Iceland: A Jewel on the Black Sand Beach

The black sand beach. With icebergs.

Or … ice cubes as the driver liked to call them! There were some large ones and some small ones, but either way it was the #1 thing on my wish list of things to see and photograph in Iceland.

But the first time we stopped at the beach across from Jökulsárlón Glacial Lagoon, it was ugly outside. Sideways rain and freezing cold, bitter wind. Only four of us in the group braved the weather and risked our babies lives (our cameras of course, not real babies) for the sake of an ice cube on the black sand.

But you just never know when the opportunity before you might be the only one. Sure, we had another stop planned for this location the next day, and in the end it turned out that there were in fact more opportunities to photograph here. But you know, I think this is my favourite photo of the bunch that I got here!

I made this photo using a telephoto lens which allowed me to stay a safe distance away from the unpredictable incoming waves while still making the small iceberg relatively large in the frame.

I timed the exposure so that as soon as the wave started going back out to sea I tripped the shutter to capture the motion of the water as it ran down the beach away from the iceberg.

I was so excited to finally be at this amazing location that I totally forgot to cover my baby with a shower cap or a towel for the first 10 minutes I was out there, so I’m happy to report that it got absolutely drenched and still worked fine afterwards.