I got an e-mail from Canadians Luc-Rock and Michelle who found my Iceland blog reports – they are on their way to the Reykjavik marathon in August. They have a new blog to chronicle their Icelandic marathon adventures and are billing it as the Marathon for Gaby.
My photo newsletter, ‘Exposed!’ goes out very soon – a link will be posted tomorrow to:
“Photography Hell in Heaven” – an Icelandic photo story and challenge for those wishing to spark their photo creativity.
Harry
Iceland delivered a full and stunning photo adventure:
…more Icelandic waterfalls
My list of places to visit has increased as a result of the trip. I plan to visit again soon. Thanks for your comments by e-mail – would love to hear from others about their travel and photo plans!
Small village north of Reykjavik
Back to usual programming next week!
Harry
The big city is Reykjavik – at 200,000 people it is small by world standards but a bustling, thriving, friendly city. If you find a safer city you’ll be lucky. It’s also a party place on the weekends. You may hear people singing on their way home from the bars at 4 or 5am …in an orderly fashion, of course.
The city is clean, colourful and is the central hub of the booming commercial economy. Fishing, tourism, shipping and oil all work through the port city.
Colourful houses – Reykjavik
The city has a popular beach – Nauthólsvík – nestled close to the city centre where people lounge on the golden Moroccan sand – yes, imported – and swim in the thermally fed North Atlantic / Arctic ocean. It’s packed when the weather is fine! It was close to 30C (a scorcher for Iceland) this day:
Nauthólsvík Beach
It’s a pretty dreamy place – Iceland. Mild temperatures – some say cool – spectacular, exotic, safe, enchanting, legendary.
Sigh.
Want to hear more? Let me know…
This is the continuing post of my recent Icelandic photo adventure. We traveled for two weeks – some was vacation with my wife – some was work for my agencies after my wife returned to Canada.
Viking Trolls
There is a lot of Viking lore and history in Iceland, of course. Icelandic people descended from Scandinavia and Ireland/Scotland and have provided a hotbed of genetic research as the people are quite isolated, genetically. Research has shown most of the men descended from Scandinavia while most women descended from Celtic regions. Very curious!
The Icelandic people have written literary masterpieces – the Icelandic sagas. Recent authors are winning awards, too! There is also much suggestion of trolls and mythical creatures. Ahem:
Icelandic Photo Adventure – HarryNowell.com
Fermented Shark
We visited a farm on Snæfellsnes and saw their small fishing and shark museum. Icelanders still catch the Greenland shark – an arctic, cold water species that thrives in sub-zero water. The shark is toxic to eat because of the ammonia based, natural ‘antifreeze’ that allows it to survive its habitat.
Icelandic Photo Adventure – HarryNowell.com
It is edible after being buried or cured for four months. We got to taste this delicacy – Hákarl. It is disgusting – the overpowering ammonia drowns out any other flavours. If you are there you have to try it!
Icelandic Horses
Icelandic Photo Adventure – HarryNowell.com
The horses are small, stocky and hardy. Beautiful and curious, they emigrated from the celtic and nordic regions with the Icelandic people. Spectacular animals!
Harry
“Wow,” I gasped.
Iceland Photo Adventure – HarryNowell.com
I added “I know I keep saying ‘wow’ but it keeps being true!”
That sums up most of Iceland and especially the waterfalls. It seems everywhere you go there is water falling – sometimes thunderous, sometimes melodic.
Iceland Photo Adventure – HarryNowell.com
Iceland is a photographer’s paradise. Everywhere you look there is something pretty spectacular. The weather changes so much you can shoot the same subject many different ways on three very different days.
Iceland Photo Adventure – HarryNowell.com
Stay tuned for more photos and stories all week.
Harry
This week I will be highlighting the trip to Iceland while it is still very alive in my memory.
Trip Summary
I have wanted to go to Iceland for almost twenty years and I proposed the idea to my wife – she was excited! We traveled together for ten days while I stayed longer for some stock photo work and researching future trips. Iceland was fantastic.
The Agenda
We divided our time between Reykjavik, Snæfellsnes peninsula and south Iceland. We traveled by car, bicycle and bus.
Gulfoss waterfall
Weather
True to Iceland’s unpredictable nature we had a wide range of weather:
Some Highlights
This week I will be recounting some of the adventures of the trip:
Stay tuned this week for pictures, stories and the possibility of photographing there.
Harry
We are back. The R&R involved 10 days of holiday in Iceland. My wife returned home and I stayed longer to do some work.
Iceland is stunning. And don’t let the name fool you! While there was certainly some rain and mild temperatures we did have some beautiful blue sky and warm temperatures.
Thorsmork – south Iceland
I arrived late last night and am getting back up to speed with life and work. There is a lot of catch-up to do! Next week I will be posting some photos, stories and opportunities from Iceland.
Did I mention it is a stunning place? It is a photography paradise. The people are generally friendly and welcoming – the weather is mild and there are no snakes!
Stay tuned next week.
Harry