The land of Fire and Ice. A weekend in Iceland.
A couple of months ago, after what has been a challenging year for my wife and I, we decided we needed to get away from things for a few days to recharge our batteries. When talking about where we could go we were very aware that we have been very lucky so far to have seen many wonderful places and we really wanted to experience something new / different.
Naturally I wanted to go somewhere 'photogenic' and my wife really wanted to see the Northern Lights.... so it was settled... it had to be Iceland!
We have just returned from a wonderful weekend away visiting a country truly unlike anywhere we have ever been before. Iceland has become very popular in recent years, with Tourism now ranked No.1 in contributing to their booming economy.
It is especially popular with Photographers (it's become a running joke amongst my colleagues... have you ever met a Photographer that HASN'T been to Iceland?) and I can see why.
The light is truly magical (and difficult to adjust to) and the landscape is other worldly. The land of Fire and Ice is the perfect description for this magical place.
Yes, it is a very expensive place once you get there (prices are insane) and the weather is challenging.... it rained more or less constantly whilst we were there and both of our Northern Lights trips were cancelled which was especially disappointing for my wife. But, it is stunningly beautiful, the people are remarkably friendly and the food and beer is awesome.
I should give a shout out to Marteinn at Citywalk.is for providing an amusing and very informative walking tour around Reykjavik. It was a great way to explore the city... well worth 2 hours of our time. Also, a big thanks to Haldja (I think I have the spelling right) for keeping our spirits up during the Golden Circle tour. Not an easy feat given the weather.
Here are a few of my images (taken on my little Fuji X-E2. Considering the awful weather I am very pleased I didn't take my DSLR's!). There is no way that they can do this beautiful country justice... but hopefully they might encourage you to visit yourself.
I will share many more images on social media over the coming weeks, including a few from my Bronica ETRS hopefully, but now it's all about Christmas, Weddings and planning for the new year.
So, even though there was no snow and lots of rain, it was warmer than the UK and the Beer was EXPENSIVE, Thank you Iceland... it was a wonderful trip!