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Iceland 2019
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Iceland 2019
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Iceland 2019
  By Alexander Wright | 3rd March 2020
Take a look at my favourite photographs that I took from my trip to Iceland!
Iceland 2019
  By Alexander Wright | 3rd March 2020
Iceland 2019
  By Alexander Wright | 3rd March 2020
          During summer 2019, my family and I embarked on a one-week trip to Iceland before heading on to New York, USA. Throughout my stay in Iceland, I decided to focus more on landscape photography so I could enjoy all the stunning scenery the island has to offer. Although, as always with my photography style, some architecture managed to sneak into the final cut of photos!
EXPLORING REYKJAVIK
          When I was not out discovering the countryside, I spent most of my time exploring the country's capital, Reykjavik. From almost all vantage points of the city, one structure stands out above the rest of the city, the spectacular Hallgrí­mskirkja (Church of Hallgrímur). Designed to emulate the trap-rocks and glaciers of Iceland, the 75m tall building took over 45 years to complete and is now one of the tallest buildings in the country.
          Due to poor weather, I ended up having to pop back to the church on my last day in Iceland to get some nice, sunny external shots of the building. I'm extremely grateful that I did, as the sky provides a colour pop in these shots - they would have been quite grey otherwise. The first shot of this gigantic structure is one that many visitors will see as they enter the church. As one of my "lookup" photos, the shot provides a sense of scale for the building, whilst the stone 'slabs' provide an interesting pattern similar to that seen in rock columns.
          During post-processing, I decided to keep the editing light. I brought out the shadows and stone colour of the building to give it more definition against the bright sky. To ensure the building was level, I corrected the perspective in Lightroom. I ended up taking the photo into Photoshop to increase the contrast on the stained glass windows and give them a darker appearance.
          Continuing inside, the scale of the building is seen with the concrete columns that soar to the arching roof. At centre stage above the entrance is the church's 15m tall organ, built by Orgelbau Klais, and controlled by remote manuals and pedals at the front of the church. The deep colours of the organ and surrounding wood panels provide a nice contrast from the generally light grey interior.
          Heading back outside, it was time to explore the whole exterior of the building. The concrete pillars that resemble the natural Icelandic volcanic columns continue around the perimeter of the building. From the side of the structure, you get a good view of the church's tower, which is seen in the first photo. The next shot is a close-up of the detailing of the side walls and copper roof.
          Both images were edited to highlight the simplicity of this stunning building. Using perspective corrections, I ensured that the columns within the photo were vertical. As this facade was in shade, I decided to desaturate the blue hues present on the concrete and tower. In the first image, there was significant cropping to produce the perspective seen in the photo. Therefore, I extended both the left and right portions of the image within Photoshop to continue the wall's patterned facade, which provided the space needed to "zoom-out".
          With this fairly minimal backdrop, I took the opportunity to do some quick street photography. Again, having a subject in front of the facade reveals the scale of the column-like walls.
          After wandering around the church, I decided to head back and explore the Icelandic architecture of the city. Next, I came across the Ráðhús Reykjavíkur (City Hall), which is located by the Tjörnin lake. The simplistic concrete structure is home to the government offices and city council, which are separated by a large wall of "black lava". Along the external wall, I came across some bicycles standing by the entrance and I liked how the leading lines of the curve draw attention to the bikes.
          Back around the front of the building, I enjoyed how the reflection of the glass windows contrasted with the grey concrete facade. As I was composing, a staff member took a quick break on his phone and I speedily snapped my shot!
          I then decided to walk alongside the Tjörnin lake and through the Hljómskálagarður park. From across the lake, I spotted a good opportunity to take a long-exposure as I was head on to the Fríkirkjan í Reykjavík (Free church of Reykjavik), which I had seen previously on my walks around the city. Using an ND filter and wide-angle lens, I set up my camera close to the ground and near the edge of the water to provide a panoramic-like shot of the skyline.
          The last part of Reykjavik left to explore was the northern shore. As it was summer, we waited until the sun was beginning to set at 10 pm and I set up my tripod to get a shot over the bay. To add a sense of motion to the image, I used a long shutter speed to smooth out the water and capture the movement of the clouds.
