The year is 2017. 

Sophie and I have been dating for about 6 months, traveling and living together throughout pretty much all of it.  As Sophie’s family does not really celebrate Christmas, I invite her to spend it in Oregon with my family instead.

We knew that she would likely be stopped at the US border and asked for an exit ticket as proof of her intended short-term stay.  The problem was, we had no idea where we would be off to next or when that might be!  She would also be crossing the border alone, so we had to plan for that contingency.

Our backup plan, we decided, would be to book a flight on-the-spot if necessary.  Our destination would be wherever the cheapest flight took us out of a shortlist of options.

When I saw Sophie next on the US side of the border, she told me that in about 88 days, we were headed to Iceland!

***

We spent Valentine’s Day 2018 on an airplane bound for “The Land of Fire and Ice”.  We had almost no money behind us, but had worked out a deal with a campervan company that would allow us to travel for 30 days without worrying about rental cars or hotel costs.  Despite a brutal climate this time of year, visiting in the winter off-season made a collaboration with Grand Iceland Campervans possible — it also meant a better chance at seeing aurora and ice caves!

Unfortunately, all our excitement and enthusiasm was squashed immediately upon arrival.  

The first dampener was learning that not only had our bags not arrived, but there was no way of knowing when they would!  We were instructed to call in every couple days and had to stay near enough to the airport to collect them upon arrival.  This is no big deal if you are flying to, say, the Caribbean and just need to buy an extra pair of flip flops — but this is Iceland in the winter!  Not having sufficient clothing is simply not manageable, and if socks cost $15-$20 per pair, imagine the cost of proper arctic gear!

After getting out of the airport, we went to the grocery store to load up and were knocked on our rear ends once again. 

“We must not have converted the currency correctly”, we thought in disbelief upon seeing the prices of food. 

For an entire month, we would live off of hot dogs, basic pasta, and Icelandic yogurt. 

That is not an exaggeration.

The majority of our first week was spent being pummeled by harsh winter weather.  We even lost two full days never leaving the van while waiting for storms to pass.

We were wet, stinky, jaded by the sheer volume of visitors, we hadn’t even seen the skies yet (let alone any aurora), and we still didn’t have our bags.

After a week our bags finally arrived and we were on our way.  Yet another week went by without ever really seeing the sky, battling constant rain and high winds all the while.  We were now halfway through our trip and had seen almost nothing.

So far we had traveled the southern region of Iceland.  Each day we checked the weather forecasts, we saw doom ahead with clear skies over the east coast. 

“Once we get to the east coast and get that decent weather, I’m sure this will all pick up” we assured ourselves.

***

It is March 1st. 

We are to begin heading up the east coast, but first check the weather apps.  With horror, we discover we are driving into another block of grey… with clear skies back west where we had just come from!  

Our balloons are left a deflated, shriveled mess.

That is when we decided to quit being victims and to quit being stubborn.  That is when everything changed, not just in Iceland, but in life.  

We decided not to follow the route we had meticulously arranged, despite how time and fuel efficient it was. 

We decided it didn’t make any sense to spend even one more miserable night confined to a campervan, hunkered down while another storm battered us just to save a few bucks. 

We decided that for the rest of the trip, we would go wherever things looked most promising, regardless of the distance, time, or cost. 

We were not going to let even one more day of our precious time in Iceland go to waste.

The next day, we reversed direction and drove back to the famous DC Plane Wreck that we had already been forced to skip twice due to weather.

Not only were we able to photograph this otherworldly scene with a full moon rising, but we also witnessed the Aurora Borealis for the first time with our bare eyes. 

The gratification was immeasurable, as was the value of the lesson we were mindful enough to realize:

We cannot afford to hope opportunities simply lay in our path.  Rather, we must be willing to chase them down!

We arrived back at the campervan sometime after midnight.   There was too much adrenaline to sleep now, though! 

Instead, we drove a short distance to the mighty Skogafoss Waterfall. This was our first time witnessing a “moonbow” (a rainbow created by moonlight) as it shimmered in the spray of the massive waterfall, while the aurora swayed slowly above.

Now things felt right!  The only question we suddenly had to consider was, “where to next?!”.

There was one particular scene that I had wanted to photograph with the aurora more than any other.  Before ever getting to Iceland, I had daydreams of one image in particular.  And I had told Sophie multiple times throughout the trip that if we only got one good night in all of our 30 days in Iceland, I wanted it at Mt Vestrahorn…

Vestrahorn is located in the Southeast corner of Iceland… the direction we had just come from.  We checked the forecast… clouds.

The clear skies for the next couple days were all the way in the Northwest region of the island, about as far from where we were as we could get… but if that’s where the promise is, then that’s where we’ll go.

From then on, we seemed to get “lucky” with the conditions in every single place we visited.  Each morning was started with unbelievable sunrises, each day ended with fiery sunsets, and the Northern Lights showed up for at least a moment during each night we were out shooting.  But our trip was coming to an end and we still hadn’t been to the one place I wanted most: Mt Vestrahorn.

On March 9, with just 5 days left on our trip, we found ourselves near enough to the area and had a promising forecast for clear skies.  Now, we just had to hope the Lady Aurora felt like dancing.  

We spent most of the day at Mt Vestrahorn, scouting compositions and admiring the landscape.  What makes this location so fascinating to me is the way the mountain almost looks like an island!  I also love the golden grass and rolling black dunes that set the stage, not to mention the nearby ocean shore that allows an opportunity to photograph reflections in the wet sand. 

In short, it is just a very special place to shoot.

The sun was setting and putting on quite a show of its own.  We swore that we could already detect a bit of green faintly showing up in some photos… could this be the night?! 

