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Please contact me if you would like to be on the waiting list or get information about the 2013 Highland tour. The interior of Iceland, known as the highlands, is an extraordinary place for landscape photography. It is a landscape of contrasts; wide vistas and pristine wilderness, mountain ranges, glaciers, waterfalls and glacial rivers. To fully experience it one has to stay there and the best way to do so is by camping. This expedition is for dedicated landscape photographers who are willing to sacrifice some comfort to be in the heart of Iceland’s wilderness. A camping expedition will give us opportunities to be in ideal locations for sunset and sunrise, places that are not reachable if we were staying in hotels and are therefore seldom visited by photography tours in Iceland. It will also give us ultimate flexibility, as we can change our plans more rapidly along the way, to match them to the available light, weather and photography. Most times we will be staying in campsites with running water and showers, but even that might not always be possible. Sometimes I may choose locations where we can stay in huts or even guesthouses. At the end of the expedition we’ll spend a night in a hotel. We’ll eat in restaurants while on the road and cook our own food in camp. The expedition lasts for 10 days (9 nights) and I will provide camping gear (each participant will have his own tent), all you need to bring is your sleeping bag. Digital photography is not an obstacle to participating in this expedition, as we’ll have an inverter on board our 4×4 truck to charge batteries. A good level of fitness is required, as we will be hiking on rough and sometimes steep terrain, occasionally up to a few hours. We will set up base camps so we only have to carry camera gear and food for the day when we do hikes. The preliminary itinerary includes the Fjallabak Nature Reserve, including Landmannalaugar, where we’ll be based for a few days and will be hiking from our base camp. We will travel what is known as the North Fjallabak (Fjallabaksleid nyrdri) as well as the South Fjallabak. Visit Langisjor and Sveinstindur by the Vatnajokull glacier. We’ll also spend time in the more habituated area of the Southeast and hike in the Skaftafell region of Vatnajokull National Park. We may possibly change our route to include the highlands North of Vatnajokull glacier. The final itinerary will be determined by the weather and can change frequently during the trip. Sometimes it rains for days in the southern part of the country, which means that it’s good to have ultimate flexibility and be able to travel to the North. The highlands of Iceland hold a special place in my heart as I consider it to be the country’s true wilderness. I’ve spent a great deal of time in these areas and probably know some of them better than most other photographers. For example I spent two seasons photographing the Fjallabak Nature Reserve for a book published by the Icelandic Touring Association, which was published in an adapted English version in June 2011. While there are many 4×4 tracks in the highlands the area doesn’t truly open up until one starts to explore it on foot. The cost for the expedition is $3500 US. What is included is transportation in a specially equipped 4×4 truck, all meals during the expedition, campground, cabin or guesthouse fees, hotel at the last night of the tour and guiding. What is excluded is your airfare to Iceland and accommodation in Reykjavik if you are arriving the day before the expedition begins. To get an idea of what kind of expedition this is I suggest you read the Online journal of Tim Ernst, who participated in the 2010 expedition. Mikael Rantalainen, another participant from that tour, has a Trip report and gallery on his website. A third participant from that trip, Per Porter, has posted a Gallery of his Iceland images. Send me an email at info@danielbergmann.com for registration and further information. |
