shares his experience and knowledge of Iceland.
You can view Malcolms’ website here https://www.natureframed.co.uk/
And of course I’m there to give you all the help, knowledge and guidance possible to ensure that you bring home the very best imagery from this workshop in amazing Iceland.
Day to Day Itinerary:
Day 1: The adventure begins here
Your arrival at Keflavik International Airport will be mid-afternoon, shortly after you will be transported through to an amazing landscape, past the site of the recent eruption, to our first location at Vik. We aim to arrive at the small town in time to capture its famous sea-stacks at sunset. Our accommodation is close to the black sand beach in the town’s suburbs.
Day 2: Vatnajökull National Park
We catch the sunrise vibe of the coastal landscape of Vík before enjoying a delicious breakfast at the hotel and leave for one of the most idyllic locations of the workshop in the Skaftafell National Park. Due to its breath-taking beauty it has become one of the country’s most popular attractions and is one of Iceland’s natural crown jewels.
The glacier lagoon Jökulsárlón where huge, blue icebergs break off the glacier and lie in the lagoon before making their slow and serene passage out to sea. Marvel at the shades of white and blue ice, crisscrossed by black scars of ash from historic eruptions.
Fragments from these colossal ice sculptures (bergy bits) become stranded on the black sand beach and glisten in the sun like diamonds; this is how the beach got its nickname: Diamond Beach. The glacier off which they are carved is the Breiðamerkurjökull at the foot of the Europe’s largest ice-sheet, Vatnajökull.
This area, together with the other smaller glacier bays nearby, offer endless creative possibilities for photography at any time of day, with long and short shutter speeds. We aim to arrive here in plenty of time and try to capture that all-time perfect shot of the lagoon; a highlight will be the sunset when you can shoot the scene under the warm lighting conditions of the golden hour before arriving at our hotel.
Day 3 – 4: Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon, Diamond Beach and Vestrahorn
Majestic mountains are the order today on this incredible Icelandic photography workshop, you will travel to the east of Vatnajökull National Park.
The brooding Eystrahorn, Krossanesfjall, will be our location for a sunrise shot, with plenty of other creative opportunities before arriving at ‘Batman’ mountain. Here, we will enjoy the views from the black sand beach of the Stokksnes peninsula, across to the imperious peaks of the Vestrahorn mountain.
Mount Vestrahorn is a photographer’s dream, and it is made up of several steep peaks, all stretching endlessly out to sea. Against a backdrop of the sun’s morning or sunset’s dying light, these peaks offer as enticing an image as you can imagine. Added to that, wet sand reflections below and the possibility of Northern Lights, and you’ve got yourself a recipe for plenty of photographic fun. You will spend plenty of time chasing the perfect light as you shoot this mountain and its surroundings.
Late afternoon and sunset are spent in the bay of Stokksnes in front of the mighty mountain Vestrahorn, which is considered another absolute top location and one of the most beautiful mountains in Iceland.
Vestrahorn is one of the numerous rocky peaks of the extinct volcano Klifatindur on the Stokksnes headland, which protrudes particularly strikingly from the mountain massif. There are many facets to shoot in this dreamlike scenery, especially with a light dusting of snow, when the Vestrahorn rises majestically from the pitch-black dune plain.
The headland itself is littered with small and large sand dunes, which together with the pitch-black sand and withered blades of grass form an intense contrast to the snow-covered mountain slopes. We will explore the most beautiful views around the bay of Skokksnes, playing with reflections in front of the panorama of the 456 meters high Vestrahorn, which is reflected in the calm sea water.
The small Viking café provides a range of sustenance, so if conditions are favourable, we will linger till dark to capture the northern lights dancing over Vestrahorn. This will be a truly magical experience!
Waking up in Vatnajökull National Park, we will travel the short distance back to the glacier lagoon to capture this stunning natural feature in all of its morning splendour. As well as continuing your quest for the ultimate photo of the glistening ice on the lagoon, you will also explore the adjacent Diamond Beach.
This stretch of coastline is dotted with chunks of ice of various shapes and sizes as they wash up on shore after leaving the lagoon. The Diamond Beach provides the perfect scene for tantalising images as the contrast between the crystalline icebergs and the black sands of the beach make for a compelling contrast. We intend spending the whole day shooting this otherworldly scenery from a multitude of angles, and, as the time passes, in many different light conditions.
We will return to our accommodation in the Jökulsárlón area for an evening meal and, perhaps even return to the lagoon in the evening should the Northern Lights present themselves.
Day 5: Vik
Reluctantly we leave behind the majesty of the mighty Vatnajökull National Park, as we retrace our route west to the charming fishing village of Vík í Mýrdal famed for its idyllic setting and another opportunity for a sea-stack sunset shoot.
There will be plenty of opportunities for impromptu photography stops on the way. The region boasts spectacular natural attractions, from volcanoes to lava fields, lakes, black beaches, waterfalls and glaciers, all accompanied by the subtle colours of the autumn.
Day 6: Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach
Not far from Vík is the world-famous black sand beach Reynisfjara, voted the most beautiful non-tropical beach in the world. Here, you will enjoy views of the Reynisdrangar sea stacks from another perspective as well as enjoying the geologically impressive hexagonal basalt columns that tower over the shore.
After returning to the hotel for a hearty breakfast and if time permits, our first stop of the day will be at Dyrhólaey, a protruding headland that offers epic viewpoints of the huge sea arch of the same name, the entire coastline as well as yet another perspective of the Reynisdrangar sea stacks.
