The Extremes We Go to For a Shot – A Landscape Photographer’s Tale

Last Updated: February 14th, 2020

“If you want to take amazing landscape pictures, you need to go to amazing landscapes” – Scott Kelby

Landscape photography is as much about the journey to get a shot as it is about the actual shot. Because of so many factors that separate good from great photographs in this style, sometimes the journey is more important, anyways.

We wanted to spend a little time today talking about some of the extremes landscape photographers go to get an amazing photography.

In this article, we’re going to look at a few great landscape photographers that really bring a beautiful combination of determination to take photos no matter the circumstances, and we’ll wrap things up with our own personal story of photographing Dynjandi, an immense waterfall in the Westfjords of Iceland.

Great Landscape Photographers We Enjoy

There are so many landscape photographers out there – it’s impossible to keep up. Still, we find the work of others out there to be inspiring. The two photographers we will be highlighting here stand out to us for the following reasons:

We like their photographs.
We can connect with their personalities and how they approach landscape photography.
They provide great background information for how certain images are created in their YouTube videos.
They have directly influenced us to take trips to locations we wouldn’t have thought such as Iceland and Death Valley.
Both photographers often go to great lengths to get the shots they want – this includes long and tiring hikes, coping with harsh weather conditions, and staying out at the same spot for hours to get the perfect light.

The combination of these things has created a more human connection with their work.

While a beautiful image can be beautiful in its own right, having more detail about it – who it was made by, what went into capturing it, and how is it going to influence us to adjust our lives – is what makes a photograph really stand out for us.

Mads Peter Iverson

A Danish landscape photographer, Mads Peter Iverson has created videos for several years now documenting his trips around Europe and the United States. His video series’ showcase both popular locations (some that would make even an Instagrammer jealous) and others that are more off the beaten path.

Quote from the Photoblographer’s interview:

It gives me an immense satisfaction to witness all these special natural features on Earth during the most special times of day and night. Standing in a location visualizing the potential for a photograph, my brain releases a huge amount of dopamine! I get another shot of that when I finish a photograph and I look at what I have created. – Mads Peter Iverson

One of the standout photos he has taken is this one from Death Valley (seen below). It’s actually multiple photos stitched together in Photoshop – but still requires a certain vision for composition and an ability to properly expose the scene according to the image needs.

mads-peter-iverson-death-valley-photograph While he explains the process of getting to this location, we ended up going to Death Valley ourselves. Having walked on these sand dunes to take our own collection of landscape photographs, we know the effort that is required. Not to mention, the anxiety that comes from being amid the sand dunes, at night, with hardly anyone else around. It’s one of the darkest places around, but so beautiful when illuminated by moonlight and the stars.

Chris Eyre-Walker

Well known for his well-received short film Dream Walkers, where he documents in cinematic style the highlining adventures of a group of guys attempting to cross some dangerous and crazy chasms in the Faroe Islands, Chris is known for his world travels and work for Olympus. While he was born in Belgium, he has found his home in Sydney, Australia.

Our exposure to Chris Eyre-Walker came through his YouTube channel. Our passion for photography was fused with the innate desire to get out of our own country and explore the world. When planning for our trip to Iceland, we found ourselves watching hundreds (we kid you not!) of videos about traveling in that country. Of everything out there, his videos stood out significantly to us. Not just for his photographs or cinematic approaches to film, but in how he discusses the country and the art of getting a great photograph.

His reserved quietness is what stands out. Unlike some popular photographers that have a tendency to speak loudly to get noticed, he has taken a more restrained approach. It’s calm and soothing. Watching his videos is weirdly relaxing, and a good Netflix replacement for a few evenings.

Our Adventure to Photograph Dynjandi

Dynjandi, the “jewel of the Westfjords” and the “thunderous”, is one of the largest waterfalls in Iceland.

In our research for our trip to Iceland, it was one of the locations that really stood out as a place I wanted to go and see. If you’re not aware, the Westfjords of Iceland is sparsely populated and altogether a rugged place. Most visitors to the country don’t even go there.

The journey to get to Dynjandi was one of the most difficult driving experiences I’ve gone through. Part of the reason for this was the poor and constantly changing weather conditions. Heavy fog, a whole lot of rain – it made the drive very challenging. Of course, these are things I deal with when driving at home. In actuality, the hardest part about traveling in the Westfjords was poor road conditions (pot holes galore), and very steep hills (with no guard rails 95% of the time) that were very terrifying to someone with a fear of heights.

iceland-potholes Maybe the hardest part of it all was the simple fact that it is all about dexterity. Driving to Dynjandi from Berzerkjauraun in the Snaefellsnes Peninsula was a several hour trip. Much of it was in these harsh driving conditions – so a very tiring thing to say the least.

You can watch a little video of our trip filmed on a GoPro – some moments from the Westfjords are featured!!

The beautiful end of our journey was entering into this remote valley where Dynjandi is located. It felt like a scene straight out of Jurassic Park. It is one of the most incredible places I have ever been, and probably will never see again. By some luck, the weather cleared up for the hour or so we were there, and we got to take a breather while we took in the sights.

I must say, in all the photos and videos I’ve seen of Dynjandi – none of them really can replace the real thing. Pulling into the muddy parking lot in our beat up and dirt covered campervan, and just hearing the roar of the waterfall, was amazing.

Capturing photos in this environment was definitely tough. We primarily used our Canon 24mm lens, which is not wide enough to capture the falls up close in any compelling way. We’d definitely suggest if you’re planning a visit to this location, come equipped with a 16mm or wider lens.

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