Tips for Iceland

[LocalHero1953]

My wife and I plan a fortnight's trip to Iceland at the end of July.

Has anyone got tips (photography-related, of course ) of what to see, where to go, any extra kit that might be useful?

Do you need to rent your own vehicle to get to the best places, or can you manage with public transport (I have good experience of off-road driving)? And, less related to photography, if you have to hike or drive yourself to good remote places, can you rent camping stuff there, or must you take your own?

FWIW, I will have a Leica M and lenses from 28 to 90. I have a light Benro tripod, but it is still extra bulk and weight.

All advice is welcome!

[Mike Buckley]

You're probably aware of the Ring Road that goes around the entire island. You can use public transportation to go anywhere on the Ring Road and to many other places. Naturally, you'll spend less time getting to all those places if you rent a car.

Considering that trekking is so popular there, I would be surprised if you can't rent camping equipment, but I really don't know.

You can drive to many remote places but of course the most remote places are in the interior of the island where there are no roads of any kind. If you decide to rent a car to use the dirt roads, be sure to understand the details of your rental in advance because many rentals are not going to allow that kind of use; if the auto becomes damaged during that kind of use, the total cost to fix it may be yours.

There are lots of companies that provide guide services to get to the remote areas.

I spent about 10 days driving on my own in a regular car (not four-wheel drive) to tour areas near the Ring Road beginning in Akureyri and ending in Reykjavik, working my way clockwise around the Ring Road but spending no time in either of those two cities. I also didn't go to any of the places that are the typical day trip from Reykjavik because I can always go to those places on a long weekend some day when I stop in Iceland on my way to other parts of Europe.

If I could return to only one place in Iceland, it would be to Jokulsarlon, which is a lake filled with icebergs, and the volcanic beach across the street, which is filled with chunks of ice that have broken off the icebergs that got past the lake and went into the ocean. Both are on the Ring Road.

I kind of hope you plan on doing a lot of camping because it may be difficult for you to book lodging so late before going. Iceland's tourism infrastructure is not as developed as other European countries, so lodging goes fast that time of year.

To view my photos of Iceland for ideas, use CiC's advanced search located in the top right corner of the window. Conduct a search of all thread titles with the word, "Iceland," posted by me.

The photos displayed in those threads were taken at focal lengths ranging from wide angle to 300mm on a camera with a 1.5 crop factor. You can definitely spend the entire time making magical photos using the focal lengths you already have. If making photos of the puffins (they will be there that time of year) is important to you, naturally you'll need considerably more reach than your 90mm lens will provide.

If you have any other questions, be sure to ask. Hopefully GrumpyDiver (Manfred) will drop by, as he has also been to Iceland.

[LocalHero1953]

Thanks, Mike, that's very helpful. I can see I need to start sorting out accommodation/camping immediately - we've only just had the idea!

[DanK]

Paul,

I spent only a week there, and I spent part of that in the fjords in the far northwest, but I have a few suggestions.

First, the driving is awful in places. It's fine on the main roads, but off the main roads, it gets pretty rough. A lot of the roads are rough, narrow dirt roads without guard rails. There were times that I found it difficult to manage. For example:



So, two things: as Mike said, make sure your rental agreement allows for damage from road conditions. My son and I broke a plastic shield on the bottom of our rental car. Fortunately, when we returned it, the agent just shrugged and said 'just road damage.' Second, if you are going to drive off the beaten track, ask people about the driving conditions. We were warned off a drive that we thought we could do in a few hours when a local said that it wasn't remotely possible. On the positive side, I don't think I encountered a single rude or reckless driver the entire time I was there. The police (when there are any around) are also very unforgiving of people who break traffic laws, so that might also help reduce the amount of aggressive driving.

There is a good internal airline, so one option is to fly from place to place and rent cars when you get there. We flew from Reykjavik to Isafjordor in the northwest. One guide book said that flying into Isafjordor is an extreme sport: there is just one runway along the side of one of the fjords, and you drop sharply down to get to it.

Re lodging: there are not a lot of hotels once you get outside of Rejkyavik, but there are quite a lot of guest houses. We used those the entire time we were there. A great one in Reykjavik is the Butterfly.

The weather, as you have probably heard, is not always forgiving. Make sure you have something to protect your gear if it starts to rain.

There are hiking trails everywhere, if you use the word "trail" loosely. We couldn't always be certain where they were. On the other hand, since there are very few trees, and most of the trees that one does find are very short, it's pretty hard to lose track of where you are. (An old joke: what do you do if you get lost in some trees in Iceland? Stand up.)

And have fun! It was one of the most remarkable weeks I have ever spent, and I would love to go back. I carried only a point and shoot because I guessed that my son would lose patience if he had to wait around for me to shoot. I was right: on one hike, I stopped to examine some beautiful lichen, and he said, 'boy, am I glad you didn't bring your macro gear.' Next time, I'm taking my gear.

[LocalHero1953]

Thanks, Dan, that sounds good. I've a fair amount of off-road experience: enough to know that it's something to do when you have to, but that asphalt has its benefits. If you have to drive them, drive carefully and slowly, not treat them as an adventure playground. Yeehah!

[Manfred M]

Paul - we've been to Iceland twice and are looking at a third trip sometime over the next few years.

