IMAGES FROM ICELAND • DANIEL BERGMANN PHOTOGRAPHYNewsletter # 6 • May 2013

It has been a while since I created a PDF-newsletter such as this one. I’ve had good intentions about maintaining a blog on my website, something that has failed completely due to the lack of posting. I’ve given up and accepted the fact that I’m not a blogger. I’ve also created a Facebook account where I post images, especially when I’m on the road, but I don’t like Facebook that much. So I’m back to basics. I enjoy making newsletters that are set up somewhat as a book and where the images are large enough to be properly enjoyed.

Since the last newsletter, in 2010, I’ve put most of my energy into running pho-tography tours here in Iceland. I’ve also done considerable travel for my own projects and location scouting for future tours. In 2011, as you may be aware of, I published a book of landscape photographs titled Iceland Landscapes. It was self published and there are now only 50 copies left to be sold of the 2000 printed. I won’t reprint this book, so if you would like to have a copy (which I of course recommend) it can be ordered off my website. This is the only Iceland portfolio available that has been put together and written for photographers, so it’s a bit of a collectors item.

The coming months will be unusual for me as I won’t be leading as many tours in Iceland as in previous summers. The focus has been set on other Arctic islands and I’ll be for a total of 35 days on ships cruising in Svalbard and Greenland. These three separate cruises are all sold out but I’m sure I’ll be doing more in these regions in coming years and will indeed be doing a Svalbard/Greenland expedition again in 2014. I look very much forward to exploring the high Arctic and returning home with images and experiences with new and old friends, many whom have been with me on Iceland tours in the past.

All my Iceland offerings in 2013 are sold out and so have some of the 2014 tours. But there are many exciting trips that I’ll be running with other renowned pho-tographers next year that I’m announcing in this newsletter. I hope you can join me for some of those adventures next year and that you enjoy the images in this newsletter and the ones to come.

Text and images are copyright ©2013 Daniel Bergmann – www.danielbergmann.com

BACK TO BASICS

Rock in a creekRauðufossakvísl, August 18, 2012.

Rauðufossar waterfall in Fjallabak is one of the most spectacular waterfalls that I’ve seen. On previous visits I’ve concentrated on the falls but this time I became more interested in the river and how it flowed around rocks. This has become one of my favorite images from the summer of 2012.Canon 5D MkIII, 24 TS-E II. ISO 100, 13 sec, f/8.

In 2014 I’ve decided to offer a number of workshops that I’ll be co-leading with accomplished international photographers that I’ve worked with before and can proudly call my friends. I will also be doing some of my regular tours but only one of the two that I’ve announced has places available. This is the current 2014 schedule:

Iceland in Winter – February 7 to 16, 2014Lead by Daniel BergmannGroup size: 7 (only 2 places available). Cost: $4900

Iceland in Winter – February 22 to March 3, 2014Lead by Joe Cornish, David Ward and Daniel BergmannGroup size: 14. Cost: $5900

Iceland’s north coast and highland – June 19 to 29, 2014Lead by David Ward and Daniel BergmannGroup size: 10. Cost: $6490

Ultimate Iceland – July 13 to 23 and July 27 to August 6, 2014Lead by Joshua Holko and Daniel BergmannGroup size: 12 in each group. Cost: $7450

Iceland Highland Camping Excursion – August 9 to 18, 2014Lead by Daniel BergmannGroup size: 9 (Sold out). Cost: $4000

Iceland in Autumn – September 25 to October 5, 2014Lead by Steve Gosling and Daniel BergmannGroup size: 10. Cost: $5900

Please contact me at daniel@danielbergmann.com for more information and registration.

2014 ICELAND WORKSHOPS

Leading crackBúðahraun, July 27, 2012.

Sunrise at 4:30 AM at Búðahraun lava in Snæfellsnes. The Snæfellsjökull glacier rises in the distance with Stapafell in the middle and Búðaklettur to the left. Unfortunately not a cloud in the sky but the cracked lava, leading to the glacier, holds enough attention for me to make it a successful image.Canon 5D MkIII, 24 TS-E II. ISO 100, !/5, f/11.

Iceland is becoming increasingly popular in winter. I saw a dramatic increase this past winter in the number of photogra-phy tours, especially at the Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon in the southeast. It’s still far from being as popular as in summer though and winter is a wonderful time to visit. Snow covered landscapes, frozen waterfalls, ice caves and Northern Lights are a few of the winter highlights.

The images on the left were an experiment. This is far from my usual style of photography, which these days tends to be more focused on the intimate features of the landscape. But I must admit that I had a lot of fun creating them, especially the Aurora self portrait, which required a lot of running back and forth.

The upper one, with the puffy stargazer, needed a lot of frames to make it work. I set up my 1DX with the 21mm Zeiss lens and needed a 20 second exposure at f/2.8. I used the 10 second self timer, pressed the shutter and ran in front of the camera trying to remain as still as possible for the duration of the ex-posure. This was the only frame that survived the bin. The high ISO ability of the new 1DX camera has opened up new night shooting possibilities for those of us using the Canon system. I’m very pleased with the camera.

