Coming Home

In Travel by David34 Comments

Dave Delnea on the rocks in Iceland.
(Somewhere Northeast-ish to be more specific.)

Last night in Reykjavik. This is an amazing little city. I think from now on when people ask my favourite city, it’s going to be hard not to tell them it’s Reykjavic. We’re heading out to have one last meal and I found a place that serves Puffin, so I’m pretty excited about that.

This has been an amazing trip, not only for the travel but for the chance to shoot with someone I’ve not shot with, and to learn from him. We’ve collaborated well, shot thousands of images, and dreamed big about future trips. I’ve learned a lot, not the least of which is a reminder of the creativity that comes when you push in on something hard for a sustained period of time – this time shooting daily has re-energized me and I’m looking forward to sharing the images with you. I’ve also had time to let my soul breathe, and I’ve needed that desperately. Iceland is a good place for that and I’m already looking for reasons to come back. The artistic community in Iceland seems super cool – if you hear about a photography festival here then please (1) be sure to tell me and (2) make plans to come.

One last night then home via Boston and Toronto. See you on the other side.

Comments

  1. I want to make my own Blogger layout because none of the ones I have found incorporate my Header correctly/match with my Header that I want to use. Is there a website that can teach me how to do this? (I also do not have Photoshop, so I need to use another software than that to design). Thank you!.

  2. Your Iceland trip was on my wish list but this year, but because of a 3 month layoff (now back to work), I had to postpone… until next year. But I would like to thank you for something else. I purchased your Safari eBook for my stepson. He was headed to Kenya and is also new to photography. I think he paid attention!

  3. Pingback: ¿Hola,necesito urgente para mañana que doy leccion oral,a quien pueda ayudarme,tengo que pronunciar esta rutina? | IndeXinn Travel Blog

  4. Author

    Steven – Thanks for the feedback – I’ll keep that in mind. For some reason I just started posting images that were 440 pixels wide and stopped posting the larger ones. Not sure why I did that. I’ll try to remember to do this for you. 🙂

    Mits – I almost never photograph people with a long lens or without their knowing I am doing so. I find the grab shots just never turn out, never mind that I generally find that approach disrespectful. Photographing people from within the context of a relationship of some kind, even just saying hello and asking for the honour, is usually the best way to go. Once in a while I shoot candids, but even then I’m completely open about it. Hope this helps!

  5. David, I’m a big fan of being able to click on the two images above to see higher-res copies. We can appreciate your vision even better that way. I hope that becomes a regular function on your blog.

  6. Hi David,

    When shooting portraits of people on assignment, do you have to approach and ask the people or do you just point and shoot with a tele-photo lens?

    Because I find that if you just shoot people, they just seem to get offended by this. Regardless of my gear

  7. I cannot wait for your eBook that results from this trip. I seriously need to buy an iPad just to read your books. Your photos and thoughts on life are one of my biggest inspirations!

  8. Author

    @Josh – Well, I beleive the official word is that you should camp in actual campsites. Having said that, we only camped once in a place that looked remotely official and it cost us K900.00 each to do so – the price of a beer, as it turns out. The rest of the time we just took a dirt road to the middle of nowhere and set up camp. You’ll be grateful for the food as it is (a) WAY cheaper to bring your own and (b) allows you to shoot until 10:30 or 11pm without worry of being anywhere near a restaurant. Enjoy!

  9. Thanks David for your advice. I guess we have everything we need except for the food. Can’t wait to be there though! Can you camp anywhere or in camp sites only?

  10. Author

    @ Josh – Sorry this reply is so late. Best suggestion I can make is to take your own freeze dried camp food, buy some fuel when you arrive and make your own meals. Then be sure to have plenty of rain gear and woolies, a good tent and sleeping bag, and a spirit of adventure. The rest will take care of itself. 🙂 Safe travels.

  11. Author

    @ Jeff – No, no special filter, just a 24mm T/S lens. I’ll be talking about all this stuff (spoiler alert) in the Print & The Process series eBook that will come out of this trip.

    @ Denise. Oops, too late. 🙂

  12. Curious minds want to know: Are you using some sort of circular blur filter on the two images in your post? What’s your vision behind its use?

  13. Hi David,

    Beautiful pictures. I’m off to Iceland in 3 days and was wondering if you had any advice or tips to share. And how was the weather? We are planning on doing some camping so a little worried about the cold and rain.

    Thanks and have a safe trip home!

    josh

  14. David,

    What goes through your mind before you frame the picture, before you click the button?

  15. Inspiring photographs – as always, thanks for sharing! My boyfriend is now convinced that it’s time for an Icelandic adventure. I’m looking forward to seeing more photos and hearing more advice for shooting locations!

  16. Puffin?! The only thing cuter than a Puffin is the word “puffin”. Maybe some nice albatross instead?

    🙂

  17. Why does it look like you’ve shrunk Iceland? Are you starting to use your powers for evil?

  18. Author

    John – Wish I’d known, would have been nice to connect for a drink. We’re homeward bound tomorrow (Aug 08) out of Keflavik at 10:30 to Boston. Enjoy the rest of your journey!

  19. I’m sitting in a Reykjavik B&B reading your post racking my brain trying to figure out if I spotted you some time during my Iceland trip. It is an amazing country! I think it may have ruined other scenic countries for me (;

    Looking forward to seeing more of your Iceland work

  20. Beautiful scenery and I can only imagine how fun is shooting on this “clean” terrain. Not sure about the blur in the first one though… something is not right at the crest far right. The one left of it look more blurred and this does not have any sense, thus making a tension (at least for me).
    The second one is remarkably beautiful.
    Yup, who am I to tell you what is good or bad.. but one can share his emotions right? 😉
    Cheers!

  21. Great work as always David, thanks for sharing. Now Iceland is on my must go list.

  22. Were these images shot with the tilt-shift? Would be an amazing place to experiment with that lens for sure.

    Something for the blog, or discussion – going about planning one of these trips. Do you visit a travel agent to help? I’ve asked some other photographers about it but found that it must be something I need to figure out on my own.

    Have a safe flight and enjoy the body cavity search as always!

  23. Are you going to Lækjarbrekka, the little black wooden restaurant not far from the town hall? Really excellent, though the wife wouldn’t let me try puffin (though not sure I want to really! 🙂

    Really glad you enjoyed Iceland, it’s my favourite place in the world and if it wasn’t so dang expensive I’d go every year!!

  24. There’s something about being in a capital city that is full of creativity and yet also has a small-town feel to it. Reykjavik is definitely high on my list of favourite cities, with Stockholm being at the top. Still more places to explore, though.
    (The sun should be back here by the time you return.)

  25. Sounds like you’ve been marked by Iceland. Cheers to you for a good trip. Thanks for sharing the experience and I’ll be watching for more on it.

  26. Author

    Paul, Thank you. No, Boston gives us only enough time to get in, go through US customs and get a body cavity search before getting back on the plane towards Toronto and repeat the process. Fun times! 🙂

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