Tour description:

RAW Iceland offers rare opportunity to photograph the Nordic culture of Iceland. The north coast in Iceland has exceptional rock formation and unique wildlife as well.

We explore the north coast and the culture of Iceland. With frequent stops and a knowledgable local photographer as a guide you will always be at the right time of the day to make extraordinary photographs. We photograph wild seals and birds by the thousands. Húsavík is a prime spot for whale watching and the town is very picturesque. We shoot several waterfalls on our way and among them the most powerful waterfall in Europe. 

Lake Mývatn is without doubt the most beautiful and photogenic location in north part of Iceland. It is on an active volcanic hot spot. Dimmuborgir, Námaskarð, Grjótagjá, Höfði, the power plant Krafla are just a few well know spots. Strange lava formation, bubbling mud pots and incredible birdlife. Then you can take a bath in the Nature baths, a Blue lagoon equivalent. Visiting the most northern part of Iceland around summer solstice means that we can stay all night in bright daylight. The sunset/sunrise lasts for about three hours. We can actually see the midnight sun when the sky is clear. 

Highlights of the experience:

• Nordic culture
• Whale watching tour
• Seal watching tour
• Magnificent waterfalls
• Breathtaking coastal scenerey
• Europe’s most powerful waterfall

Included: Whale watching tour from, Húsavík a seal watching tour from Hvammstangi and a horse riding tour.

RAW CULTURE

You’ll document the Nordic culture, explore the wildlife in the ocean and shoot landscape. In order to get the tmost out of the equipment one must understand the basics of photography. The basic is simple but cameras are complicated tools! We teach numerous techniques both simple and advanced. 

Aesthetics are of great importance of course. We spend some time improving your eye and honing your style. Digital transfer of raw files is essential and editing in proper software is a skill one can never fully master. We’ll get you up to date and up to speed with the whole digital workflow. 

Workshop agenda:

Travel and Nature photography:

• Photography is simple!
• Image stabilization/tripod
• Long exposure/Bulb
• Remote trigger
• Maximizing sharpness
• Depth of field
• Choosing the right lens
• Outdoor flash

Composition:

• Composition out of chaos
• Rule of thirds
• KISS
• Fibonacci
• Interpreting a scene into an artwork.
• Simple color, longer lasting impact
• Choosing your palette
• Vivid color for imagination
• The design of Pandemonium
• Serenity of the plain
• Dramatic and dynamic
• Mystery, Ambiguity and Contradiction – MAC theory

Creative techniques:

• Develop a personal style
• Using creative filters
• HDR / Bracketing
• Panorama stitching
• Timelapse 
• Intro to SLR video

Post production:

• Digital workflow
• Color calibration
• From screen to print
• Lightroom/Aperture adjustments
• Develop dramatic sky
• Advanced Lightroom
• Tethered shooting in Lightroom
• Specific Photoshop techniques.
• The fine art print
• Papers and printers
• Presentation

Itinerary:

Day 1. Seal watching on the north coast.

Pick up at hotel and drive north, There is much to see and shoot on our way. We head to Hvammstangi, an authentic fishing village, where we’ll discover seals in the wild. We dine at a farm restaurant that serves fresh seafood. Then we’ll find a unique freestanding rock by the shore, Hvítserkur.

Farmstay by Hvítserkur

Day 2. Columnar rock on the coast.

We drive through sheep farmlands to a small town on Blönduós to lunch in a new medieval tavern. It’s a homage to famous outlaws that lived in the highlands for decades. Next we’ll shoot a magnificent columnar rock formation on a rocky beach. Very few tourist go there but it’s a photographers paradise. It’s a marvelous “fine art” location.

Bed and breakfast in Skagaströnd

Day 3. Arctic peninsula.

We drive along a peninsula of arctic tundra. Hopefully we won’t find polar bears but once in a while they wash ashore in this remote area. However there is arctic tern by the thousands. Fiercely protecting their hatchlings with dog fighting style manoeuvres. We pass hundred meter high sea cliffs teaming with birdlife. Eventually we reach Skagafjörður. The islands in the fjord and the midnight sun is a spectacular view.

Farmstay in Skagafjörður

Day 4. Trolls and herrings.

Next we spend some time on the sandy beach in Skagafjordur. There is an old shipwreck close to the shore. We’ll visit a turf house museum at Glaumbær. We continue to Siglufjordur by the coast of Tröllaskagi. The name means “peninsula of the trolls”. Siglufjorður is a herring fishing village that had it’s haydays in 1920s-1950s. It has excellent exhibits of the herring culture that marked the era. Close by is a tranquil lake in a fjord facing north towards the midnight sun. A great photo opportunity looms in the fjord.

Bed and breakfast in Siglufjörður

Day 5. Art and culture in the old fish factory.

