THE NEW ICE AGE

Iceland is one country that should be on every

photographer’s bucket list, and if you’re going to
go, Lee Frost reckons winter should be your season
of choice. From ice caves to the Northern Lights,
it will have you captivated.

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 TECHNIQUE

All images © Lee Frost

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UNDER THE VATNAJOKULL GLACIER, SOUTH ICELAND

Being inside an ice cave is an amazing experience, and something
every photographer should do if they visit Iceland during the winter.
Canon EOS 5D MKIII with 16-35mm zoom, 1/2sec at f/16, ISO 200

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GRUNDAFJORDUR, SNAEFELLSNES PENINSULA, ICELAND
Kirkjufell (Church Mountain) is the most popular subject on the Snaefellsnes Peninsula.
I loved the way this block of frozen lake ice echoed its distinctive triangular shape.
Canon EOS 5D MKIII with 17-40mm zoom, 1/8sec at f/11, ISO 400
hat’s great. Can you bring me
T back a King Prawn Ring and some
Sticky Chicken Skewers?’ Not
really the response I was soliciting
when I mentioned to a neighbour that I
was going to Iceland, but even when I’d
cleared up the confusion and explained
that I was referring to the country, not the
supermarket chain, his reaction was still
unremarkable to say the least. ‘Why the
hell do you want to go there?’
Iceland’s one of those countries that
everyone’s vaguely heard of, but few
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know much about. It’s up in the Arctic
somewhere, freezing cold, light all summer,
dark all winter and inhabited by people who
wear woolly jumpers, eat pickled shark and
believe in trolls. Only some of that is untrue.
It also gets a pretty bad press. In the
70s we had the Cod Wars, during which
Icelandic fishermen were cutting the nets
of British trawlers that illegally entered
‘their’ fishing grounds. Then Björk hit the
charts and scared us half to death with
her weird voice and even weirder fashion
sense. In 2008 the country went bankrupt
after its three main commercial banks
collapsed, leaving 100 UK local authorities
£840 million down and giving rise to jokes
such as: What’s the capital of Iceland?
Answer: About £3.50.
But what really put Iceland on the map
in recent years occurred in April 2010,
when a violent volcanic eruption blasted
through the Eyjafjallajökull glacier, kicking
up an ash cloud 9km high that caused
chaos throughout European airspace
and created great mirth as we listened to
newsreaders around the world trying to
pronounce the damned name. There are
YouTube videos to prove it.
‘You wanted cash, we gave you ash’
read the headlines! Oh, how we laughed.
Where did yours truly happen to be?
Iceland of course! Call it fate or bad
planning, but when I booked the flight
months earlier for my first trip to the Land
of Fire and Ice, I had no idea what was
on the horizon.
As it happened, the eruption was a bonus,
providing amazing photo opportunities and
an unforgettable experience. But one thing
became evident during that first trip – you
can’t ‘do’ Iceland in a single visit; there’s
simply too much to take in. So I went back.
Not once, but 10 times, with three more
planned for 2016. Iceland does that to you. It
gets under your skin. The landscape is epic
and stunningly beautiful – think Scotland
on steroids. The population is small and the
empty spaces big. Every time you return
from one trip, you’re itching to go back again
to take shots that eluded you on that one.
‘The landscape is epic and
stunningly beautiful – think
Scotland on steroids.’
here are benefits to visiting Iceland
T at any time of year. During the
summer the country enjoys 24-hour
daylight while in autumn the colours
are beautiful. However, in recent years,
winter has become my favourite time to
visit. January and February are the months
I generally choose, but November to March
is the winter season. Not only are there far
fewer tourists to get in the way (which is a
bonus now the numbers flocking to Iceland
each year has topped two million), but the
weather isn’t nearly as bad as you might
expect, the light can be sublimely beautiful
and there’s the added bonus of being able
to shoot inside ice caves (which are only
safe to access from October to March).
Yes, it’s cold, but no colder than a clear
winter’s day in the Scottish Highlands and
not as cold as New York City in winter. The
lowest I’ve seen the mercury drop to in
January in Iceland is -12°C. On a still day that
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 NEAR SNAEFELLSNES, ICELAND NEAR VIK, SOUTH ICELAND
It takes longer to get from A-B in Iceland, simply because Freshly fallen snow and an overcast sky – perfect conditions
there are so many great roadside photo opportunities. for shooting a minimalist monochrome landscape!
Canon EOS 5D MKIII with 70-200mm zoom, 1/400sec at f/5.6, ISO 800 Canon EOS 5D MKIII with 70-300m zoom, 1/160sec at f/8, ISO 1600

