Icelandic Adventure: A Photographic Journey

"On 8th June I travelled from Abu Dhabi with 14 other IB students to Iceland to explore the Golden Circle. Our trip focused on engaging with the contrasting and beautiful environment, learning about tectonic activity, coastlines, ecosystems, and the tourism economy of Iceland. As the group's photographer, I was tasked with capturing the essence of these moments through my lens, ensuring each shot reflected the uniqueness of our experiences. For some of the group, this was relevant to their Geography course, but my main motivation for the trip was photography. As we landed in Keflavik, we were able to see firsthand the eruption of the fissure volcano in Grindavik, where I quickly seized the opportunity to photograph the heavy smoke and ash cloud in the dramatic Icelandic sky.

Our first full day started with a visit to the Sky Lagoon in Reykjavik, a geothermal oceanside bathing pool. After a refreshing swim and a cold plunge, we headed into the city to visit the superheated 1100-degree Lava Show and Fly Over Iceland experience. We visited Perlan, an interactive nature museum learning about glaciers, the Northern Lights, and the Geldingadilir volcanic eruption of 2021. Each exhibit offered a new angle, a new play of light and shadows, which I captured with my camera.

The next day, we took a windy ferry ride to the Westman Islands, home of the Atlantic Puffin. We hiked the Eldfell Volcano and had lunch next to traditional Icelandic settlers’ mud-houses by Elephant Rock. We experienced firsthand how the volcano had impacted the island's residents at the Eldheimar exhibition. We took an afternoon swim in the local geothermal pools and then did some serious puffin spotting on the return ferry ride. My camera was especially busy on the ferry, snapping the fleeting images of puffins in flight against the ocean backdrop. It was just a quick trip then to the spectacular circular Seljalandsfoss waterfall.

Day four began with a drive through Fjaðrárgljúfur, a beautiful, dramatic canyon in the South of Iceland formed in the last Ice Age where we saw Icelandic horses at the waterfall called Waterfall. Then a visit to the dramatic Diamond Beach, covered with shards of washed-up glaciers. The contrast of the ice against the black sand was a photographer's dream, and I spent hours capturing the subtle nuances of light. We followed the river to the Jökulsárlón Glacial Lagoon, where we saw seals and Arctic birds amongst the floating icecaps. In the afternoon, we hiked with our guide Thor, using proper crampons and ice axes, up the Skaftafellsjökull glacier.

On day five the rain arrived! We visited Reynisfjara, the black sand beach that starred in Game of Thrones, then on to Dyrhólaey, a massive natural sea arch where we got up close and personal with a puffin. Then we went to Skógafoss, a powerful 25-meter-wide waterfall with some great photo opportunities. The challenge was to capture the power of the falls while maintaining the soft, mystical environment that surrounded it. This was followed by a hike inland to the Sólheimajökull Glacier. Later in the afternoon, we visited the Lava Centre with interactive earthquake experiences and stacks of info about the surrounding volcanoes.

The next day started with a visit to the mighty Gullfoss waterfall and canyon, then some bubbling Geysir watching. I captured the precise moment when the Geysir exploded, framing the tension just before the eruption in a single, breath-taking image. Followed by a quick trip to a dairy farm for some local ice cream. Excitement mounted as we headed to Thingvellir National Park where the American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet for a snorkelling adventure in ice-cold water between the tectonic plates.

Our final full day started with a walk in the lava fields and a visit to Hraunfossar and Barnafoss waterfalls. We took an 8x8 bus up the mountain to Langjökull glacier and ventured inside the glacier to hike through the man-made ice caves. Inside the glacier, the interplay of light and ice created a sense of serenity, perfect for a series of long-exposure shots that captured this frozen world."

Damian Toader – 12A