I have just come back from a fantastic week, photographing around South Iceland with my good chum Leigh Woolford. We had pretty mixed weather, ranging from hailstones so fierce that it was almost impossible to face into the wind, to wind that bent us to 45 degree leans to the most glorious sunsets (‘ludicrously orange’) I have seen for a very long time.
We photographed throughout the day and into the night too to ensure we captured some decent pics of the aurora borealis – yes!! Box ticked.
But, although I was very well aware of this, the situation made very sure I/we acted upon it. What was the ‘this’? Quite simply:
Go back. Repeat locations. Revisit…
Seldom are weather and lighting conditions the same on any two days and, in the case of Iceland, in any 10 minutes! So, en route for Keflavik and ultimately home, we vowed to go back/repeat/revisit one of our favourite sites – Dyrholaey, just west of Vik. It so paid off. The sun was out, the sky was blue, the cliffs glowed orange and everything was bright and warm.
Sure, the pictures taken on the cold, moody windy day were good too – some will argue they were the better shots. BUT…that would be to miss my point, which is this: the lighting in both sets of shots were DIFFERENT – so immediately we had more variety! (ok, so the composition is a tad different too, but you get my drift).
So, my suggestion will always be that, where it is practicable, You Go Back Jack (and do it again)…
View east from Dyrholaey
– cloudy and windy
View east from Dyrholaey
– warm evening light
Leave a Reply