Island of adventure
Lee Gale overcomes Iceland’s inclement conditions and captures photos of the rugged country in all types of weather
Mission: Shoot a series of images while on a road trip all the way around Iceland Photographer: Lee Gale
Location: Iceland
Kit used: D750, Nikon 16-35mm f/4, Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 Art, Sigma 28mm f/1.4 Art, Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 Sport, various LEE filters, Manfrotto 190 Go Tripod
Website: www.leegalephotography.co.uk
I’ve always enjoyed taking photos, but I really got into photography back in 2013 when I needed to fill a creative void within myself.
There’s been a passion for creating visual art ever since I was a kid, but I could never quite find my place. After trying my hand at being a musician for 15 years, I found photography, and it just seemed like the missing piece of my creative puzzle.
When I visited Iceland for a road trip round the island this February, I knew there were going to be weather challenges due to the time of the year. As there was limited time at each location, I also had to be careful and make sure that the shots I captured counted for something.
The first couple of days in the west side were dull, with quite a bit of rain. In Arnarstapi, where I shot the image of Mount
Stapafell from Stone Bridge [2], I was stood in torrential rain for quite a while waiting for the clouds to look just right over the mountain – even with these poor conditions I wasn’t going to miss out on a shot that I’d been hoping to bag for ages. I used a wide-angle 16-35mm lens to exaggerate the perspective and include the water in the foreground of the composition.
Look north
The conditions in the north were more to my liking, and what I was expecting at the time of the year. When we awoke on our first morning in the north, there was a bit of snow on the ground, but as we made our way further north towards our first location, the sea stack called Hvítserkur, the snow got deeper [1]. We were lucky to be the only people there for a good hour or so. The deep snow at the coast made for an
Even with these poor conditions I wasn’t going to miss out on a shot that I’d been hoping to bag for ages
interesting hike down the cliffs, and we were rewarded with some stunning scenery.
While in Vík on the south coast, the weather was much more spring-like, and we set off before dawn to shoot the Reynisdrangar sea stacks from the top of the cliffs on Reynisfjara beach [3]. The road up to the top was closed off to vehicles so, rather than miss out, we decided to take a five-mile round trip hike.
It was definitely worth it as the view from the top of the cliff is absolutely awe-inspiring. I’ve shot these stacks from both of the beaches in Vík and they look great from there, but shooting them from above allows you to capture them in all of their glory with no distractions.
One of my favourite locations in Iceland is Skógafoss, a 60-metre-high waterfall on the south coast [4]. As much as I loved shooting it, it can be a pain to get a good photograph up close during the day, due to the massive crowds that visit it regularly.
After manoeuvring around all of the visitors and capturing a shot from right in front of the fall that I was happy with, I decided to move back to near the main road, where the crowds are masked by the land between the road and the fall. I used my 70-200mm lens to shoot what I think is now the best photograph I’ve taken of Skógafoss. Kit choice is so important and your kit should work for the type of photograph that you want to capture.