iceland VIII.

on the 8th day of our trip to Iceland we finally managed to travel along one of the Highlands roads - most of them were still closed because of a recent snow storm but the F35 had just been opened and we decided to take it. the route F35 connects Blönduós to South Iceland crossing Kjölur: during our drive from north to south and back we encountered one of the most spectacular and desolated areas we had ever been to. this selection of photographs belongs to the first part of our drive along the F35: when we stopped by the fumaroles and hot pools of Hveravellir.

7th selection of my photographs from Iceland:

Nikon FM - Fuji Pro 400H, Fuji X-tra 400
Hasselblad 500 C/M - Fuji Pro 160NS

that day the weather was cold and windy on the Highlands and once again the dark clouds made those wide deserted landscapes even more dramatic-looking. along the route F35 we had taken nearly the most of our photographs I believe: I will share some more here but I will save the most for the book.

there will be just a few more posts dedicated to our trip to Iceland: even though I have been sharing quite many photographs already - they would never feel enough to me. I hope you have been appreciating these icelandic posts and that you won't get bored with a few more!

iceland VII.

lonely abandoned buildings have always been fascinating for me - especially when in the middle of nowhere: there is certainly something spooky about them too and they make me wonder why they were left that way and what is their story. during our trip around Iceland we have seen many abandoned farmhouses and everytime we have stopped to admire them - lonesome and worn out by the weather. North Iceland has been the place where we encountered most of them: I have decided to share a few photographs here - though there are plenty more I am saving for our coffee table book.

6th selection of my photographs from Iceland:

Hasselblad 500 C/M - Fuji Pro 400H, Fuji Reala 100
Nikon FM - Fuji Pro 400H

I have taken all the photographs of this sixth selection on our way from Akureyri to Blönduós. those empty houses were such a sight among the green valleys of North Iceland - some of them had been turned into shelters for sheep and some others had simply been left standing there: nevertheless I felt like they were worth a photograph.

P.S. I have created the tag Iceland to make it easier for anyone interested in going through my posts dedicated to our trip - since they are becoming quite many: in case you have missed some you can find them all here!

iceland VI.

in North Iceland we spent a couple of days around the fjords of Skagafjörður and Húnaflói: there we draw through the mountains in some scary tunnels and saw a lot of farms - both functioning and abandoned - lighthouses, cliffs with nesting seagulls and fulmars and dark sandy beaches with seals in Vatnsnes. I fell in love with fulmars and skuas as I had never seen them before - Iceland is truly a paradise for seabirds! as for domestic animals - beautiful icelandic horses and bushy sheep were a constant feature of the landscape. I remember writing a few posts ago that North Iceland was the most cultivated part of the country: perhaps you will find it hard to believe by looking at my selection of photographs - though the valleys were definitely greener there.

5th selection of my photographs from Iceland:

Nikon FM - Kodak Ektar 100, Fuji Pro 400H
Hasselblad 500 C/M - Fuji Reala 100

when in North Iceland we spent a couple of nights in a very warm and cozy guesthouse: The Lamb Inn. there we could enjoy some delicious local food and we even got the chance to visit an old farmhouse furnished with original antique pieces: we truly had a pleasant stay!

P.S. if you enjoy my selection of photographs from Iceland could you please take a moment of your time to help me winning a photo-competition? if you have a Facebook account all you have to do is follow this link and like my photograph. and please share the link with your friends too. thank you so much! ♥

iceland V.

on our way to Kiðagil in Northeast Iceland - where we were going to spend the fourth night of our journey - we drove through an endless and barren volcanic desert and stopped eventually by the geothermal area of Hverarondor Hverir - in the Mývatn region. I had never experienced anything like it before: the various colours of the ground went from red to turquoise because of the sulphur and the smoke radiating from the fumaroles gave the landscape a completely surreal look. despite the strong smell of sulphur we spent a long time there taking photographs: below are some of mine.

4th selection of my photographs from Iceland:

Nikon FM - Kodak Ektar 100
Hasselblad 500 C/M - Fuji Pro 400H

Hverarondor Hverir is certainly among the most impressive places I have seen in Iceland - even though it hadn't been the only geothermal area we visited when we were there. I will share more photographs of other geothermal areas and there will be plenty more on the coffee table book that Jacopo and I are working on together!

