ICELANDLAND OF FIRE & ICE

23 JUNE - 1 JULY 2018

8 DAY LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP Price €3500 (price based on single person sharing. Enquire for single room supplement)

Group Size 6-10

Experience Beginner, amateur, enthusiast and semi-pro photographers Some hiking and hill walks that should be well within the capability of anyone with average fitness.

Workshop Includes Landscape photography and shooting in unforgettable wild locations Three professional photographers & guides who know the area Transport around and to and from all of our shooting locations Post-processing workshops in Lightroom and Photoshop All accommodation in local hotels All meals provided Airport pick up and drop off

Iceland is surely near the top of almost every photographers Finally we’ll head to the north of the country where the bucket list of places to shoot, and rightly so. The landscape stunning waterfalls of , and Godafoss are here is utterly unique and offers the kind of scenes that you located as well as the geothermal plains of Hverir, an alien simply can’t witness anywhere else on earth. Glaciers and desert of multicoloured bubbling hot mud springs and waterfalls, black pebble beaches and jagged mountain steaming fumaroles. peaks, the diversity is seemingly endless and it’s the kind of trip where you can’t fail to be inspired by the epic nature of All our workshops are designed to ensure that you can the scenery. During June the golden hour, sunset, twilight and focus on photography while we take care of everything sunrise merge into each other lasting for hours, and all the else. Airport transfers, ideally located and comfortable elements are in place for truly unforgettable experience. accommodation as well as all your meals are all part of the package, and of course the tour is structured to We’ve created this workshop to give you plenty of time at maximize your opportunities to get great images whilst Iceland’s most beautiful and iconic places by basing ourselves improving your skills as a photographer. We use all our at three separate locations for a couple of nights each. Our experience and knowledge to get you to some of Iceland’s first base is in the south, from where we can shoot the famous most beautiful locations in the best light, and in the field black beach at Vík and Reynisfjara, the cliffs of the Dyrhólaey , we’re on hand to provide as much support, advice or the waterfalls of Skógafoss and , and the eerie guidance as you want. Having three professional remains of the DC-3 stranded on Sólheimasandur beach. photography guides helps us to ensure that each However, there’s more to the area than that and we’ll take you participant gets plenty of one-to-one tuition and allows us to lesser known waterfalls and beaches during our time here. to better tailor each session to your needs as well as being able to optionally split the group, for example if a few Our next base is the southeast where the Vestrahorn’s peaks participants want to shoot from one end of the beach while rise impossibly from the black sand beach of Stokksnes and are others prefer to head up to the headland for a different mirrored in the tidal lagoons. The south east is also home to perspective. It also means we can accept range of Jökulsárlón, a lagoon full of icebergs which slowly drift into the experience levels from beginners to professionals and sea where many are washed up on the neighbouring comfortably cater to each. “Diamond beach”. Of course, we’ll also introduce you to some of the less commonly visited gems in the area. ITINERARY

We tour the country basing ourselves at three locations, and while the dates that we’ll be in the bases are fixed, our time at each is flexible so we can decide which locations to visit while we’re there depending on the local weather and conditions. We will however ensure that we visit all of the locations in each area. At this time of year the golden hour starts around 22h00 and sunset around midnight. There’s then a period of twilight and blue hour before sunrise at around 3h, so to make sure that participants get the best conditions for shooting, we’ll concentrate our shooting in one long session between around 21h30 and 3h30. Shooting at this time also means we have even the more popular locations pretty much to ourselves outside of the main tourist hours. After the shooting session has finished we’ll head back to the accommodation and sleep, and to ensure people have plenty of time to rest and stay as fresh as possible throughout the course of the workshop there won’t be anything timetabled until brunch/lunch at 13h, and then in the afternoon we’ll have post processing workshops or travel to the next location.

DAY 1 (JUNE 23) Arrive in Reykjavik. 17h onwards we’ll welcome guests to our overnight accommodation in Reykjavik, spend some time getting to know each other, and in the evening either head out to shoot some of the local landmarks around town like the Harpa concert hall, or if people aren’t too tired, make a longer excursion to shoot the powerful waterfalls at .