During our first trip, (a week long visit) we stuck to the south coast and stuck to the Ring Road and rented a small car (Toyota Corolla). We returned a couple of years later and rented a small 4x4 (Suzuki Grand Vitara) for a 2 week trip. We rented a 4x4 in order to spend a couple of weeks exploring the interior of the island.

You are mostly going to shoot landscapes while here. Lots of waterfalls and a few areas of geothermal activitiy, as well as some birds in coastal areas. The Icelandic horses running through the fields in the south are definitely etched in our memories. So is the highly variable weather; it rained (hard), so protective gear for you and your camera gear are recommended.

From a driving standpoint, it is the only place in the world I can remember thinking I was "off roading: while driving on official roads. A "F' road is restricted to 4x4 vehicles (no, they are not joking, you really do need one); with river crossings without bridges and in some places deep sand. If you rent one; you can head into the interior to see Lake Öskjuvatn and the Viti Crater (the highlight of our trip),

Iceland is not inexpensive (a 4x4 is not cheap), but it really has some of the most fantastic landscapes on earth! I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

[LocalHero1953]

Thanks very much, Manfred, that's very reassuring. I think we'll be looking at a 4x4 and camping with an occasional guest house (for easy battery charging).

[Saorsa]

Thanks very much, Manfred, that's very reassuring. I think we'll be looking at a 4x4 and camping with an occasional guest house (for easy battery charging).

Why not get a small inverter to carry in the 4x4 and charge while travelling?

[LocalHero1953]

Yes, I probably will.
But is it a fair guess that charging from a 12v car supply will be slower than from mains? I've not tried it before.

[Saorsa]

Charging is based on current not volts. The inverter will work fine. I've used them often on boats. Just keep an eye on heat buildup.

[LocalHero1953]

Thanks, I should have been clearer. I wasn't sure how much current can be drawn from a normal car DC supply. I've heard it can be a slow business.
My charger has a 12V DC input, so an inverter wouldn't be needed for that, but I'll have to check if one is needed for my phone.

[Saorsa]

Thanks, I should have been clearer. I wasn't sure how much current can be drawn from a normal car DC supply. I've heard it can be a slow business.
My charger has a 12V DC input, so an inverter wouldn't be needed for that, but I'll have to check if one is needed for my phone.

Actually, most car alternators will keep up with whatever load you put on them. I know several people who run around with a cooler, laptops, GPS and phones constantly plugged in for charging. In total they don't add up the current draw of the starter motor.

Now, if you charge things without the engine running you will be draining the battery.

[shreds]

If you go up the glaciers, be prepared for condensation like you have probably never encountered before! Realistically, take time to acclimatise in shelters etc, and make sure, as has been said, that your kit is well weather protected. Even on the beaches, the wind can whip up the lava to blast you and the kit, like standing in front of a sandblasting machine.

Gorgeous country though, so full of contrasts.

[LocalHero1953]

Thanks, everyone, for the advice. I have booked us into the Butterfly (as recommended by DanK - looks a nice place) for the start and end, and booked a 4x4 camper for the rest - essentially a pick-up with a small camper top: not a combo I've driven before, and I shall be cautious on dirt roads in high winds! The rental cost is high including all insurances, but offset by not having other accommodation costs, and it is great not being committed to a fixed schedule in advance.

[Mike Buckley]

You're going to have a fabulous time and I look forward to seeing your photos of places that I couldn't get to.

[LocalHero1953]

I'm resurrecting this thread because I'm now in Iceland, currently in our 4WD camper at Akureyvi. We had a couple of days in Reykjavik, then drove up to the Westfjords via the Snaefells peninsular. As I was told by others in previous posts, the landscape is fabulous.

The reason for posting is because I'm having embarrassing problems with light metering: embarrassing because I'm old enough not to have them. I find that whether I use the camera's recommended exposures on manual or use auto exposure, many landscapes are quite under exposed. Nothing that cannot be retrieved in PP, and little clipping, but tedious to sort out. The LR "Auto" button works quite well, but the changes it makes are much more than I have found before. Of course it could be my camera's meter (Leica M), but my wife's Canon S100 P&S produces similar results.

As I see it, because the sun is so low in the sky here, I am effectively shooting most of the time in "UK early evening or winter's afternoon" light. So perhaps the meter is over influenced by the bright clear sky, and underexposes the darker than usual land?

I'd welcome any comments, especially from those with experience of landscape in high latitudes.

[Wayland]

I always trust the histogram more than the meter and that certainly worked for me ove there at Easter.

Thread Here.

[Manfred M]

Definitely strange, Paul. I've been to Iceland twice; both times were at around this time of year and I can back with loads of correctly exposed images (including some taken at midnight with ambient light).

Sorry, no idea as to why you are having this problem. You haven't accidently set your exposure compensation by mistake?

[DanK]

Are you using evaluative metering? If so, perhaps use spot metering to avoid the having the camera's computer decide anything. As a fallback, spot meter off your palm (make sure the lighting isn't different) and open up one stop, as a starting point. then rely on the histogram.

[LocalHero1953]

You haven't accidently set your exposure compensation by mistake?

Just checked, and no. The latest firmware upgrade made EC much more accessible - too much so, so I switched it permanently off, to avoid just that problem