Iceland | The Land of Fire + Ice | Part I

Iceland is a place of extreme contrasts.  It is known as the land of fire & ice.  It's home to some of the largest glaciers in Europe and some of the world's most active volcanos.  These days it seems like everyone has gone, is going, or wants to go, to Iceland.  This island country has experienced an explosion in tourism since 2011.  What's the draw?  Based on my experience, I would say the awe-inspiring landscape.  The geothermal areas are surreal.  Waterfalls are breathtaking and plentiful.  I could go on and on.  One thing I didn't realize is that Iceland is a foodie place.  Our dinners were delicious!  The main entrée was usually lamb or fish (salmon, trout or plaice).

The purpose of my trip was to attend a Muench Workshop for photographers.  Muench puts on high quality, well organized workshops all over the world; from Antarctica to the Yukon.  Each of their instructors are accomplished professional photographers.  As I was researching workshops, the one thing that stood out about Muench was the amount of repeat business they get.  They have some clients that have attended close to twenty of their workshops.  I was not disappointed and hope to be added to their list of repeat customer.

This post is the first in a series of posts I have planned about my trip to Iceland.  It started and ended in Reykjavik, and included some really cool places in between.  Sit back, enjoy my journey and maybe I can help you plan yours!

Note:  all images are mine unless noted otherwise.

Our instructors (l-r) Andy, Skarpi & Randy

Our transportation: a Mercedes (with 4 1/2 foot tall tires) and a beefed up Toyota Landcruiser.  Let me direct your attention to the snorkel on the drivers side of the Mercedes.  It supplies air to the engine so it continues running when it's submerged in water.  And, yes, we drove through streams.  In addition, we had to stop to let air out of the tires or, put more air in,  depending on the terrain.

Our gear... Photo credit:  Andy Williams

Instructor Randy Hanna in action.

That's me in the middle sharing my shot with a fellow attendee.   Photographer - unknown

Screen capture, in Adobe Lightroom CC, of the GPS data for the images from my camera.  There are a couple secret spots not included.  As you can see, we covered a lot of territory in 9 days.

My gear for the trip:
Canon 5D Mark IV
Canon 7D Mark II
Tamron 15-30mm f/2.8
Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8
Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8
Really Right Stuff Ball Head & TriPod
Breakthrough Filters
F-Stop Kashmir Ultralight Backpack
Microsoft Surface Book