It was my first photo trip to Iceland. It was planned during the summer solstice to benefit from the golden hours from 10 PM to 2 AM. However, this photo trip did not turn out as planned because I never saw the sun in two full weeks! I especially dreamed of capturing golden hour photos in the Highlands, but that never happened.
Nevertheless, wearing my raincoat and hat, along with waterproof pants and boots, I discovered fantastic places filled with drama. The overwhelming presence of volcanoes, geothermal ponds, and colorful and black sands offered plentiful photographic opportunities. In fact, I fully enjoyed these two weeks, and I returned with photographs that are dramatic, with a mood that I prefer over the “blue-sky postcards.” Overall, it was not the trip I had planned, but it turned out to be an excellent experience and a fantastic photo adventure.
For this photograph of Vestrahorn Mountain under the rain, I used a two-stop soft graduated neutral density filter to further emphasize the gray clouds and the overall ambiance.