          Lastly, I headed towards the famous sculpture The Sun Voyager. Built-in 1990, the Icelandic-designed sculpture was unveiled to celebrate the city's 200th birthday. As I walked towards the sculpture, the evening sun in the distance began to produce a vibrant sunset, which provided the perfect backdrop for my photo!
THE GOLDEN CIRCLE
          After exploring the city, it was time to go out and see the nature that makes Iceland a beautiful country. The first day, we set off to see the various natural formations along the Golden Circle travel route. Whilst it's technically a man-made structure, our first stop was to the Ljósafoss hydroelectric power plant. It's been in operation in 1937and uses three turbines to produce up to 105-GWh of clean electricity per year. When I arrived at the plant, I enjoyed the vivid contrast between the water and the bright white wall and decided to use my tripod and ND filter.
          The first natural formation we visited was the Kerið volcanic crater lake, which was formed over 3,000 years ago. The volcanic caldera is 55m deep and is home to a shallow lake at the bottom. Unlike most of the other locations in Iceland that I took photos of, the rock that forms the caldera banks is iron-rich and thus appears red, not black. At the bottom of the crater, I liked how the colour of the banks complemented the green tint of the water.
          The next destination on this list is the Haukadalur valley geothermal park, which is home to the famous Geysir and Strokkur geysers. I headed up towards the main fountain-type geyser, Strokkur, set up my tripod and waited for the next eruption.
          As the geyser only erupts on average every 10 minutes, I ended up waiting over an hour to get the shots I wanted. Some of them I completely missed, due to no warning, or the eruption ended up going outside of the frame. Eventually, I got the 18 shots of the eruption progression I wanted. When editing, I selectively reduced the highlights to bring out details in the water whilst keeping the exposure uniform. Apart from that, I only brought out the colours of the sky and levelled the horizon within the frame. In the geothermal park, several thermal springs form pools of crystal-clear water, as seen in the below photo.
          Next up on our Golden Circle trip was visiting the Gullfoss waterfalls. The water descends two drops, which create over 30m of falling water. During the summer months, up to 140 cubic metres of water pass through the formation per second. To show this movement, I used a long shutter speed, which smoothed out the water and mist that was created during the fall.
          As the water was quite murky, I ended up reducing the saturation within the stream of water and mist, whilst increasing the whites within the area. I also brought out the colours in the grass and sky, as the dull day and shade produced muted colours.
          As the day was drawing to an end, we headed to the last stop of the Golden Circle tour, the Þingvellir national park and the Öxarárfoss waterfalls. As most of the tourist buses had already left the park, there were only a few people there by the time we arrived. The main geological feature of this park is the large mid-Atlantic rift valley formed from the movement of the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. In the first and second shots, you can see each cliff of the ridge. Running down the middle of the ridge is the Öxará river, which is supplied by the Öxarárfoss waterfall that can be seen in the image below. Sticking with my theme of capturing motion within the water, I took the photos as long exposures.
          The photos below display the tectonic ridge quite well, where you can see the upstream and downstream portions of Öxará river. To show the scale of the formation, I've taken a self-portrait of myself within the ridge.
THE SOUTH COAST
          On the next day of our trip, we explored the geographic formations and nature of the southern coast by car. Our first stop was at the Jökulsárlón lagoon, home to a glacier and iceberg lake. After I had enjoyed a boat trip out to see the icebergs up close, I set up my tripod on the small beach to capture the scenic Icelandic setting.
          I love how the scene includes a mixture of different Icelandic natural elements and how the dark volcanic sand beach contrasts with the bright ice and sky. To achieve the final image, I merged a long-exposure shot and a normal shot to produce smooth water whilst removing the motion blur on the boat. When editing, I brought out the vibrant blue colours within the icebergs and also deepened the blacks within the sand to increase contrast.
          Alongside the boat's waiting area is a small building made from sheet metal, which housed some offices and a shop. As I was heading off I noticed how the cabin walls blended in with the sky whilst the blue roof opposed both. During editing, I decided that I wanted to experiment with the colours slightly and changed the roof to a deep red colour.