Sophie and I decided to split up for the evening as we had two compositions in mind.  Sophie would keep her perpetually cold feet on dry land while I would battle the icy incoming wave sets to try and capture some reflections in the sand.

As it got darker and darker, the shade of green got deeper and deeper in each frame.  A modest wisp of cloud began to slither along the skyline, growing longer and longer with each snaking wiggle.  

Within minutes, the sky began to dance… slowly at first, but quickening its pace rapidly!

I don’t think I can explain the spiritual elation I felt as I watched my daydream come to life.  Every time the camera finished an exposure, I would hit the playback and lose my breath.  This was the moment we had wanted, and it was somehow better than I even expected.

Mt Vestrahorn loomed majestically, kissed with snow and surrounded by the shimmering polar lights.  The entire scene was reflected in the volcanic black sand from an outgoing tide.

We were worried the display of Aurora would pass within minutes as it usually had.  Instead, it got stronger and gained vibrancy with each passing minute. 

After an hour, it was beginning to resemble a green tornado.  The lights circled above the mountain, dragging and swirling like a neon cyclone!

While all the adrenaline and dopamine was flooding my system, I paused to realize that, even though I was standing alone,  my best friend was just a short distance away getting once-in-a-lifetime captures of this moment as well.  We were apart, but completely together.   Where I might usually be saddled with a sense of urgency to run around getting every shot available before time ran out, now I could relax.  I could sit and appreciate the moment, knowing that she had it covered.  I realized with clarity that while I was standing alone, I was part of a team.  

After hours of shooting, we rendezvoused in utter amazement and ethereal bliss.  We were confident we had everything we could possibly want from this scene and decided to drive around the nearby region while the sky was still moving and see if we could squeeze any other photos in before the show stopped.  

Unsure of where exactly to go, we visited the Viking Village, then just drove around photographing the triangular white mountains under a vibrant green and purple sky.  It was now something like 2am and the color was still there! 

We had photographed everything we could find in the area nearby and now I found an unshakable desire for one last photoshoot… I realllly wanted to try and capture the icebergs of Diamond Beach as the dancing light passed through them.

Of course, that meant Sophie would have to make a long night drive in the wrong direction from where we were going.  Worse yet, there was no way of knowing whether or not the display would last — it could literally fade any minute.  On top of that, we had barely slept in days having been so diligent in trying to photograph the night skies… and I knew Sophie was running on fumes already. 

Having been a solo traveler for so many years prior to meeting Sophie, compromise was not something I was good at.  But I remembered how good it felt just hours ago knowing she was just down the beach from me, watching the sky explode over Mt Vestrahorn.  She was there alone in the dark, undoubtedly captivated by this natural miracle we had just witnessed while freezing her ass off and getting incredible photos for us. 

It had finally sunk in that I had found someone who shared my passion so deeply.  I couldn’t be frustrated at the possibility that we may have to skip our only opportunity to photograph the Northern Lights over Diamond Beach — all I could be was grateful for a person whom I had met less than a year ago that was willing to share a tiny campervan in arctic Iceland in the dead of winter, living off of hot dogs, pasta, and passion.  This was the only person I had met that truly loved this hectic lifestyle as much as me, and this was a time for appreciation.

I had accepted that it was bedtime as we got back in the car and collectively exhaled.  

“Tired?” I asked.

“Not really…  I mean, I’m sure if I laid down I’d fall asleep, but I’m not really thinking about sleep… I know its far, and if you’re tired we can definitely go to bed… but I was thinking about driving down to Diamond Beach…?”

Though March 9 is not marked on our calendar, it is a special day.  

It is the day I knew I was truly in love for the first time.

Enjoy these additional featured photos from our March visit to Iceland.

Those of you who choose the “ART LOVERS” membership can find your discount code for 10% off prints valid for any of these photos in your monthly email.

Learn more about prints and find a link to the Iceland Gallery in the Order Prints section below.

WANT TO TAKE HOME ANY PHOTOS?

MOMENT OF THE MONTH GALLERY – March 2021

With the link above, you can browse the featured photos and have the choice of printing those that speak to you on traditional photo paper or metal.

Metal prints produce more vibrant colors, deeper contrast, and a three-dimensional aesthetic that accentuates the stylistic ethos of our photography.

If you see anything you like in this Moment of the Month that you cannot find on the gallery, just send us an email at: [email protected]

Don’t forget: If you are subscribed as an ART LOVER, you will receive your monthly 10% off promo code via email.  Simply enter the promo code at checkout!

We do not have any guides to Iceland specifically, but you may find these interesting or relevant:

• Aurora Photography:
  A gphotographer’s guide to photographing the Aurora.
• Dream Destinations:
  101 of the best travel destinations for your bucket list..
• Night Photography Video Tutorials
  Advanced video tutorials on photographing night skies.

This month’s Photo of the Month was “Under Her Spell”.

If you would like to make this image your desktop or mobile wallpaper, you can do so by downloading the images using the links below:

For Mobile            For Desktop

By the time you are reading this section, I will have begun the Michelob ULTRA Pure Gold Chief Exploration Officer adventure!

The journey kicks off in Texas for the month of April and moves on to New Mexico beginning in May. 

If you are interested in seeing the itinerary or finding out more, you can read all about it here.

We are constantly working on getting Sophie into the country and have made some progress, but it is unlikely we will have her with us until June at the earliest.

If you have any questions about the Moment of the Month club, you can find frequently asked questions and more information by clicking here.

If you have a question that is not covered, just send us an email or message on social media!

As a project to learn video editing, I decided to create something to remember our Iceland trip by.  This was what we put together.