Every time I go out to photograph, I feel obligated to say “Thank you” to the world around me for providing such beauty to capture. I say “Thank you” that I am physically able to do this as I cannot fathom an inability to view the world through a viewfinder. This morning, I said “Takk Fyrir” to Iceland for the gift of such beauty. This is my first time back to Iceland since visiting in 2018 for a 2 week photography outing, and much has changed.
I had only one purpose during my first visit here - to photograph everything I saw! Ok, not everything, but there was so much to see that at times it felt like everything around was image-worthy. I photographed with a medium format Leica S system, which I still use today. Medium format photography is typically known as “intentional” because the camera demands careful attention in order to make images. Using graduated filter systems for each shot simply adds to the complexity. Yet, the rewards were great from that trip and I have a handful of images hanging to remind me of my time there. I’ve always enjoyed journaling and then, later reading to remind myself what I felt was important at the time. Iceland, I mused in 2018, would need to learn how to deal with the wear and tear of trampling feet as more of the world learned of this fairy-land.
Eight years later, I was hoping to be wrong. Only here for 2 days and armed with a Leica EV1 and a Leica M7, my photography was still intentional, but more intentional of subject over process. Ease of use is the beauty of the M system, after enjoying its compactness. I packed four lenses with me - the 21mm SEM f/3.5, the 35mm Noctilux, the 28-50-35 MATE and the APO 135mm f/3.4.
Having been born on the Islands south of Iceland and growing up in Reikiavik, Valthar was our driver. A small group of seven, we spent a full day cruising the southern part of Iceland. While I enjoyed Diamond Beach in 2018, this trip I was rewarded with Black Sand Beach and the hexagonal rocks that make up a section right at the line between beach and ocean. Atop the long attached basalt columns were nests of puffins. We marveled at their constant flights, much like a swarm of mosquitos.
My heart sank just a little-bit as we neared the stone structure. People of all ages were climbing on the rocks as if the area was a public playground. The ocean had already carved a grotto to one side during the endless winter-time waves. All stone, even basalt, wears with the weather. Yet, people without the respect for such fragile beauty or foresight to protect it for future generations had clearly infested the black sand beach. My intuition in 2018 was proving to be correct.
Looking out from black sand beach, and the brief moment with no one climbing the rocks, - The Noctilux-M f/1.2 35mm.
“Foss” means falls, so Skógafoss is a waterfall and at 60 meters high, a large falls. In 2018, I decided to remove my boots and roll up my wool layers to wade into the stream and photograph Skógafoss from a different vantage point. The handful of people viewing the falls gave the enormity of the drop some scale. In 2026, everything was different.
Four new parking lots and wider trails to the base of the falls greeted me before even leaving the van. The throngs of people wore the gravel trail down to its earthen base. Half the people were viewing the falls in their phones taking selfies and the other half wiping down their phones after narrating movies in their native language. I couldn’t see the base of the falls and the rainbow mist was covered by moving heads. I managed to slip around the side where the eons of water flow had carved a space to grab a few quick clicks. The 21mm SEM allowed me to capture the full falls even this close in. The EV1 helped me quickly frame it so the whole system wasn’t completely soaked through from the falls when I finished.
Skógafoss away from the crowd in the spray and a reflection of the grassy mountains in the stream.
Shooting with the MATE and the 21mm during this daylong trek, I was using f/stops in the f/8 to f/11 range regularly. The focus method I have been using works tremendously well for shallower depths of field, but is more cumbersome at these f-stops. With the 21mm, I frequently use the DOF scale on the top of the lens and zone focus my landscapes, but the MATE makes that more difficult for walk about photography. I’ve got some ideas that I’m working through now and I’ll report back after a few more outings.
For now, I say “thank you” to Iceland for making fresh memories in some places that were new and allowing me some quiet, frozen moments to soak in her beauty. My hope is that others have the chance to see this wonder-land of ice before the footsteps of human intervention permanently mark the landscape. As for the film? My M7 is fresh with a CLA, and we will all have to wait for the development to discover what the Portra 160, 400 and E100 transparencies have in store!
