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Fire and Ice. That’s the theme of the tour. Given the cold 4-8 degrees Celsius weather in mid-May, I’d say mostly ice. But no matter how cold, it’s the best trip yet! Lots of landscape to shoot. But for this trip, I decided to travel light… opting for a mirrorless camera over DSLR. And I have to say, my back isn’t complaining this time around.
During my previous landscape adventure at the Canadian Rockies, I brought along my D800, Nikon lenses, and tripod. After a while though, my back and shoulders really felt the weight of my gear. But despite having a lighter system, I am more curious to see how it will perform compared to my trusty old DSLR.
I brought my Fujifilm X-T1. It’s known for image quality and it really didn’t disappoint. I just used the widest lens I have which is an XF 16-55mm f2.8 R LM WR, snap on a variable ND filter and slowed down the shutter speed. I tried a number of f-stops and shutter speed but once I’m satisfied with what I have, its all about composition.
While the principles of landscape photography is the same, you still need to have the essentials. A sturdy tripod and some filters depending on the condition of available light. Especially for waterfalls, you would want to slow down the water falls and get it smooth and silky. A variable or graduated neutral density (ND) filter or maybe a circular polarizing (CP) filter are typical items you need to have in your camera bag.
Iceland is famous for its waterfalls. One of the most famous, Skógafoss (pictured above), is a classic rectangular waterfall that spans 25 meters wide and has a drop of 60 meters.
Gullfoss, located in the canyon of Hvítá river in southwest Iceland. As one of the most popular tourist attractions, the view is simple breath taking.
Seljalandsfoss
I only have about 15-20 minutes for most of the landscape pictures I took. We are in a tour bus so the amount of time in each location is limited. And with just 3 days, we tried to go to as many places as we can. And there’s still a lot more to explore. Nevertheless, I wanted to share some of my favorite pictures from the trip.
While DSLRs are still the equipment of choice, small mirrorless cameras surely has come a long way from when it was first introduced. Image quality is actually quite impressive. And its size and weight certainly trumps DLSRs especially for travel.
Iceland left an impression. And I hope to go back for more of what Iceland can offer. #northernlights.
~Brix
