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Winter is coming
The drive from Flateyri to Latrabjarg is in sunshine with intermittent light cloud. Winter is coming: warm autumnal colours dominate. In Iceland, you walk at sea level and look at glaciers or year-round snowfields.
Flateyri autumn colors. White hut. © Julian Köpke The cloud formations change more every day, appear dishevelled, a thin sun shines, the land no longer gets warm.
Looking back to Flateyri (Arnarfjord) © Julian Köpke The second visit to Dynjandi made us stay down. The colours of the sea were strongly reminiscent of the Caribbean, still warmly outshone by the land in the late morning light around 11am.
Sunrise at Dynjandi fjord © Julian Köpke After the short second visit to Dynjandi in the morning on the way through, we came across the well-known shipwreck of the whaling ship Garðar BA 64. The weather cleared incredibly quickly and we were able to capture the rusting material as HDR. With a fisheye lens, the wreck deformed slightly in an arc under the circularly arranged clouds.
Wahler shipwreck Garðar BA 64 © Julian Köpke Shortly before the turnoff to our accommodation at Hotel Latrabjarg, the path led us to a red sandy beach. There are at least two of these, the other is on the south coast near Vik with the grave of a young Viking around 18.
The red beach is called Rauðisandur in Icelandic. It lies far in front of the sea. Between the beach and the mountains is a marshland with farms, siels and cows.
View from Rauðisandur to Snæfellsjökull © Julian Köpke 
Saurbæjarkirkja near Rauðisandur © Julian Köpke -
Westfjords
A long drive of about 400 km covered this day, which continued with clouds and streaks of rain after a short dry spell. Brief moments of light were replaced by dark, low-hanging clouds. In Kollafjarðarnes, on the 68, we came across a small church, which must have belonged to a farm, along with a small cemetery. A cold sky with a warm, yellowish lawn contrasted with the red of the church roof.
Kollafjarðarnes Kirkja © Julian Köpke Some roads were unpleasant to drive because, despite roadside boundaries, the sloping landscape could not be assessed. And sometimes there was thick fog on top of that. On a sloping gravel road, the fog dissipated and revealed a fjord in glorious turquoise.
Ice Blue Westfjord in Iceland (Arnarfjord) © Julian Köpke In the late afternoon in full autumn light with clouds and haze we reach Dynjandi. Wikipedia reports: „Dynjandi or Fjallfoss is a waterfall of the river Dynjandisá in northwest Iceland. It is 100 m high and broadly fanned out. In summer, 2 to 8 m³/s plunge down here, and in winter about half that. The waterfall is 30 m wide at the top and 60 m wide at the bottom.“
We approach quickly to get ahead of the impending darkening of the sun by the clouds. Due to the fanning out of the waterfall, we find an area with many small and medium-sized waterfalls, which extends over several floors and shines in magnificent colours.
Waterfalls Dynjandi in autumn light © Julian Köpke 
We are like ants in this environment © Julian Köpke The combination of long time exposure (LTE) and normal exposure (STE) on a waterfall creates a special dynamic that makes it appear more alive. In this image, one shot was stacked at 1/750s and one at 1/15s. The post-processing in colour and black and white each has its own charm.
Detail of Dynjandi waterfall. Combination of LTE and STE. © Julian Köpke 
Detail of Dynjandi waterfall. Combination of LTE and STE. © Julian Köpke After Dynjandi, we reached our accommodation, Holt’s Inn, via good roads. A lady from the southern Palatinate, who had not made herself at home in Cologne, worked in reception. It was so comfortable to talk to a native speaker. Outside it was slowly getting darker, clouds and haze settled over the nameless mountains.
Evening at Holts Inn near Flateyri, Westfjords © Julian Köpke -
Hvítserkur
After a day of almost complete cloud cover, the day in Akureyri started with a clear night and an intense morning red. The fog in the valley below our hotel looked like a flood that kept rising and finally hid the morning red. This progression seemed to be a good sign.
Akureyri sunrise © Julian Köpke 
Akureyri sunrise in the mist © Julian Köpke Our first stop was in Siglufjörður, a small harbour town whose heyday was in the 1930s. The beautiful houses had been renovated with great effort. I had to stop in front of this white house. Melodic piano notes came from the neighbouring house.
The white house in Siglufjörður © Julian Köpke From Blönduos to Hvítserkur we drove as fast as possible. The tide was supposed to be at its lowest when we arrived. After a sunny day along the northern coasts, the clouds closed in again. The stone monument gives room for imagination.
To me it looked like a grazing giant animal, similar to a water buffalo. The size and mass would be comparable to a dinosaur. Few rays of sunlight fell on the creature from time to time and made it shine.
Hvítserkur with reflection at low tide © Julian Köpke The two interruptions of the figure become window and door on closer inspection. A kind of Mother of God niche. At some point the interruption will be too big to carry the whole load.
Hvítserkur detail © Julian Köpke -
Cold composition
On the drive from Raufarhöfn via Husavik to Akureyri, we moved along the coast for a long time. The sky was completely overcast and small showers were falling.
