The Story Behind the Photo – Vestrahorn

Two years ago today, I woke in Eastern Iceland to this weather:

Wet weather in Eastern Icelaend

I had been in this part of Iceland a few months earlier, with the Guild of Photographers, on a photography tour of the south coast of Iceland. The weather when we visited then was similarly poor – impossible to see (or photograph) anything more than 12 feet off the ground, so the famous Vestrahorn mountain was hidden from us for the entire day.

Back to November 2016 – the weather forecast had told me that the skies would be clear around sunset, so I was  touring the east for a while, waiting for the weather to improve. Sure enough, shortly before sunrise, the clouds started to lift:

Clearing Skies around Hvalnes

This is Hvalnes, just north of Vestrahorn, and the unusual shapes of the mountain were starting to be revealed by the slowly lifting clouds, which boded well. I headed further north for the day, visiting the small fishing village of Djúpivogur, and enjoying the peace and quiet after having been in a heaving Reykjavík for the annual Iceland Airwaves festival just a few days earlier.

On returning to Hvalnes, on my way to Vestrahorn, the weather was looking much more promising:

Sunlit slopes at Hvalnes

I picked up the pace a little (after stopping to take some photos) and arrived at Stokksnes beach, with its famous view of Vestrahorn, bathed in late afternoon sunlight.

Sunlight on Vestrahorn

It wasn’t long before the light turned a wonderful golden hue, and I headed down to the black sandy beach to find some interesting foreground detail, set up my tripod with a 10 stop ND filter (to allow me to use a really long exposure even during daylight) and opened the shutter for two minutes.

The clouds blurred into beautiful lenticular shapes, the edge of the gently lapping sea turned into a band of mist, and the orange light from the sun turned the slopes of Vestrahorn mountain to the colour of honey.

Vestrahorn mountain in South Eastern Iceland, seen from Stokksnes beach, lit by the setting sun. Click image to buy a copy
Vestrahorn mountain in South Eastern Iceland, seen from Stokksnes beach, lit by the setting sun. Click image to buy a copy

And so, 8 months after my previous visit, I finally got the shot I had been hoping for. Like ‘The Cloudmakers‘, it was totally worth the wait!