Ice, ice baby!

Early start, spikes strapped onto boots, hard hats on and we're heading in a monster truck for an ice cave under a glacier. Just magical!

 

 

 

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Day 348 : snow is simplicity

In February 2012 I was lucky enough to join a group of fabulous people on a trip to Iceland. I'd had a yen to visit the land of ice for many years but had never really pursued the idea. The lovely AY (as was, as she's now married) and her friends had discovered a very reasonable package and suggested the group I met on a Berlin Photography holiday trip, should also sign up. And so I did, and twelve of us found ourselves in a surprisingly balmy Reykjavik!

They were more organised than me and had signed up for a variety of activities. I hadn't and opted instead to play it by ear. Reykjavik was so snow free I was determined to find some, ooh and maybe some jet black volcanic dust coated landscapes. Ooh and a glacier, maybe a waterfall or two and a geyser. With these thoughts in mind I signed up for a couple of four-by-four tours. Being chauffeured around in an off-road vehicle has the advantage of us being able to reach those inaccessible places and I thought this would be perfect for photography. On my second trip, we were battling through freezing, blustery winds and we drove up to the glacier I'd been hankering after. The idea was that we'd board some snowmobiles and head off into the distance for a ride. My vivid imagination made me convinced that I'd be flung off en route so opted to stay behind with my camera, as that's what I wanted anyway. From my vantage point on the glacier I could see for miles in every direction. And I couldn't see anyone else once the conga line of snowmobiles had whooshed off. It was so quiet, the wind was blowing crazily but there were no trees to shake, no houses to buffet so despite the fact I could barely stand, the utter tranquility descended. I could take shelter in our Range Rover thing but I was determined to try and capture this serenity, this pure, uncomplicated landscape. Boots firmly planted in the deep, crisp snow to steady myself I took a series of pictures looking back towards Reykjavik. I had a warm coat but I couldn't get it to stay fastened, so in the violent wind it formed a v-shape above my head ensuring it was not doing the slightest bit of good in the function of keeping me warm. Fortunately I had two hats, several scarves and gloves but it was still mighty cold. It was curious, the weather was violent but the photographs show calmness.

This week’s Frui Friday challenge was “simplicity” so I harped back to my sojourn on an Icelandic glacier and posted the first of these photographs. I always imagined these as a set as I rotated slightly to get different views. Simplicity itself.

 

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A hint of the Northern Lights

The money shot from this trip is capturing the elusive Northern Lights. After several nights on the bounce of too much cloud to even try there is an expectant buzz at the hotel tonight eagerly waiting for the buses to whisk us away to the bus station before we begin our chase. Unfortunately our group of twelve get split into three different coaches and more of the hotel guests climb into other coaches. I'd envisaged that we would all congregate at the same spot but each driver and guide had different plans. So much to our surprise we all had completely different experiences.

We started off with a few false stops, we'd climb out into the total blackness, armed with our tripods to find we could barely see a star in the sky.

Finally our guide started leaping around the coach in excitement pointing out of the windows at the tendrils of light dancing across the sky. Us uninitiated visitors peered out the clouds and wondered if this was the case of The Emperor’s New Clothes.

Eventually we stopped again, decamped (well not everyone, as some felt that we were on a fool’s errand) but clutching my tripod I was determined to give it one more chance. As I squinted up at the sky I could see a band of fast moving cloud which could have had a greenish tinge. I pointed my camera at this possibly greenish cloud for forty seconds and to my shock got lucky.

The rest of our group were treated to a twenty minute light show but as least we saw something. The other groups drove around for hours and didn't give up until about 2am and still saw nothing.

In conclusion, the Northern Lights are elusive, mystical and can be a little frustrating. I am delighted I saw a hint of what they can deliver, maybe another time I can see the full performance.

A Day at the Opera

The rest of our group headed off for snow mobiling this morning so I continued exploring Reykjavik, sadly the rain caught up with me today but another interesting building had caught my eye overlooking the harbour that I was determined to explore, capture and discover more about.

As well as being a striking design formed of a honeycomb of hexagons, cubes and asymmetric shapes the double walled front windows has LEDs that appear to ripple and gyrate across the surface.

And on investigation the influence for the architecture of this opera house is the form of the homes of their near neighbours, the elves or hidden people. These mythical creatures live deep underground beneath the cliffs around Iceland. The exterior of the elves’ homes are dark and secluded, but on entering a glittery crystalline space is revealed.

Whatever inspired the architects this building begs to be photographed from every angle and I found myself in architectural detail heaven. I hope the elves approved.

 

Land of Ice

I'd been hankering to go to Iceland for years and this has nothing to do with a deep abiding love of prawn rings. Iceland has always seemed so mysterious, so mystical, geographically quite close but in reality a million miles away. They even share a timezone with us. And then iceland kept hitting the news. Firstly we discovered in September 2008 that Icelandic banks had bankrolled a surprising number of British companies, and when the global credit crisis hit, Iceland's economy really suffered. Then the now infamous Eyjafjallajökull volcano blew its top in 2010 and disrupted the worlds air space, making the blue skies around me eerily quiet. So when AY, who I met in Berlin last year, said her friends had found a great flights and hotel package and threw it open to the Berlin crowd, I snapped at the chance.

The first surprise was how much toastier Rekyjavik was compared to London, and I was more worried beforehand that I wouldn't be warm enough. And the next surprise was the distinct lack of ice, there had been a huge snow fall just before we arrived but there were barely remnants surviving.

Our hotel was situated right opposite the Hallgrímskirkja, one of Iceland’s tallest building and strikingly designed to mimic the landscape of lava flows.

We'd discovered the usefulness of the this church as a beacon when we got a little lost on returning to our hotel. We also thought it looked like a Bond villain’s lair which one day might suddenly blast off for a land far, far away.

The inside was equally modern with elegant simple tall windows and a very impressive organ.

It certainly is an dramatic structure and in lieu of ice and snow, the first photographic opportunity.