Iceland’s public sculptures are always clearly visible along the roads . The colours blue and green created cool compositions. The image of the coastline with waves warmed up a little or harmonized by the cliffs.
Public sculpture at Kopasker (85) (Presthólalón) © Julian Köpke 
Coastline near Husavik (Cold composition) © Julian Köpke -
Arctic Circle and Arctic Henge
After this hot year, it’s starting to get cool, although Iceland is also uncharacteristically warm at the moment. With twists and turns we finally reach the hotel in Raufarhöfn via the 870 with stops in Raudinupur, Skinnalón and the Arctic Henge.
To reach the lighthouse in Raudinupur we had to walk 6 km there and back. Just arrived, the sunny weather changed and a thick, icy fog surrounded us. We became unsure which would be the right way back. The chattering of the gannets did not stop.
Lighthouse Raudinupur © Julian Köpke My personal highlight of the day is the abandoned farm Skinnalón. It lies at 66 degrees and 31′ north latitude, which is only 1′ below the Arctic Circle, just a few steps from the Arctic Sea. The area was closed off to vehicles, the footpath uneven and a strange smell drifted over to me the closer I got to the former farm. My eyes quickly became irritated and a headache set in, as if an allergic reaction was taking place.
Abandoned farm Skinnalón © Julian Köpke 
Collapsed storerooms in Skinnalón © Julian Köpke The Arctic Henge has been under construction as a work of art since 2002 and is unfinished. Somehow the goings-on at the construction site are reminiscent of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, perhaps because the stone arches are irregular, but geometrically very precisely arranged.
Arctic Henge in Raufarhöfn. Wikipedia tells: "The Arctic Henge is an Arctic monument planned in 1996 by the artist Erlingur Thorodsen, which has been under construction since 2002 and is up to 11 m high. The name Arctic Henge is based on the name Stonehenge. The Icelandic name is Heimskautsgerði." © Julian Köpke In the early evening, a fog began to settle over the place, so we went to Arctic Henge again at nightfall. For a long time I looked at the arch as a gate with a little moving person in the background. Only during post-processing did I recognise a stone.
Nocturnal deception in the arctic mist at the Arctic Henge in Raufarhöfn © Julian Köpke -
Aldeyjarfoss
Today was the day of forgetting. Super sunshine seduced us into relative inactivity bordering on planlessness. It was good for our exhaustion, because the last few days had been full of highlights and emotional highs. That is why we went whale watching.
Two adult dolphins and a young, obviously at the swimming school © Julian Köpke 
Tail fin of a humpback whale © Julian Köpke We could have ended the day so calmly. In the early evening, shortly before nightfall, my friend Detlef remembered his most important waterfall: Aldeyjarfoss. He really wanted to go to Iceland for that. 50km of unpaved road lay ahead of us. When we arrived, it was not yet completely dark, the unsecured path high above the river valley was still passable.
Aldeyjarfoss © Julian Köpke We had hoped for moonlight to shoot the waterfall, which was a 96% full moon. But it took its time and only rose when we had left the spot.
Moonrise at Aldeyjarfoss © Julian Köpke The way back took us past the Godafoss car park. As if we hadn’t seen and photographed enough, a few sparse northern lights appeared. They were mixed with the clouds and the Big Dipper was in the middle.
Polar light and clouds near Godafoss © Julian Köpke -
Godafoss
Yesterday a long drive from Höfn to the hotel near Husavik. The journey started in the rain, but by midday it was gloriously sunny. First contact with the big volcanic fissure in Namafjall with intense sulphur smell and mud springs.
Námafjall hot mud sources © Julian Köpke After a short tour around Myvatn we reached Godafoss.
We decided to photograph Godafoss again early in the day before the sun rose. Thick fog greeted us at the East car park. There were few people, and those who came after us ran as if their lives were at stake. If you had a spot, someone was happy to stand in front of it, armed with a smartphone.
Sunrise and fog near Godafoss 
Sunrise and fog at Godafoss © Julian Köpke Down on the riverbank I could take my shot in peace and without people. The warm sunlight first reached the rocks at the small waterfall to the right of the two big ones to the left. Through manual and software-based HDR, different exposure times were superimposed so that the river appears to be strongly moving.
Godafoss at sunrise © Julian Köpke Today it was the day of the waterfalls. Each one is different, each one has a different photographic appeal. The Dettifoss waterfall made a viewer feel the force of nature. We reached it after a 130km drive by car, the last 50km on a road without pavement. So one was already emotionally prepared by the tangible road conditions.
Dettifoss detail western drop edge © Julian Köpke An arduous 1.4km walk took us to the east side of Sellfoss, which I immediately liked. For a creative eye, Sellfoss is a veritable treasure trove. So many waterfalls at once !
Sellfoss late afternoon © Julian Köpke Finally, we went to Hafragilsfoss, whose viewpoint could be easily reached by car. Because the feet didn’t want to carry the weight of the equipment any more. Here the picture was of an animated autumnal green-yellow landscape in the middle of a dead stone desert. Again and again, the stony landscape raised the question: on which planet are we right now ?