P.S. remember to visit my website and my Flickr from time to time: you can find some of my photographs from Iceland there as well! and check Jacopo's Flickr too!

iceland IV.

we spent our third night in Iceland in Borgarfjörður Eystri and started moving towards the northern part of the country the day after: we left the East Fjords passing once again through the mountains to return on the Ring Road. driving northern I was surprised to see the bare rocky mountains becoming fewer and fewer to leave space for greener landscapes with waterfalls, fields and farms: Northern Iceland had appeared to me like one of the most cultivated regions of the country. this third selection of photographs was taken on our way from east to north: that was when we met the reindeers - which apparently live only in Eastern Iceland.

3rd selection of my photographs from Iceland:

Nikon FM - Kodak Ektar 100
Hasselblad 500 C/M - Fuji Pro 400H

while I continue sharing some of my photographs here on Passer Domesticus - I will tell you little by little about the project Jacopo and I are working on: for now I can reveal that it is going to be a coffee table book with a great selection of our photographs and possibly a collaboration with an icelandic artist. that is why I am sharing just a small part of the photographic material that we have actually brought home from Iceland: you will be able to see so much more on the book!

iceland III.

this is the second selection of photographs from Iceland that I have decided to share here: I took all of them during our journey from the southern part of the country to the East Fjords. we left behind the green mountains of the south to find more rocky and bare landscapes. we took a short cut through the mountains and ended up on a very difficult and impressive gravel road - the first one that we had driven on in Iceland. when suddenly the fog came and it started to rain we felt very small and lonely facing such wilderness - it had been overwhelming and beautiful!

2nd selection of my photographs from Iceland:

Nikon FM - Kodak Ektar 100
Hasselblad 500 C/M - Fuji Pro 160NS

we spent that night in the beautiful Blabjorg Guesthouse in Borgarfjörður Eystri: being right on the Atlantic Ocean it was the ideal place to do some birdwatching and we had the opportunity to take a very close look at a colony of Puffins - it was fantastic! ♥

iceland II.

yesterday I finally got the prints of the 14 film rolls I have taken in Iceland. I spent yesterday evening looking through all the photographs with Jacopo: there are so many that I like and I remember almost exactly when and where I took each of them. I have started slowly scanning and cleaning each print: it is going to take a while but I rather do it carefully before placing them in the photo-album that Jacopo and I got for the occasion. I will share only a limited amount of prints for now: I am in fact going to save most of my photographs for a project that Jacopo and I have already started working on. I will tell more about the project later - meanwhile I will select only a few photographs per roll to post here.

1st selection of my photographs from Iceland:

Nikon FM - Fuji Pro 400H
Hasselblad 500 C/M - Fuji Reala 100

we drove anti-clockwise around Iceland so that we spent the first and second day in the southern part of the country: there is full of green mountains, farms with sheep and horses, waterfalls and rivers with black volcanic sand. the weather was changing rapidly and the grey clouds above the mountains were an incredible sight. I couldn't stop taking photographs: I was enchanted by such beauty!

P.S. I will post more selections of photographs over the next few weeks.

iceland I.

I have just got home two days ago and my memories from Iceland are so vivid that I can still see those sublime landscapes when I close my eyes. Iceland is every bit as beautiful as everyone says and more: I have truly never seen anything like it. I am so grateful I was able to spend those magnificent ten days there and I feel like that has surely been one of the most beautiful journeys I have ever made!
I have taken a total of 14 film rolls with my Hasselblad and Nikon and Jacopo has taken many PZ 680 with his Polaroid Image System - while I am waiting for my rolls to be developed I want to share here two portraits Jacopo and I took of each other along the route F35.

PZ 680 Color Protection in Iceland:

♥ we are both wearing our Icelandic pullovers.

the journey started on the 18th of June at 4pm in Keflavík and ended on the 28th at 8am in Keflavík: we have managed to go around the whole island with the exception of the Westfjords and a few other places - some of the roads in the middle of the country were still unusable after the winter - which we will have to keep in mind next time. we have seen mountains, glaciers, lava fields, rocky cliffs, abandoned farms and met Icelandic horses, sheep, reindeers, seals, puffins and many more birds: it has really been like a dream come true.

P.S. I will share more photographs and memories from Iceland over the next few weeks: there is so much I want to tell and so much I want to show!
P.P.S. Jacopo and I are planning a special project that involves the numerous amount of photographs we have taken during our journey: I will tell you more about it soon!

♥ the soundtrack of the journey: Kveikur by Sigur Rós