          As we began heading back towards Reykjavik, we stopped in the town of Vik to have a look at the black volcanic beaches. On top of a nearby hill stands the Víkurkirkja church, with a striking red roof which distinguishes the structure from the surrounding green hills and clouds, and I enjoyed the contrast this provided in the scene.
          During editing, I brought out the brightness of the church walls to increase the contrast between the sky and building. I also altered the hues of the grass to reduce a yellow tone that was seen across the greens within the image. As there were a coach and car next to the church, I took the image into Photoshop to remove these and declutter the image.
          It was then time to head over to the beach at Reynisfjara. Due to the volcanic nature of Iceland, the beach is formed from basalt sea columns and has black volcanic sand. One aspect of the beach I enjoyed was a large alcove within the cliff, due to its dark grey colour with spots of green foliage. The only issue I had with the shot was that I was unable to capture the scale of the formation. Fortunately, two other tourists went to the entrance of the alcove and I quickly snapped a shot as they looked up at the landform.
          When editing these photos, I needed to remember that most of the content within the shots are dark grey. I 'masked' over the sand and reduced the saturation and blacks, as there were some magenta tones present in the sand. In the shot with the two tourists, I modified the green and blue hues and saturations to produce stronger colours. In the second shot, I 'masked' out the sky and sea to reduce the highlights and increase the level of detail within those bright areas.
          Continuing home, the next destination to see was the Sólheimajökull glacier. Situated between two volcanoes, the glacier is often used for guided walks but it's melting rapidly. As it was the evening, we only walked up to the lake that at the base of the ice. Whilst the glacier was still quite far away within the frame, I like how the low summer sun illuminated parts of the scene and ice.
          The last part of our trip around the southern coast was to the Skógafoss waterfall along the Skóga river. At a height of 60m, it is one of the largest waterfalls in the country and was originally located along the coastline, which is now situated 5km away. I ended up taking this photo a couple of times with different shutter speeds, as I wasn't sure at the time how I wanted the final photo to turn out. In the end, I decided I preferred this 30-second exposure to the shots where the water's movement was frozen.
          When I began to edit the photo, I wanted to make the shot as life-like as possible. I removed the magenta tint produced from my ND filter and, in the same fashion as the shots above, I masked out and darkened the black sand. I also masked out the sky and reduced the exposure to bring back much of the detail that was lost in the highlights, and again I modified the green hues to make the foliage pop.
HARPA CONCERT HALL, REYKJAVIK
          On the last day of my trip, I ended up having a tour of the impressive Harpa concert hall and conference centre. This building was the one location I had seen on Instagram before I left, and I knew I wanted to explore it! It was designed as a multi-use concert venue, and the facade is formed from over 1,000 multifaceted, glass quasi-bricks that create a striking, kaleidoscopic pattern when viewed from both inside and outside.
          The first two images from this space come from within the six-storey, cavernous atrium. To reflect light, the roof is formed from a series of hexagonal mirrors that are placed at angles to create an interesting reflection. The first wide-angle shot provides a good view of the foyer and its roof. In this shot, I like how it shows the scale of the atrium and the contrast between the yellow painted wall and the dark concrete colour. The second photo was taken in the same area but from looks from the first-floor walkway. This shot offers a sense of the scale of the building and shows off the internal view of the stunning glass facade.
          Another aspect of the building's architecture that I love is within its walls. By design, the concrete contains Icelandic volcanic pumicite, which provides the dark grey interior colour. This design element seamlessly ties the concert hall into its natural surroundings, whilst, inside the building, the dark colour perfectly contrasts the small pops of yellow that have been placed throughout.
          In the next image, the dark concrete can be seen contrasting with the bright outdoors. The nature aspect of the external facade is highlighted in this image, where none of the two panels are seemingly the same.
          After having a wander around, it was time for our tour and we headed back to the foyer to wait for our guide. A group of tourists began to build up and I took the opportunity to get a shot of the atrium whilst they waited. I like how having the tourists in view gives a sense of scale for this enormous structure. I also love the subtle use of yellow benches and other surfaces within the environment, which provides a nice pop of colour to both the interior design and my image.