Hafragilsfoss © Julian Köpke The water in Iceland ultimately comes from precipitation, which either glaciers, melts or penetrates directly into the ground as rain. A late summer rain in the early evening with the typical Icelandic light coming in from some side forced me out of the car on our return trip. I only noticed the rain outside when I walked around the car with my camera. It was weak and warm.
Late summer rain driving the 845 © Julian Köpke -
Glaciers
Long days in Iceland with a time difference of 2 hours to Germany. It’s light here, while at home those who stayed at home go to bed.
Early in the morning we started our tour to the lagoon of Hoffellsjökull. There is no tourist infrastructure, the car has to have a lot of ground clearance and the tyres have to be well inflated to reach the lagoon.
A harmonious light situation awaited us today, light cloud cover making the sunlight a little more diffuse. The contrasts of the icebergs were clear.The constantly changing light through the clouds made the icebergs alternately light and dark. The consistent structures were brought to life by the permanent change of light.
Morning at Hoffellsjökull glacier lagoon © Julian Köpke Changing the lens is not a change of perspective. Nevertheless, the change is worthwhile, because the higher focal length has the effect of enlarging a section. The change of light does its part.
Morning at Hoffellsjökull glacier lagoon © Julian Köpke The drive to Skalafellsjökull via the F985 pass road was somewhat adventurous. Although our Japanese car kept making very different beeps and noises, the meaning of which we could not always identify, the car was technically usable for this road.
At the top we found a base camp for glacier tours with snowmobiles. A short walk over rocks of all shapes and sizes brought us to the edge of the glacier. A cool, almost constant wind blew around our ears. Gloves were great for working with the camera. With a rather dull light I created a panorama of the early glacier.
Glacier Skalafellsjökull at the end of F985 © Julian Köpke The most impressive structures of the glacier are found crosswise and lengthwise to the flow and are called „ogives“ resp. „band ogives“. We had already admired their charm many times on the ascent. We devoted ourselves to them on the descent.
Glacier Skalafellsjökull ogives and some band ogives © Julian Köpke -
Eystrahorn
Besides the Vestrahorn near Höfn, there is the Eystrahorn near Hvalnes, situated right next to a lighthouse. The bay at Hvalnes was windless, sunny and warm. Just as we turned east at the lighthouse, the weather abruptly changed to stormy, cloudy and cold. It took me 3/4 of an hour to safely photograph the mountain group, because clouds obstructed the view.
Fragile clouds at Eystrahorn beneath Hvalnes Lighthouse © Julian Köpke The view to the west shows the peninsula, the sea and Vestrahorn in the distance. The fragility of the weather situation is not noticeable in this direction.
Hvalnes beach and peninsula beneath Eystrahorn. Vestrahorn at the horizon. © Julian Köpke In the evening it became increasingly overcast and the prospects of seeing the abundantly announced auroras sank into the bottomless pit. The clouds were coloured by the evening glow. Hotel guests gathered on the terrace to greet the sunset with many photos.
Evening at Fosshotel Vatnajökull © Julian Köpke -
Patterns and glacial flows
This morning we were far from convinced to book a photographic sightseeing flight. Because the clouds were hanging 20m above the ground when we left our hotel. The closer we got to Skaftfell, the brighter it became, but still plenty cloudy. Only on the peaks of Vatnajökull was there plenty of sun.
The experienced pilot was sure we would have fun. And so it came to pass. Because our pilot liked to take pictures from the air himself and knew exactly how to get the best light conditions in front of our lens in the clearing weather. How impressive it was may be understood by pointing out my rapidly aching hands, which from focusing, positioning the camera and releasing the shutter on both sides had me feeling the saddle joints after only half an hour.
Our flight was a complete success thanks to this young pilot whose machine was more than twice his age. Only the engine was new, he said.
Glacial flows and patterns on Iceland © Julian Köpke After crossing the first glacier flow, we reached the glacier itself. With the old Cessan we slowly crept up the glacier. I felt reminded of films where the altitude limit is reached and the hero has to dare to jump. The cold downdraft winds were hard on the plane, but the pilot still guided us safely up the slope.
The sight of a glacier reminds me of frozen waves that take you up and down with power. The frozen glacier seems less dangerous, almost still.
Flying up the glacier Vatnajökull © Julian Köpke We left the glacier area again to approach the glacier lagoon Jökullsarlon. From above, everything looks small, I didn’t even notice the many icebergs I would later find from the plane.
Flight from Vatnajökull to Jökullsarlon © Julian Köpke In one hour I took 700 pictures, which is about 50 GBytes of data. At the end, the exhaustion of the hands and body was noticeable. We only had bananas and nuts for breakfast, as we had to leave the hotel before breakfast. Fortunately, we had gloves, scarf and hats to brave the cold that came in through the open plane windows.
Glacial flows and patterns on Iceland © Julian Köpke Deep sleep had been indicated and possible before the evening excursion. With a small diversions via Hafnarnesviti lighthouse, we reached the Viking Café in Stocksness at 11 pm. Many cars took the same route. Northern lights at Vestrahorn were the final destination for all. For the first time I experienced polar lights with my cam under clear skies.
Polarlights at Stocksness © Julian Köpke 
Polarlights at Stocksness © Julian Köpke
