Waiting for the right light in landscape photography can be challenging. Gyða and I spent two nights at Herðubreiðarlindir in the jeep to capture Herðubreið at sunset. Herðubreið has fascinated me as a subject, as it’s called the ‘Queen of Icelandic Mountains’ and was voted Iceland’s national mountain in 2002. Most pictures of this beautifully shaped mountain found on the internet are what I call midday photos. Harsh light that does the landscape no favors. This is probably because most people visit Askja and Herðubreiðarlindir when the weather is bright and clear. But that’s not necessarily the best light. We needed colorful photos of the national mountain, so we set out to achieve that goal.
The sunset on the first evening was decent but didn’t offer the vibrant colors we had hoped for. So, we spent the time walking around the area, searching for foregrounds and suitable compositions.
On day two, we woke up to scorching heat, a swarm of insects, and harsh light with pitch-black shadows and scorched clouds. Nevertheless, we decided to wait out the harsh light and let the insects feast on us all day, hoping the light would soften by evening.
As sunset approached, we weren’t optimistic. A thick cloud bank had formed over the mountain, and the conditions didn’t look promising.
But when the time came, the clouds thinned, and we were treated to an explosion of colors that we won’t soon forget. After 11 p.m., the sun began to paint the sky, reaching its peak between 11:00 and 11:30. We stayed up until 1 a.m. and went to bed content, despite the mosquito bites. Actually, I wasn’t bitten at all. For some reason, the mosquitoes found Gyða much sweeter than me.
Different foregrounds place different emphasis on the mountain in the composition. However, the mountain always remains the main subject. We find it fun and essential to experiment with all kinds of foregrounds.
Our Books About Iceland
Bird Photography In Iceland—Our 40 Favorite Locations
NEW IN 2024. THE BIRD PHOTOGRAPHERS MUST HAVE BOOK WHEN GOING TO ICELAND
Bird Photography In Iceland—Our 40 Favorite Locations, is written for those planning to photograph birds in Iceland. We share our secrets and aim to maintain a straightforward, honest, no-nonsense approach, free from tourism companies’ hidden marketing. We recommend these locations to our friends who are into bird photography.
PHOTOGRAPHING ICELAND – A Photo Guide to 100 locations
It is a must-have if you plan to visit Iceland. It is an excellent guide to Iceland and the book we wish we had read years ago when we started traveling in our country for landscape photography. The book is the result of a vast undertaking that took more than a year. It is available in all major bookstores in Iceland and our online store. It is now also available as an e-book.
The e-book version can be found here…
The printed version is 21×14,5 cm and 352 pages.
ICELAND: Wild At Heart
Our beautiful bestseller. Available in all bookstores in Iceland and our online store.
Hardcover large format: 26,5 x 22,5 x 2cm and 160 pages.
GRIMSEY – The Arctic Wildlife Wonder
This is a must-have if you plan to visit Grimsey. It is only available in our online store and the Gallery in Grimsey.
Hardcover: 24,5 x 17,5 cm and 120 pages / 7000 words
It is possible to order our books from our online store, which ships worldwide: www.ggart.is.
Notice that the shipping cost is the same if you order two books.