          As usual, I kept the post-processing minimal. After perspective corrections, I brought out the shadow details to emphasise the dark grey concrete. I also reduced the saturation of colours within the concrete and floor to return them to their dark grey colour.
          At the end of the tour, we were once again left to explore the building, this time in the upper levels. This provided an excellent opportunity to have a closer look at the unique geometric roof, which is made from a mixture of reflective and acoustic panels. As they were installed at varying angles, the roof produces a different 'look' depending on where you're standing!
          I decided that the best composition for capturing the roof was to also have a portion of the frame filled with the concrete walls. This image highlights how the reflective surface provides an interesting pattern, with some panels mirroring the grey concrete whilst others replicated the glass facade. During editing, I once again kept the changes minimal. I desaturated most of the colours to draw attention to the yellow accent bench that is reflected. I also reduced the exposure on the acoustic panels to increase the overall contrast of the scene, whilst also removing some spotlights that were present between the panels.
          The next photo is one of my favourite shots from the building, as it perfectly shows the different design elements at play within the Harpa concert hall and conference centre. On the right, the vast concrete wall climbs to meet the patterned roof, whilst on the left, the roof of the lower atrium meets a section of the unique glass facade. In the distance, a mirror has also been used to give the illusion that the roof continues into infinity. Also, there is a pop of the yellow accent, which ties this photo in with all of the other photos from this building.
          Heading down a level, the sun began shining through the facade and its shadow produced a stunning pattern on the floor. I knew instantly that I needed to capture a shot of the pattern, and found a spot in the corner where there was a nice amount of patterned floor to contrast with the dark, simplistic concrete walls. As soon as I pressed the shutter button, I knew exactly what the final form of the photo was going to look like, and it instantly became my favourite photo from my trip to Iceland!
          As usual, I kept the editing on this photo minimal. In Lightroom, I used the perspective correction tool to fix the upright perspective of the wall. I brought out the shadows and reduced the highlights to increase the details on the concrete and floor, respectively. I found the interactive sign on the right-hand side distracting, so I 'masked' and darkened the area in Photoshop. I decided to leave a hint of the original sign present, as completely removing it looked unnatural within the scene.
          The final photo from the trip to the Harpa Centre was a quick, opportunistic shot of the building's facade! As I was about to leave, I saw a guest taking a photo of the building's exterior and I quickly swung my camera into action. Having a person in the frame draws attention to the scale of the building and the kaleidoscopic, multifaceted, glass quasi-bricks that form the facade. The shot also highlights the variation in the colour of the glass, which adds further interest to the facade.
          Back at home, I ended up spending much more time editing this photo that I expected. I began in Lightroom with perspective corrections, which was a hard task to complete as most of the pattern visible in the frame is not parallel. I then took the image into Photoshop, where I colour-corrected it to make the floor and visible beam as natural as possible. Whilst this provided an improvement to the image, it meant that I lost the aqua tint within the glass panels. To correct this, I ended up masking out the areas I wanted to remove the colour from, which included painstakingly tracing over each of the supporting frames of the glass.
FINAL THOUGHTS
          That's all for my visit to Iceland! The trip was a nice break from my usual architecture theme of photography, although of course I still managed to sneak some photos in! Keep an eye out for an upcoming post on the second leg of my holiday, where I jetted "across the pond" to New York City!
BY ALEXANDER WRIGHT
Alexander Wright is a London and Southampton based photographer focusing on architectural and minimalist photography. In his spare time, he enjoys roaming around the streets of London looking for new photo opportunities with his friends. Alexander frequently presents photography lectures and runs workshops at the University of Southampton.
More about Alexander
BY ALEXANDER WRIGHT
Alexander Wright is a London and Southampton based photographer focusing on architectural and minimalist photography. In his spare time, he enjoys roaming around the streets of London looking for new photo opportunities with his friends. Alexander frequently presents photography lectures and runs workshops at the University of Southampton.
More about Alexander
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Published: Tuesday 3rd March 2020 at 12:00
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