We pass through more fishing villages on our way to the workshop area in an abandoned fish factory. Today it’s occupied by artist and craftspeople like us. We spend an afternoon in the factory taking pictures and carving deeper into the fine art of photography. We spend the night in Akureyri that is placed in a very long and deep fjord. It has a population of about 20.000 and is called the capital of the north.

Hotel in Akureyri

Day 6. Whale watching from Húsavík

After a stroll in the downtown of Akureyri we drive to Húsavík for a whale watching tour in a small speedboat. It’s great fun and better suited to photographers than the larger vessels made of oak or the sailboats. The other whale watching boats also look better in the photos. The gentle giants are accustomed to human observation and one can quite often get in very close vicinity to these magnificent beasts. The grand mountain range in the backdrop makes this one of the best whale watching experiences on the planet. Stroll around this beautiful fishing village in the evening. On clear days we can see the arctic sun well past midnight.

Hotel in Húsavík

Day 7. Great canyon and grand waterfalls.

From Húsavík we visit Ásbyrgi. According to Norse mythology it’s Odin’s horse footprint. Magnificent vertical cliffs made out of cataclysmic waterfall from the last ice age. Then we view Hljóðaklettar unique rock formations made of basalt columnar rock. We’ll find ourselves on the west bank of Jökulárgljúfur-canyon watching three great waterfalls, each photogenic on their own. Dettifoss, Selfoss and Hafragilsfoss. “Foss” means waterfall in Icelandic!

Hotel by lake Mývatn for 4 nights

Day 8. The pearls of lake Mývatn. 

Lake Mývatn is without doubt the pearl of north. It is a active geothermal area with many interesting places to see, all within minutes of drive from each other. Höfði and Dimmuborgir are famous picturesque lava formations. After lunch we do some editing and work on the images we shot the days before. We go out again in the afternoon to take more pictures of this exceptional area. In the late afternoon we relax in the spa at the Nature Bath, a Blue lagoon equivalent.

- Night 2

Day 9. Recent eruption, smoking lava and mud pots.

We shoot hot springs and mud pots by Námaskarð. Grjótagjá is a lava cave in which a hot spring river runs through. Leirhnjúkur is a crater that erupted in 1970s and 80s. The lava is still smoking hot. Krafla is a geothermal power plant with smoking drill holes and steam pipes. Sunset blends with sunrise on the top of Hverfjall caldera, which has panorama view over this spectacular and mystical place.

- Night 3

Day 10. Workshop and free time. Relax in the Nature Bath spa.

We use most of the day in post production. Go through the files and make the most of what we got so far. The restaurant in Reynihlíð has exceptional menu and a great chef. Perhaps we’ll have a glass of wine too!

- Night 4

Day 11. Hot springs and glaciers in the central highlands.

We head back to Skagafjord via a different route. It runs through deep valleys with jagged edge peaks and mountain passes. In Skagafjordur we go horse riding on the Icelandic pony. These small but rugged horses have cute and friendly faces. This special breed Viking horse is the landmark of the Icelandic culture. We’ll visit Blönduvirkun, a hydropower plant that is carved out in a cave deep into the bedrock. We head for the highlands to Hveravellir. It’s a hot spring oasis between two glaciers. We’ll camp in a mountain lodge and shoot the hot springs. It also has a really nice natural warm spring to dip into.

Mountain lodge in Hveravellir

Day 12. The golden circle.

Early morning we head back to Reykjavik. We drive across the central highland, Kjölur, a pass between two glaciers. We photograph the Golden circle. It’s the most popular visitor attractions in Iceland. The Gullfoss waterfall and the famous Geysir. Near the end of our journey we cross Thingvellir, a national treasure where the Icelandic parliament was established in 930AD where the tectonic plates of America and Europe meet. From there it’s only a 30 minute drive to Reykjavík.

End of tour.

NOTE: Tour is subject to change without prior notice.There may be slight variation in same tour on different dates.

Details:

Accommodation:

6 nights at farmstays, bed & breakfast and country hotels. 4 nights at 3star hotel by lake Mývatn. 1 night in a highland lodge.

Cuisine:

We introduce you to the local cuisine whenever we can. Breakfast in hotels, light lunch at local restaurant. Dining at local restaurants or BBQ in the outdoors when we are on location. 

Transportation:

Comfortable mini coach with ample space for luggage, tripods and camera gear.

Weather:

During the summer the weather in Iceland is really mild especially on this particular location. Temperatures are often between 15° and 20° on Celsius (60-70°F) with highs in the 20-25°C (70-76°F) range and lows very rarely below 8°C (45°F). Early in the summer we might expect cool but sunny days and calm wind. Nights are warm due to bright light of the arctic sun.

Local Culture:

We try to photograph local events to explore the Nordic culture. Those events are often published on short notice. There are also quite a few small museums that is subject to group decision.

Summary:

Terms and conditions; here

Tour dates:

Price:  €4.400 / £3.800 / $6.100 - all inclusive land only.