Iceland Day 3

For me it is easier to take beautiful pictures in beautiful places. I have seen photographs take awesome pictures of not so beautiful places. One has to have great composition and technical knowledge. The other trick I use to making a not so great image good is making it black and white. This might only fool me in to thinking it is better but I am okay with that. Another thing I find to make my pictures more appealing to me is going to an unfamiliar place. When I walk around my city it is just another day but when I was walking around New York City it was cool and different.

I found Iceland different and beautiful. This leads to another issue, too many photos! The culling process has been long and difficult at times. A lot of images that take a long time to edit.

Snaefellsnes Peninsula Tour

We used Bus Travel Iceland for this day trip.

The Snaefellsnes Peninsula is north of Reykjavik. The weather was cold, rainy and windy but it was still enjoyable and had some great scenery. I believe this was the first day we heard "over there is a very famous Mountain but you can not see it...", but it was not the last.

We did eventually see the Kirkjufell Mountain, the most photographed mountain in Iceland. One reason it is so famous is because it was used in Game of Thrones.

It was very misty and atmospheric at this first top on our tour. I really liked the browns and haze in the distance.

This seal popped up on the shore and then slipped back into the sea. The seals were the main reason for this stop but their were not many. This one must have felt bad for us.

I find these large black boulders very interesting. They were also good a hiding for and elusive minks that I barley caught a glimpse of as it dodged in-between the boulders.

The Danes brought these animals over in the 1930s to farm, now many live wild on the island.

Búðakirkja - is a local parish church that dates back to 1703.

This black church is another iconic image of Iceland. I have wanted to take a picture of this church since I saw a photo of it decades ago. For this trip I didn't ask about going once we decided to take tours around the island rather than drive ourselves so it was a nice surprise when it was on the itinerary.

I thought driving would be fun and give us the freedom to decide our own schedule. However we decided to do tours due to unpredictable weather and a stressed wife. Not drive on this first tour seemed to pay off because the tour guide and driver were tracking the weather and decided knew how rearrange the tour t account for the weather. 

This church is an active church and there was some kind of wedding rehearsal going on inside when we were there. They didn't seem to appreciate the bus loads of tourists wondering around and trying to get inside.

I have seen so many pictures of this church over the years and have always thought it was out in the middle on a field standing majestically alone in the Icelandic landscape.

Nope.

It is all about the angles. It is right next to this parking lot full of cars and tour buses. And just before you get to church they have built a large hotel.

There is an interesting graveyard at this church as well.

Our next stop was to visit the Troll God.

Bárður Snæfellsás

Bárður Snæfellsás - the Mythical Protector of the Snæfellsnes Peninsula in West Iceland. It was difficult to get a picture without a lot of people around Bárður Snæfellsás.

The black rocks and little bit of moss with the back drop of windswept waves fading into the mist and fog is that unique scene that makes it all the more interesting.

This land bridge is apparently another famous Photo spot. I don't realize this until a girl asked me to take her picture on it, handed me her phone and scurried off across the rocks to walk outhalf way a cross, pose and repose and then scamper across to retrieve her phone. Then as I walked around I saw some many people doing the same. It is an impressive view.

Our next stop I belove was going to be a costal cliff view like the previous. However it was so foggy that that driver missed the turn and the guide decided that we wouldn't be able to see anything anyways so that stopped at the visitors center instead.

The Black Pearl Beach

This place had a very interesting and surreal feel to it. Could have been the long misty expance of beach with the smooth little black rocks but thier was somthing different about it.

These series of photographs could be seen as good planing and an intereasting addition to his blog or more evidence that I did a terrible job sorrting through my images. So take them as you will.

Kirkjufell & Kirkjufellsfoss

...and here is the movie star, Kirkjufell!

This was the 'worst' stop of this tour. But it was self induced. I knew it was a rainy day and I brought rain pants but I did not put them on. In my defense I hadn't had any issues with the rain until this point and was fine in my coat and jeans. The rain didn't look much worse than it had when we parked. However, the wind was much stronger at this point and by the time I got to the top of the fall my pants were soaked through and water was pooling inside my boots. I believe it was a combination of the rain and the wind blowing the spray from the falls that made it so bad.

It had been tough keeping the rain of my lens all day but it was pretty much impossible here. Lots of wiping and shooting. Then getting home and realizing I had needed more wiping. But I got some ok shots.

There was a farm next to the falls and these two horse were out enduring the elements. However when I left to go back to the bus they had already left and found shelter. Glad I got the shots when I did.

That is a wrap for day 3. The rest of the day was spent drying out, warming up and trying not to annoy my family with my camera and more... at least for today.