Icebergs Of Jokulsarlon

A look back at the virtues and perils of shooting in the ever-shifting alien landscape of Jökulsárlón glacial lake in Iceland.

- Jeremy Walker

Iceland is one of those areas that are catnip for landscape photographers. It’s an area replete with stunning scenery and, perhaps most importantly, it’s very accessible. There are plenty of places to park and wherever you look there’s something to attract the eye. Iceland has everything, from snow-capped mountains, glaciers, volcanoes, cliffs, coasts, and plenty of rocks. There’s a lot for a photographer to shoot in what is a relatively small area.

It’s a naturally beautiful place and, aesthetically speaking, is unusual. When you visit, you can see why a lot of movie directors go there to shoot their fi lms. There’s variety, and not just for landscape photographers. If you like photographing wildlife, there are copious species to see. Bird life is a big draw. You’ll witness everything from puffi ns to bigger birds such as sea eagles. It’s a massive cross-section of animal life. As an example, while standing on the beach one day, I witnessed a pod of nine killer whales. On another occasion, I saw an apparent mass herring suicide where they all jumped on to the beach and died. The birds were in for a good feast that day. And of course on top of everything else, you have the incredible display of the Northern Lights. So you can see why photographers like to travel all that distance. It’s bleak, but there’s a genuine beauty to it. It’s a weird landscape, almost lunar, maybe even a little postapocalyptic.

On the beach