Moving on, you will shoot the two most famous waterfalls in the south of Iceland. The first is Skógafoss, a towering curtain of water which promises epic shots no matter what the weather. It’s one of the biggest waterfalls in Iceland, falling at over 60-metres and it is especially beautiful when surrounded by the colours and shades of autumn. If you catch it in the sunlight, it is often possible to capture it with a rainbow or two in the foreground.
And if time permits, we’ll then travel the short distance to its neighbouring and non-less beautiful waterfall, Kvernufoss.
This cascading gem is particularly interesting in that, it is backed by a large concave cavern, allowing for people to walk behind it, presenting many interesting perspectives from which to capture its inarguable beauty.
After a day’s travel and many photo opportunities we will arrive at our final hotel, the aptly named the ‘Northern Light Inn’.
Day 7: Reykjanes Peninsula
Our final full-day will be spent on the Reykjanes peninsula visiting a geothermal hotspot, where hissing fumaroles and boiling mud pots add vivid colour in the landscape and tell the history of this incredible land.
We will also have a last opportunity to take more coastal images of impressive sea stacks
before returning to the Northern Light Inn and hope it will provide a spectacular finally to our short stay in this amazing land.
Day 8: Homeward bound
Unforgettable mornings, evenings and nights lets us tell stories that will remain in our memories for a long time to come. With a lot of impressions and computers downloaded with wonderous images, sadly we have to leave the Northern Light Inn early this morning and start our journey home today.
The workshop itinerary has been carefully crafted to give you photographic opportunities in classic locations and some of those not so commonly seen ‘off the beaten path’ areas that show Iceland at its spectacular best.
Our aim is to not just present you with great photographic opportunities but to also help you become a better and more thoughtful fine art landscape photographer in the long term.
And to that end some of the things you will learn are:
- The Art of Composition and leading the viewers eye
- Shadow and Highlight Exposure Control
- The ETTR exposure technique and its benefits
- Long lens landscape techniques – point of interest isolation
- The concept of Minimalism and that frequently “less is indeed more”
- How to slow down and think your way through a shot
- How to shoot the Northern Lights (this is obviously subject to both terrestrial and solar weather patterns).
Camera equipment recommendations:-
Bodies:
I would always recommend at least 2 bodies (one backup) and FX in preference because of the wide-angle vistas you are going to see on this workshop.
Spare batteries & charger.
Lenses:
- Wide prime around 12mm to 15mm, or wide zoom such as 16mm to 35mm.
- Wide to short telephoto zoom such as a 24mm to 70mm.
- A medium zoom such as a 70mm to 200mm
(My own lenses will be – Irix 15mm, Zeiss 21mm, Nikon 24-70, Nikon 70-200 f4, Nikon 200-500).
Filters: I would recommend 3x, 6x and 10x ND filters plus a couple of soft to medium graduated ND (0.6 and 0.9) filters and at least 1 polarizing filter.
Cable release – this is essential (and bring a spare just in case!).
Tripod: – a sturdy and reliable tripod is essential. Long spiked feet are a boon to landscape photography as ‘dug in’ they dramatically increase tripod stability in windy conditions.
Ball Head: A durable ball head or geared head, and maybe drop a spare in your hold luggage.
Laptop with Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop, PSU, card reader(s), two USB powered external hard discs (one for storage and one for full image backup).
Lens, filter and camera body cleaning items such as microfibre cloths, lens wipes and a small bottle of Eclipse fluid – this is essential as that Black Sand gets everywhere!
European F-type plug adapter.
Spare batteries for everything that uses them!
Physical fitness level:-
Easy/moderate, some locations may be slippery, on uneven ground or across sand. All locations are within a 30-minute walking distance from vehicles.
Clothing requirements & other items to note:-
The best thing about the weather in Iceland is that you can experience all 4 seasons in one day!
You can have warm, still and beautiful summer days, but you can experience cold, dark nights where the magical aurora borealis dances the in the skies.
Iceland can best be described as oceanic and changeable (wet & windy), this unpredictability is part of the charm that makes a photographic workshop in Iceland so appealing.
October is a great month to visit; the weather is still enjoyable with average daytime temperature around the coast 10 to 12oC (50 – 55oF) and the month where the amount of daylight begins to decrease and darkness returns to the night skies.
- Good outer-shell of waterproof coat and over-trousers
- Hat and gloves
- Fleece or similar
- Dress in layers (several thin layers of clothing are best)
- Sturdy walking boots desirable, although rubber boots may be an advantage on certain days. (Knee-length “Seal Skins” socks are a really good idea).
- Head-torch (preferably with a red filter) or small hand-torch
- Small thermos-flask or thermos-mug
- Any medicines etc
The bank in arrivals hall at Keflavik International Airport is a good place to exchange Sterling for Icelandic Krona
Alcohol is expensive in Iceland, so if you enjoy a tipple in the evening don’t forget to make a call at Duty Free on your way out of the UK.
Cost:
- £3495.00
What’s included in the Workshop cost:-
- 7-night’s single room accommodation in comfortable hotels with private en-suite facilities, breakfast included.
- Lunch snacks
- All transport in Iceland, using a 9 seater AWD minibus for comfort and space, plus entry fees to National Parks. (To maintain a comfortable amount of space in the hire vehicle try and keep your hold luggage on the plane as economical in size as you can).
- All photography tuition and mentoring
What’s not included in the workshop cost:-
- International flights to and from Iceland
- Evening Meals (allow £25-30 per meal)
- Items of personal use and any alcoholic beverages
- Travel and Equipment insurance
- Overweight or additional baggage
For more information and to book your place please contact:
Malcolm Stott at stott10@icloud.com
Andy Astbury at tuition@wildlifeinpixels.net