DAY 2 & 3 - THE SOUTH (JUNE 24 - 25) 9h-11h After breakfast, we’ll get our stuff together to check out and head to our first base in the town of Vík on the south coast of Iceland. During our time here our itinerary will vary depending on weather and light, but we’ll make sure we spend some time at all of the locations in the area:

•Vík church and beach •Reynisfjara black pebble beach and Dyrhólaey rock arch •Skógafoss waterfalls •Seljalandsfoss waterfalls

For example, a typical itinerary could be: DAY 3 (JUNE 25) DAY 2 (JUNE 24) All morning to relax and catch up on sleep 13h30 -14h30 Lunch 13h30 -14h30 Lunch

15h - 17h30 Processing tutorials. An introduction to post 15h - 17h30 Our second post-processing session. Looking at processing with both Lightroom and Photoshop to ascertain getting the best from the images we took in last night’s session. people’s levels and requirements while looking at some of the This can range from Lightroom basics through to Photoshop images taken the previous evening Luminosity Masks and more advanced techniques, and will be tailored to your needs. 19h-20h Dinner in the hotel 19h-20h Dinner in the hotel 21h30 - 3h30 Shooting session at a range of nearby locations: • Late light near Vík church 21h30 - 3h30 Shooting session at a range of nearby locations: • Sunset photographing the ocean and rock stacks on Vík • Sunset at Seljalandsfoss waterfall and the nearby beach Gljúfrafoss, a small waterfall hidden in a canyon • Twilight and blue hour exploring the many possibilities for • Twilight and blue hour at the remains of the crashed DC-3 waterscapes on Reynisfjara beach and Dyrhólaey rock arch on Sólheimasandur beach • Sunrise at the rock stacks on the east of Reynisfjara beach • Sunrise at Skógafoss waterfall and the lesser known waterfalls nearby at Kvernufoss DAY 4 & 5 - THE SOUTH EAST (JUNE 26 - 27) 12h After getting plenty of sleep and breakfast, we’ll get our stuff together to check out and head to our second base near the town of Höfn, on the south east tip of Iceland. It’s around a 3 hour trip so we’ll stop for lunch on the way and we’ll also be passing some impressive landscapes as we cross the vast Skeidarársandur desert at the foot of the huge Vatnajökul glacier. Once again, during our time here our itinerary will vary depending on weather and light, but we’ll make sure we spend some time at all of the locations in the area:

•Stokksnes headland beach and the peaks of the Vestrahorn •Jökulsarlon iceberg lagoon and nearby beach •Fjallsarlon iceberg lagoon

For example, a typical itinerary could be: DAY 5 (JUNE 27) We’ll have all morning to relax and catch up on sleep DAY 4 (JUNE 26) 13h30 -14h30 Lunch 17h-18h Arrive at the hotel and relax as we settle into our new accommodation 15h - 17h30 Post-processing session. Once again we’ll look at getting the best from the images we took in last night’s session. 19h-20h Dinner in the hotel We’ll look at how we can increase participant’s knowledge and skill with Lightroom and Photoshop, and introduce more 21h30 - 3h30 Shooting session at Stokksnes headland. The complex techniques like Luminosity Masks. peaks of the Vestrahorn rise almost vertically out of the flat black sand beaches and there are infinite compositions and angles in 19h-20h Dinner in the hotel this astonishing place, from reflections in the lagoon to the grass topped dunes. The location is great at sunset but is particularly 21h30 - 3h30 Shooting session at a range of nearby locations: beautiful at sunrise as the first light illuminates the peaks. • Sunset at Jökulsarlon lagoon and the nearby beach. • Twilight and blue hour at the neighbouring iceberg lagoon of Fjallsarlon • Sunrise at the Jökulsarlon beach.

DAY 6 & 7 - THE NORTH (JUNE 28 - 29) 12h After getting plenty of sleep and breakfast, we’ll get our stuff together to check out and head around to the north of the country to our final base near the town of Myvatn. It’s around a 5 hour trip, so we’ll stop for lunch on the way before arriving later in the afternoon. Once again, during our time here our itinerary will vary depending on weather and light, but we’ll make sure we spend some time at all of the locations in the area:

•Dettifoss and Selfoss waterfalls •Hverir/Námaskard geothermal area •Godafoss waterfall •Aldeyjarfoss waterfall For example, a typical itinerary could be: DAY 7 (JUNE 29) We’ll have all morning to relax and catch up on sleep DAY 6 (JUNE 28) 13h30 -14h30 Lunch 17h-18h Arrive at the hotel and relax as we settle into our new accommodation 15h - 17h30 Final post-processing session. Looking at getting the best from the images we’ve taken so far on the trip and 19h-20h Dinner in the hotel putting what we’ve learned into practice.

