Iceland, Final Thoughts

Londrangar

Now that my trip to Iceland is over, and I had time to reflect on the experience and edit all my photos these are my final thoughts on the trip.  In general it was a good vacation, have I had better yes; was it an experience, definitely.   Over the course of the trip, we found Iceland is not ready for an influx of tourists, and in not a luxury destination. We found many of the accommodations outside the two major cities were basically bed and breakfasts, which backpackers would consider luxury accommodations. I’m sorry but having to squeegee the bathroom floor because there is no shower stall, does not say upscale or classy accommodation to me.  I’ll grant many of the rooms were nice, it was always just little things that would catch you off guard, like the squeegee.  I also recommend getting use to the smelling like sulfur after your shower, because most of the hot water in the smaller locations smells heavily of sulfur.  Also, be prepared to drive on gravel roads, even though you are on a main road.  The country is great if you have aspirations of becoming a rally car driver.  Finally, taking the following items: a windbreaker, hat/ear muffs, gloves, and wraparound sunglasses helped immensely on the trip just to stop the chill from the consent wind. Would I go again, possibly for a stopover on my way to Europe.

Driving on dirt road in Iceland

Hraunfossar

Now for the photography break down.  On this trip, I used a Canon 70D, with an 18 – 200mm lens. I also carried a few neutral density and graduated neutral density filters.  I also carried a lens cleaning kit, which was useful for cleaning sea spray from my lens. For most of the trip, the sky was cloud covered and stormy, it was not until the last few days did I have blue sky, thus I shot mostly at ISO 200.  I did change to ISO 1000 inside the ice cave.   My shutter and aperture varied depending on the subject, but I mostly stayed around an f/8 or higher aperture and 1/60 second shutter speed or higher for the shots.  While my husband used a tripod for some of his shots, it was difficult due to the strength of the wind. I’ll admit in some locations, it was just hard to shoot handheld due to the wind blowing me backward.  Iceland is an interesting place to photograph, if you have good light. Overall, I’m not happy with several of my shots, not because the location was bad but because the lighting was just not great.  Sadly, I cannot control the sun and clouds.  Was it as great a photography trip as I hoped; no.   Nevertheless, it was still a good experience. 

You can see all the edited photo galleries here:  http://munchkinphotos.smugmug.com/Vacation/Iceland