The lower image is from within one of the ice caves that were accessible last winter. That’s my friend Einar, the local moun-tain guide, that was nice enough to stand still at the entrance of the cave while everyone in my group got their images. This cave, in Svínafellsjökull glacier, was the best one in the area but because of how mild the winter was it became unstable and dangerous at the end of March. These ice caves are in moving glaciers so new ones are formed every season. Einar is the man to go with into the caves. At the end of November he will scout for caves and will have a number of them available for differ-ent types of weather and conditions. He also provides safety equipment and makes sure that everything goes smoothly. I al-ways hire Einar as my guide when taking groups into ice caves and do recommend that you do the same, if you’re traveling in Iceland in winter by yourself.

Einar’s website is www.localguide.is.

WINTER WONDERLAND

Previous page TankDjúpavík in Strandir, June 6, 2010.

This empty tank is part of an abandoned herring factory at Djúpavík in the Strandir region of the West fjords. It’s a very remote area that will be on the itinerary for the summer workshop in 2014 that I’m leading with David Ward.Canon 1Ds MkIII, 24 TS-E II. ISO 100, 8 sec, f/8.

Left Seaweed and ripplesBy Hvítserkur in Húnaflói, August 22, 2012.

This is looking the other way down the beach from the famous landmark Hvít-serkur. I used a polarizer to get the right amount of sky reflecting in the water and composed carefully with my wide tilt-shift lens, using a bit of tilt for depth of field. This has become one of my most used lenses, as can be seen from the photographs on these pages.Canon 1Ds MkIII, 24 TS-E II. ISO 100, 1,6 sec, f/11.

I’ve been asked a few times why I’m now working so much as a co-leader with other photographers. I don’t work with everyone, obviously, but with photographers that I know and respect. I first met David Ward, who is in my opinion the most brilliant and inspir-ing landscape photographer on this planet, while attending one of his courses in Scotland. This is in fact the only workshop that I’ve ever attended where I was not working as a leader. It was a rewarding experience beyond what I could have imagined and gave me a spark of creativity that lasted for months. David agreed to come to Iceland the following year and lead a winter workshop with me, which has now become an annual event. We’re also adding a summer workshop in 2014 where we are going to parts of Iceland that are rarely visited by photography workshops.

Joe Cornish will be joining me and David as a leader on next year’s winter tour and I look forward to working with Joe. I’ve never met him but as David he’s one of the current giants of the landscape photography world. Adding leaders means that a workshop group will have to be bigger for it to work financially but there are benefits to receiving insight and tuition from more than one leader, especially if their styles and approach are different. The landscape that I work in is very familiar to me and working with others gives me inspira-tion and encourages me to see differently. I regard photography as a continual learning experience and if I’m growing as a photographer by working with these masters as a co-leader, I can’t but imagine that workshop participants will as well.

WORKING WITH MASTERS

Ocean rockArnarstapi in Snæfellsnes, July 25, 2012.

I’ve walked many times past this rock just off the coast of Arnarstapi. This particular day the conditions were like I’ve never seen before and the cloud formation and strange light on the ocean only lasted briefly.Canon 5D MkIII, Zeiss 50mm Makro-Planar. ISO 100, 3 sec, f/8.

Apart from David Ward and Joe Cornish I will be working with Joshua Holko and Steve Gosling next year. This year I’ll also be working with my good friend Joshua on a number of trips in Iceland, Svalbard, Greenland and Antarctica. And Steve Gosling I know from being one of my co-leaders on the Phase One (PODAS) workshop here in Iceland last year. Both are fantastic photographers and also great sources of inspiration.

I enjoy leading workshops, working side by side with like minded individuals, showing people my country and hopefully assisting them with their own growth in photography. But I don’t feel I could do my job properly if I wouldn’t include time for my own excursions and exploration. As well as I know Iceland there are still areas that I’m unfamiliar with and locations that I feel I need to get to know better. Some of those areas will not work with groups of photogra-phers while others simply need to be opened up logistically. There is so much more to Iceland than the glaciers and glacial lagoons, the massive waterfalls and black sand beaches. There is a world to be discovered beyond the iconic locations, which are many getting to be crowded as tourism continues to grow. There are also seasons beyond and before the long days of summer. The winter and autumn have become my preferred seasons for photography in Iceland. But nothing still compares to the midnight light during the peak of sum-mer.

As I write this I’m getting excited about the photography season that’s beginning for me with a bird photography workshop within a couple of weeks, followed by time where I intend to scout some of the Strandir region for future workshops. I’ll keep posting what I stumble upon on the Facebook page (www.facebook.com/Daniel-BergmannPhotography) and I have nothing but good intentions to update my website once in a while. Later this year another newsletter should also see the light of day. Meanwhile, have a great summer!

THE IMPORTANCE OF EXPLORING