21h30 - 3h30 Shooting session at a range of nearby locations: 19h-20h Dinner in the hotel • Last light in Hverir/Námarskard, shooting the incredible multicoloured landscape full of steaming fumaroles and 21h30 - 3h30 Shooting session at a range of nearby locations: boiling mud • Sunset at Godafoss waterfalls. There are multiple angles to • Sunset at Dettifoss, the most powerful waterfall in Europe. shoot at these beautiful waterfalls which can be captured • Twilight and blue hour at Selfoss, a complex and beautiful from both sides. waterfall system a short hike upriver from Dettifoss • Twilight and blue hour at either Godafoss and Aldeyjarfoss • Sunrise from the other side of Dettifoss waterfall for a waterfalls completely different view, or back at Lake Myvatn. • Sunrise at Aldeyjarfoss waterfalls

DAY 8 - REYKJAVIK (JUNE 30) 12h After getting up and having breakfast we’ll begin our journey back to Reykjavik. We’ll stop for lunch along the way to break the journey and be on the look out for Icelandic horses so we can stop and do some portraits.

19h We’ll arrive in Reykjavik later in the afternoon, check into our hotel and have a final dinner together. In the evening there’ll be time for an informal post-processing session before we head out for a final shooting session at some of the local Reykjavik landmarks like the Hallgrímskirkja church or the Sun Voyager sculpture.

The following morning (July 1), we say our goodbyes and drop people off at the airport.

WHAT WE DO (AND WHAT WE WANT YOU TO GET FROM OUR WORKSHOPS)

Our aim is to take you to beautiful locations and give you every Having a number of fantastic locations all very close to each of opportunity to get great images while improving your technique our three bases means we can adapt to the weather and go to over the course of the workshop. From the beginning of your time where the conditions are best for shooting. Also, having three with us we’ll aim to identify your photographic level and what bases from which we can access these locations means we spend you’d like to focus on, which combined with having three less time checking into and out of accommodation and avoids the professional photography tutors allows us to tailor the workshop to stress of constantly moving on to a new hotel every day. your precise needs and provide each participant with plenty of one-to-one tuition both in the field and in the post processing This adaptability also extends to the post processing sessions. We sessions. believe that editing is an integral part of getting the absolute best out of an image but we understand that the range of participant’s We’ve carefully timetabled this workshop to ensure that while you skill levels and familiarity with post processing techniques varies get to experience some the most beautiful locations the country greatly. Because of this we once again make the most of having has to offer, you won’t have to sacrifice comfort or sleep despite three tutors to provide editing sessions in the afternoon that can the fact that we’ll be travelling at a time when there’s no night. potentially range from the basics of editing a RAW file in We’ll make sure that you get plenty of time in the field when the programs like Lightroom to more complex techniques like using light is at it’s absolute best and when there are few tourists around, layers and luminosity masks in Photoshop. and with long sessions you’ll quickly get into a shooting rhythm where you can put into practice new skills as they are learned. Finally, we want to share with you our passion for nature and The dates of our workshops are carefully selected to try and make landscape photography in this incredible place. We aim to make sure we are in each location at the time of year when conditions your experience here in the beautiful landscape of Iceland a for photography are at their best. Late June gives us the best memorable one and a trip from which, as well as getting some chance of good weather and also gives us the opportunity to great images from amazing locations, you’ll also go home having experience the long hours of golden light, sunset, twilight and then had a true adventure with great company in a very special place. sunrise which northern latitudes experience at this time of year.

SOME OF THE PHOTOGRAPHY TECHNIQUES COVERED IN THIS WORKSHOP IN THE FIELD: • Understanding the light and choosing the best exposure • Composition. Balance and harmony, leading lines and creating depth. • Different shutter speeds and long exposures with neutral density filters for waterfalls and the ocean • Lens choice. From the wide angle vista to shooting landscape abstracts with a telephoto lens • Shooting multiple image panoramas • Controlling light in scenes with a wide dynamic range using graduated filters and/or multiple exposures • Shooting in the blue hour and overcast weather

PROCESSING: • Using Lightroom to apply contrast • Using Photoshop layers to build up image adjustments • Photoshop masks for local adjustments • Using luminosity masks in Photoshop • Different techniques for blending multiple exposures of the same image • Using Nik Color Efex Pro, Silver Efex and Adobe Camera RAW on Photoshop layers • Sharpening images THE GUIDES

ANDY MUMFORD is a Lisbon based professional landscape and travel photographer. Andy grew up in the UK loving nature and travel and took up landscape photography over a decade ago. Since then he has travelled extensively photographing all over the world and his photography and articles have featured in publications and books worldwide. He is a passionate photographer teacher and has been leading both group and one-to-one workshops for five years.

He is a Fuji X Photographer and a brand ambassador for Fujifilm in Portugal, although he also has extensive experience with Nikon and Canon cameras.

