• Markus Albert

Iceland in February

Aktualisiert: 8. Mai 2019

Hunting diamonds and avoiding tourists


Yes, I know, Iceland has become pretty well attended. Apparently especially in February, around the Chinese new year. I didn't pay attention to that fact while planning my trip. Or, let's say, I didn't know about the Chinese vacations. To my disappointment there were a lot of busses and tourists at every famous location in Iceland. And Chinese tourists taking selfies.

A diamond at Diamond Beach

So, why go there? Because it still is Iceland. Which means: endless photographic opportunities, rugged land- and untamed seascapes. Auroras. And the good thing is: You rarely meet tourists in a radius of 500 feet around the busses. Anyway, it seemed a good idea to me to leave out the most iconic locations. I didn't want to take the 10 millionth picture of Skogafoss.

Taking the whole south coast in only five days seemed a bit ambitious to me, but I definitely wanted to see Jokursarlon and Vestrahorn. The golden hour only started around 10 o'clock so I got over the 3 hours drives in the morning. Blue skies was a bit of problem. I tried to make the best of it and put as little sky on my pictures as possible, which is hard when you're not in the woodland. The cloudless weather was perfect for aurora shooting, though.

Svínafellsjökull Glacier

Again, I could confirm my own thesis during my stay: Do not include too many locations in one day. You have to familiarize with a location in order to find the right compositions. I have to say, though: It's hard to forego locations, when you pay around a thousand Euros for a 5-day-trip. But all the pictures of my let's-just-take-a-quick-peek-locations were poor.

Iceland is one of the most beautiful locations I have ever seen. On the other hand, it can be extremely dangerous. I have seen people getting soaked by the treacherous sneaker waves of Reynisfjara Beach, my feet included. Strong winds shaked my rental car, and the roads were icy. It is worth it, though. Trip booked in 2020.

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