doesn’t feel too bad if you’re wrapped up in the sea means the weather’s milder than black sand beach, dramatic rock stacks
decent outdoor clothing. Contrary to popular the remote interior. I favour it because and picturesque church set against
belief, it doesn’t snow constantly either. there’s a fantastic variety of locations mountains; the waterfalls of Skógafoss and
Plenty of the white stuff does come down, and scenery – which include the glacial Seljalandsfoss and the coastal mountains
but you’re not fighting through blizzards all lagoon of Jökulsárlón and the nearby at Stokksnes on the very eastern tip of the
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the time – I’ve been there for days at iceberg beach that has become legendary south coast. The ‘Golden Circle’ of Geysir,
a stretch and not seen a single flake fall. among landscape photographers; the Gullfoss waterfall and Þingvellir National
If you like a lie-in then you’ll love Iceland charming town of Vik y Myrdal with its 
Park is worth a visit in winter and can be
in winter. Forget alarm calls at stupid-o-
clock to be out for dawn. In January, the
sun doesn’t rise until well after 11am and
it sets again around 4pm. That sounds like
an incredibly short day – just five hours of
sunlight. But the twilights are surprisingly
long so you can start shooting at 9.30am
and keep going until after five. The sun
also remains very low in the sky (sunrise
and sunset positions are amazingly close)
so the quality of light is wonderful all day
and there’s no need to down cameras
during the middle hours. I tend to do
any major drives in darkness too, so the
daylight hours aren’t wasted.
Road conditions during the winter can
vary, but are generally pretty good. The
main road, Highway 1, loops around the
entire country for about 830 miles and
is Tarmac for 99% of that. Icelanders
don’t bother to grit their roads like we
do. Instead, they put winter tyres on their
vehicles that are equipped with steel studs
to provide traction. They work surprisingly
well. The roads are often so icy you can
barely walk on them, but driving is no SKÓGAFOSS, SOUTH ICELAND
problem in all but the severest weather. Iceland’s waterfalls are impressive at any time of year, but during winter
I tend to stick mostly to the south they take on an other-wordly appearance.
coast of Iceland where the influence of Canon EOS 5D MKIII with 70-300m zoom, 1/125sec at f/5.6, ISO 400

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  covered in a good day (starting with sunrise
at Geysir). I also love the wild Snaefellsnes
Peninsula north of Reykjavik, home to the
wizard hat mountain Kirkjufell, the remote
black wooden church at Budir, fantastic
lava fields and dramatic coastline.

