Snow and Ice in Iceland

When sometimes making a picture of the obvious subject is just right

In February 2023 I managed to get a last-minute place on an Iceland workshop. My mother had passed away just before Christmas and with the funeral at the end of January I was ready to get away from everything for a couple of weeks. Iceland was a place I had always wondered about visiting being so unique geologically and undoubtedly beautiful.

We got snow and ice. That is not a given in the winter in Iceland. Although the mountains are guaranteed to be covered, it is by no means certain on a visit that it will be cold enough for the lower areas to be covered in snow and ice. I lucked out.

In fact despite having many layers of clothing, this workshop was the coldest I have ever been over a sustained period - and that includes a couple of bouts of -15°C on Rannoch Moor.

Guided by a local photographer Daniel Bergmann and British photographer David Ward, we concentrated on a couple of the less popular areas. The church Búðakirkja at Búðir on the Snæfellsnes peninsula is however well known and iconic. My first instinct was to avoid the church and I concentrated on the amazing snow-covered lava close to the sea. As I set up the alternative image, we were suddenly surrounded by a busload of tourists baffled by my technical camera and no doubt confused about what I was doing. I love that the rocks overlook a small blade of grass which in turn is overlooking an even smaller blade of grass. These little details often become central to my compositions for images like this.

However as I walked a little further on I glanced back at the church and I immediately saw the opportunity for the main image using a longer lens - a 180 if I remember correctly. I ended up visualising it as an almost black and white image - with just a hint of colour.

Making the image felt a little bit like I wasn’t living up to my own expectations but sometimes it is just as important not to hide from the obvious subjects - especially when you are on a tour / holiday visiting a country. Years ago I was resource constrained when it came to making photographic images - both the number of sheets of film and the cost of pressing the shutter. Having the option to make an image entirely on impulse with the only consequence being the risk of unproductive electrons is one gift of transitioning to digital capture.