Snæfellsnes Peninsula — CESAR MENDEZ | WORLD TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY

After eating dinner at the Skógafoss hostel restaurant I went to sleep and setup my alarm clock, this time I remembered to check the sunrise time once I learned how much it changes in Iceland within a couple of hundred kilometers. Sunrise was at 2:30 am, I woke up and the weather wasn’t any good for photos, but there was some texture in the sky and decided to give it a try and see if the conditions improve over time.

It was a cold morning and the rain was coming and going. I was all alone in Skógafoss, so I took my time and scout the place around. I started looking for a composition near the stream of the waterfall. I found a little path of rocks that led me to the middle of the river without getting my feet in the water, I didn’t have much space to stand on, so I made myself small to fit all the gear and myself. I went for long exposure, so I took out the 3 stop ND filter. The shutter speed was about 8 seconds which was ok for smoothing the water. Sadly, I did not own a polarizer for my 150 mm filter kit, there was a lot of glare in the shallow water, I was looking to see the rocks underneath but no success. So, I decided to try the 10 stop ND filter, maybe trying a super long exposure I was going to be able to see through the glare. I had to keep the shutter open for about 4 minutes under the light conditions at that moment. The results were ok, I did not manage to get rid of the glare, but I think that it reduce it a little bit.

After a few compositions with a wide-angle lens, and medium range telephoto, I decided to take out my 70-200 mm and try to find compositions with that. I made some close-up shots of details around the Skógafoss, and then the classical selfie where I put myself near the waterfall to give scale to the photograph and show how massive it is.

Then the rain came taking away any hope of seeing some morning light hitting the waterfall.

Because I had a long drive ahead of me, I went back to sleep for a couple of hours more.

Upon waking up, I had a quick breakfast at the hostel’s restaurant, the rain did not stop since I went to sleep. There is something about the rain that calms me down. I enjoyed the view of the waterfall under rain while tasting a fresh brew cup of coffee. I started planning my day towards Snæfellsnes peninsula, the maps didn’t give me a lot of options, actually there were only two, one that goes through the golden circle near Geysir and Gullfoss, and the other passing around Reykjavik.

Finishing breakfast, I fixed all my stuff as every morning to have everything ready to go in case I need to stop for a shot and be quick. Once everything was packed I hit the road. The drive was 350 km to Kirkjufell, roughly 4 to 5 hours drive depending how many times I stop during the way.

The drive wasn’t as beautiful as the south coast, don’t get me wrong, it is a beautiful road and scenery, but in comparison, the south coast is better in my opinion. Practically you drive along the coast from south to north from Reykjavik. There is a toll to pay if you want to cross the tunnel Hvalfjarðargöngin, this tunnel crosses directly trough the fjord. The tunnel it is 5770 meters long and reaches a depth of 165 meters below sea level. The tunnel shortens the trip of 45 km, roughly one-hour drive. Beware of the speed cameras, there are three or more inside the tunnel, which is good, it wouldn’t be nice to be stock in the tunnel because a speed accident, so for your own safety and the others stay under the speed limit at all times.

After the tunnel the landscape starts to change, you see a transition of vegetations approaching to the peninsula. Once you arrive in the Snæfellsnes peninsula the scenery dramatically changes again. You start to see mountains, glaciers, waterfalls, the seacoast, almost like if it was purposely made to be awesome.

Constantly refueling my van while bad weather approaching.

As I’m about to enter the peninsula, the weather changes dramatically, it started with heavy rain, the visibility was reduced, I wasn’t able to see beyond a couple of meters from the van, so, I slowed down and turned on the intermittent tail lights for safety. Then the winds started to pick up, they were 100 km plus winds (later I checked the weather app). The winds were so strong that they were pushing the van sideways out of the road, which was kind of scary, I fully concentrated on driving as safe as possible, but the weather was implacable. I crossed a couple of bridges at a sea level, the waves were smashing on the rock face of the bridge road, I was hoping for the winds to slow down, but nothing, it was similar to a hurricane, I have experienced many hurricanes in my life because I live in a place where every other year is hit by one. So, I look to the GPS and is saying that I was only 5 kilometers from Kirkjufell, and there was another bridge, and the winds were hitting me so hard that I decided to pull over, it was becoming too dangerous, I felt like I could be pushed into the sea by the winds.

I saw an entrance to what it looked like a farmhouse, I went in and park inside the property, then I realized that it was a guest house. I went inside and ask politely to the manager that if it was ok to wait out the storm in their property. She gave me a look like if it was completely normal to have that kind of weather, but she said that it was ok.

A half an hour passed, and it seemed that the storm is not going to stop any time soon. So, I ask the manager if she had any rooms available and she said yes. I took the room thinking that I could benefit from a nice warm bed once in the trip. The room was clean and comfortable. I took a long hot shower that felt like heaven. I’ve been showering everyday in public bathrooms, but they were always outside in the cold, and even if they all had hot water, the quantity and the time that you could spend under the shower was limited.

Feeling relaxed I went up to my room to back up the last photos and to rest a bit on the bed. I look out the window from my room and there was something appearing in the distance where before was all white and fogy, there was a small hill barely showing. To my surprise it was Kirkjufell, I knew that I was near, but had no idea that it was basically in front of my window. I keep looking outside and saw a ray of light coming through the clouds hitting directly Kirkjufell. It was 8 pm, just before sunset, and I got all excited, I couldn’t believe my luck, going from hurricane weather to having a chance to photograph sunset at Kirkjufell the same day.

My room with Kirkjufell`s view!! Kirkjufell was closer than I thought.

I rushed outside as quickly as I could, hopped into the van and drove towards Kirkjufell. It was still raining and windy, although the wind wasn´t as strong as before.

I parked and saw some other tourist arriving to the location, we were only around ten people. The clouds and light gave an incredible show from mother nature, it was incredible. I was in front of the most iconic mountain in all of Iceland with just a few other people there with a spectacle of light that reminded me again how lucky was I.

I stood there looking for different compositions, then the rain came again scaring off the few tourists there. I stood my ground in place, thinking that it could stop at any moment, which it did, and even if I had rush to the van to take cover, it was so far that I would have get soaked anyway.

The storm came to get us, after this I was the only one left in Kirkjufell, I´ve got some amazing photos waiting the storm out.

Then I had once again the place to myself. Getting the locations all to myself where becoming a constant in all the trip. Before coming to Iceland, I was afraid that it could be super crowded and that I was going to struggle to take my photographs. This was not the case for me, maybe it was dumb luck, or I took the right decisions along the way that permitted me to find these places empty of people, whatever it was, I was so happy to enjoy Iceland this way, it was really magical.

The calm before the storm, or, the calm after the storm? I think it applies both ways.

The sun went down but it never got dark, at this latitude the sun barely goes down the horizon to then raise again in a couple of hours. So, I went back to the guest house to back up all the photos from Kirkjufell, and to see if I hadn’t messed up the photos (occasionally happens, out of focus, bad composition, or other), in case something is wrong I could either shoot again in the morning or wander around the peninsula all day and shoot again at sunset.

Great experience photographing Kirkjufell, this is the composition and light that I decided was the best of that night.

Once I checked the files on my computer I was satisfy with the results. Either way I waited out for sunrise looking out my room’s window in case something special happens, but the clouds covered Kirkjufell again. I was tired and was better to enjoy the bed and have some rest.

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