f course, one of the main

O highlights of a winter visit to

Iceland is the chance to explore
an ice cave. I’ll never forget the
first time I did that – I was totally awestruck.
Being in the cave was like being surrounded
by giant frozen bubble wrap. Bright blue
bubble wrap! But it got even better because
as the sun started to rise, golden light shone
through the cave entrance and bounced
around on the surface of the ice. The three
hours spent in that cave rank amongst the
most enjoyable of my photographic life –
a truly magical experience.
Normally, landscape photography ends JÖKULSÁ BEACH, SOUTH ICELAND
when darkness falls, but Iceland has Beached icebergs from the nearby Jokusarlon lagoon litter the beach
another trick up its sleeve – the Aurora like glassy sculptures and offer endless creative potential.
Borealis, or Northern Lights. Winter is the Canon EOS 5D MKIII with 24-70mm zoom, 0.9 ND grad, 1/100sec at f/13, ISO 400
best time of year to see the Aurora, which
is caused by charged particles colliding needs to be aurora activity, which can vary Meteorological Society website, and if it
with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere, enormously from day to day, even hour to looks reasonable (anything from 2-up on
but you need a relatively clear sky as cloud hour. I check the Aurora website several a scale of 0-9 is worth a punt) I head out
cover obscures the display, and there also times each day on Vedur.is, the Icelandic around 10pm. The activity – if there’s going

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STOKKSNES, SOUTH ICELAND Frozen dune grasses and black volcanic sand make a perfect foreground
to the towering snow-covered mountain Vestrahorn at the eastern end of Iceland’s south coast.
Canon EOS 5D MKIII with 16-35mm zoom, 0.45 ND grad, 1/8sec at f/11, ISO 200

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 NEAR GEYSIR, ICELAND
The winter landscape in Iceland is totally
captivating – and it’s hard to drive for long before
another scene beckons you to stop and shoot.
Canon EOS 5D MKIII with 24-70mm zoom,
1/400sec at f/8, ISO 1600

to be any – usually peaks between 10pm

and 2am so sometimes you just need to
watch, wait and hope for the best. It’s a fun
thing to do though. Everyone has their eyes
glued to the sky, hoping to see something.
The Aurora looks more vivid in a photograph
than it does to the eye, because the human
eye sees in monochrome at night, so weak
activity isn’t always clear. When there’s a
proper display, however, it’s like nothing
on Earth, with vivid green swirls dancing
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and flashing across the sky. Colour is an
important part of this phenomenon, but
even as a black & white photographer you
can’t help but be moved and amazed by it.

‘The land is buried under a

blanket of white with only
the boldest features standing
out, such as trees, fences and
walls, and it’s possible to shoot
wonderful minimalist images.’
The winter landscape is well suited to
black & white photography because it
tends to look monochromatic, especially
when covered in snow. I also love the way
that snow simplifies scenery. The land is
buried under a blanket of white with only
the boldest features standing out, such as
trees, fences and walls, and it’s possible to
shoot wonderful minimalist images. I find
a telezoom lens is the best choice as it
allows you to home in on specific aspects
of a scene, such as a fence arching over
the brow of a hill, skeletal trees in the
distance or a remote farmhouse dwarfed
by icy mountains.
One of my favourite locations is the
volcanic sand beach at Stokksnes, which
provides the foreground to views of the
PINVELLIR NATIONAL PARK, ICELAND
It was -10°C on a perfectly still day when I captured this image.
The foreground looked like it was covered in pure white candy floss!
Canon EOS 5D MKIII with 24-70mm zoom, 1/50sec at f/8, ISO 200
magnificent mountain Vestrahorn. The sand beneath Skógafoss or Seljalandsfoss is a
is black and features areas of gentle ripples humbling experience. You feel like you’ve
as well as low, undulating dunes. In winter, been teleported to a different world.
when the sand is frozen or dusted with snow, Actually, what am I talking about? You have
it makes wonderful monochrome foreground, – Iceland in winter is a different world!
while Vestrahorn rises majestically from the I’ve got two trips planned for early
sea. I never tire of that place. 2016, when I’ll be taking small groups of
Iceland is renowned for its waterfalls, and photography enthusiasts out to Iceland. As
in winter they look even more awesome, always, I can’t wait, and as far as I’m aware,
with thousands of giant icicles dangling none of them has been to Iceland in winter
precariously from cliff faces, and sheets of before – so seeing their faces light up when
glassy ice created by the gradual freezing we head out on the first morning to explore
of water flowing over rocks. Standing an ice cave will be something else!

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