Doug Beezley Photography | Iceland & Northern Lights - March 2014 - Wonders and Woes
In late February and early March, I traveled to Iceland as part of a group to spend 10 days photographing the natural winter wonders of Iceland with the hope of including some good images of the Aurora. This is a trip I had been planning for over two years.
Iceland didn’t disappoint – the scenery is beyond fantastic, the people even better and we experienced one of the best Aurora displays imaginable. Locals told us it was the best display in terms of intensity and duration since 2006. The display on the night of February 27- morning of February 28 started about 9 pm and continued past 3 am with every imaginable shape and color on display. Not only were the usual greens present but also red, magenta, and blue. And, those colors could be seen with the naked eye. The Northern Lights displays spread from horizon to horizon!
In addition to the Aurora, I was pleased to see and photograph geysers, spectacular mountain/volcanos, waterfalls, and Iceland horses and family churches. I missed the black sand beach lagoon with the icebergs, the glaciers and several other waterfalls. Therein lays the “Woe” part.
I rented a Nikon D800E and 14-24 f2.8 lens for the trip on the premise this likely would be my one and only trip to Iceland and I wanted to make it count. The D800E and lens performed as advertised with spectacular pixel-peeping results until...
Until the wind blew over an unattended tripod mounted camera and lens and the lights went out in Nikon land. I had been taking images of the Aurora and decided I needed to warm up (cold blowing winds!) and clean the lens but had left the microfiber cloth in the car. I was absent from the camera less than 30 seconds when the wind blew over the tripod, the lens broke away from its metal mount and the D800 died forever. Another photographer graciously loaned me his “back up” camera but without the full array of lens I would need, it proved to be a pretty frustrating experience. After the fifth day of a ten day tour, I cancelled the remainder of the tour and returned home. But, I shall return. Iceland is just too beautiful to only go once.
Iceland didn’t disappoint – the scenery is beyond fantastic, the people even better and we experienced one of the best Aurora displays imaginable. Locals told us it was the best display in terms of intensity and duration since 2006. The display on the night of February 27- morning of February 28 started about 9 pm and continued past 3 am with every imaginable shape and color on display. Not only were the usual greens present but also red, magenta, and blue. And, those colors could be seen with the naked eye. The Northern Lights displays spread from horizon to horizon!
In addition to the Aurora, I was pleased to see and photograph geysers, spectacular mountain/volcanos, waterfalls, and Iceland horses and family churches. I missed the black sand beach lagoon with the icebergs, the glaciers and several other waterfalls. Therein lays the “Woe” part.
I rented a Nikon D800E and 14-24 f2.8 lens for the trip on the premise this likely would be my one and only trip to Iceland and I wanted to make it count. The D800E and lens performed as advertised with spectacular pixel-peeping results until...
Until the wind blew over an unattended tripod mounted camera and lens and the lights went out in Nikon land. I had been taking images of the Aurora and decided I needed to warm up (cold blowing winds!) and clean the lens but had left the microfiber cloth in the car. I was absent from the camera less than 30 seconds when the wind blew over the tripod, the lens broke away from its metal mount and the D800 died forever. Another photographer graciously loaned me his “back up” camera but without the full array of lens I would need, it proved to be a pretty frustrating experience. After the fifth day of a ten day tour, I cancelled the remainder of the tour and returned home. But, I shall return. Iceland is just too beautiful to only go once.
