The best fish I have ever had is in that little Viking-house there to the right. You have to duck to get through the door. Once inside, you emerge into a darkened Viking-style dining hall (imagine the great hall where Gríma Wormtongue held powah over King Théoden of Rohan). It’s called Tjöruhúsið in the little town of Isafjordur.
The whole experience is fun too. There is a little window in the back where the fishermen come every morning to deliver the fresh fish in exchange for getting to eat there for free. They bring you the food inside giant iron-clad pans… it was so awesome. I love to gorge myself here with giant dinners before heading out for all-night shooting.
I went over a high mountain pass that connects one remote part of the country into another. There’s always ice and snow up here. Well, really, it’s mostly ice and very little snow.
This little stone and wood-framed home stood desperately alone.
When you are surrounded by constant strange-light, everything feels like a waking dream. And when I reached this point, my iPod playlist started getting into the forlorn songs. It did nothing to help the reality of the situation if there was one to begin with…
Here’s another one of the images from my 1000 Stories from 1000 Places NFT drop. It sold out in minutes, but they are now available to trade on OpenSea and X2Y2, etc so be sure to check them out.
See that little sheepy there on the left? I think he must eat the tall parts of all the grass in that entire field to keep it looking perfect.
In fact, I’m often amazed at these huge fields of perfect grass. No one ever mows them, and usually, there are almost no sheep. I have no idea how the grass is so perfect all the time. It’s really mind-bending and I stop thinking about it too much after a while because it begins to hurt. It’s that same kind of brain-hurt that you think about when you wonder what things would be like if there was no universe. I put it up there on that scale.
Here’s another one of the images from my 1000 Stories from 1000 Places NFT drop. It sold out in minutes, but they are now available to trade on OpenSea and X2Y2, etc so be sure to check them out.
I consider myself very lucky to have a network of great photographers around the world. I met a lot of them through Flickr back in the early days, where we were constantly commenting and giving feedback on one another’s photos. This has enabled me to meet up with great photographers wherever I travel, and they are great people to hang out with because they already know the prettiest places around where they live!
One of the people I was lucky to shoot with was Rebekka in Iceland. We met at a coffee shop in Reykjavik and talked about where to go shoot. We jumped in her car and drove a while until we reached a fjord. Nearby were these horses running around like wild beasts. They have no fear of humans, and we were able to go right up to them. Their hair is very long, and I’m sure it evolved from the hyper-cold whipping winds around the edges of the sea.
I don’t shoot a lot of animals, because I find it hard to improve upon what other great animal photographers have done in the past. However, here is a tip for shooting animals. It’s kind of a lame trick, but it always works. Use a wide-angle lens and get in close. It always makes the head look really big and cute. Humans love big-headed animals and it always makes them smile. Why this is, I have no idea… Note this trick also kinda works with babies.
Up in the northwestern area of Iceland you get these tremendous shapes. It’s right on the edge of the whole country, and the feeling of the mountains is just the same. I haven’t seen a lot of mountains like this — how the glaciers have shaved away both sides so there is a steep ridge down the middle. And if you’re wondering if that water is cold… yes, yes it is.
Daily Photo – when you realize the sun never really went down
Around the middle of the summer, the sun never goes down in Iceland. I spend the days sleeping in empty schoolhouses and the evenings lost in song and mystery.
This was taken around 3 AM when everything seems dreamy and possible. I would hike and explore all night long. About this time each evening, after going ages without seeing a human, after going ages listening to strange ambient music, everything became wonderfully strange. Sometimes I would create things like this, and I was convinced (and still am) that it was not really me.
While in Iceland, I traveled through a lowlands area early in the morning. A mist, a video game like mist, started moving quickly across the ground and through the distant hillocks. It was all so surreal that I barely remembered that I should be taking a photo of this. That was a strange feeling, since the whole reason I was there was to take photos! 🙂
Daily Photo – The First Time I Ate Horse. Iceland.
My friend Helga has been wonderful enough to invite me to her farm in Iceland many times. It’s always a fun trip up to the north to see her. But I always get a little lost. Finding the particular turn-in along this fjord is constantly a source of confusion, especially at night. I don’t know why it is so difficult to me, because after I get there, it is plain as day. And I’m sure all Icelanders think I am crazy… but it’s like a hidden door, fey and fleeting with the light, and you can only see it during certain portals of time.