KONSTANTINOS VASILAKIS is an award winning Greece based professional landscape and mountain photographer. His work has been published and exhibited around the world, and he has been organising and leading workshop for over five years.

Konstantinos’ work stems from his passion for nature and his drive to capture images that are a personal representation of the scene in front of him, and living in Greece’s northern mountains provides him with much of his inspiration.

KOSTAS PETRAKIS is a Holland based professional landscape photographer who has travelled extensively and photographed some of Europe’s most beautiful landscapes. He has over a decade of photographic experience shooting in iconic locations from Italy to Iceland, Scotland to the French Alps, and has been leading workshops for over five years.

Kostas’ is inspired by the wild landscape, by the untouched wilderness and by the adventure of exploring new places. WHAT TO BRING

A dSLR or mirrorless camera The criteria for the kind of work we’ll be doing is a camera that can be operated completely manually to ensure we get the best exposure with interchangeable lenses allowing us to cover a range of focal lengths

A wide angle lens For some of the locations a wide angle lens really is essential if you want to get those epic landscapes with a foreground that feels you can almost step right into it. 16mm or 17mm on a full frame camera (10mm or 12mm on an APS-C sensor camera) is ideal.

A telephoto lens Iceland is a country where we’ll often find ourselves shooting abstract landscapes for which a telephoto is ideal. A range that covers 70-200mm (55–135mm on a crop sensor) is perfect.

A mid-range zoom lens While these lenses are often the least useful for shooting landscapes, for the kind of locations we’ll be encountering in Iceland there may be a couple of occasions when the zooms listed above are too wide or too long and a mid-range zoom in the 24-70mm (18-55mm on a crop sensor) range is needed.

Tripod We’ll often be shooting in low light so a tripod is an absolutely essential piece of equipment. A lightweight carbon fibre model is ideal for this kind of trip.

Filters We’ll be shooting various waterfalls and a neutral density filter of at least 3 stops will slow down the exposure and blur the water, whilst a thicker 6 - 8 stop filter will help blur water and cloud movement. There may also be times when a graduated filter will help control the brightness of the sky.

A cable release This allows us to trip the camera shutter without touching the camera, avoiding movement blur during longer exposures.

Comfortable waterproof walking boots While we won’t be doing any particularly long hikes we’ll certainly be doing some walking over rocky and uneven ground, and we’ll often find ourselves in mud or wet sand.

Insulated jacket, water & windproof shell and warm clothes Even though it’s summer it can still get quite chilly in Iceland so warm clothes will help keep you comfortable while we’re out shooting. It’s best to layer, with a base layer next to the skin and then a fleece or thicker layer on top. An insulated jacket on top of that will keep you warm, and also a waterproof or windproof shell as a final layer in case the weather turns bad.

Camera Backpack When moving your camera gear for any length of time a backpack can really save your back. A good backpack, one with sturdy hip straps, can safely distribute the weight of your gear and really save you from aches, pains and potential injury.

Laptop with Adobe Lightroom or Camera RAW and Photoshop We’ll be shooting RAW, and as parts of the workshop will be dedicated to post processing images a good RAW converter like Adobe Lightroom or Camera RAW is essential. Other converters like Capture One are also fine. Adobe Photoshop is great for more advanced processing as it allows us to be much more subtle and creative in it’s use of layers.

If you have any questions about what to bring, don’t hesitate to contact us. USEFUL INFORMATION

GETTING TO ICELAND

From Europe: Throughout the summer there are daily direct flights from several major European Airports including Amsterdam, London, Paris and Frankfurt to Keflavik. These airports also serve as hubs for flights from other destinations. Flight times from most of these airports is around 3 hours. Icelandic airlines WOW Air and Icelandair have flights from a wide range of airports, whilst British Airways, Lufthansa and EasyJet also fly directly to Keflavik. From North America: There are daily direct flights New York, Washington DC, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles, as well as Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver to Keflavik. Flight times vary from around 6 - 7h30 hours, to almost 9 hours from Los Angeles. Keflavik is around 50 km to the west of Reykjavík and is served by a very regular airport shuttle, which guarantees a departure between 35 - 45 minutes after arrival, and transport to the airport in time for each scheduled flight out.

VISAS As Iceland is a member of the Schengen Agreement, travellers from the EU and EFTA (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland) countries only require a valid national identity card or passport to enter the country. Visitors from outside the EU or EFTA are required to have a passport valid for at least three months beyond the length of their intended stay. Nationals from countries other than the EU, USA, Canada and Australia may need a visa, so please check with your local embassy.

WEATHER Iceland has famously changeable weather, with temperatures and conditions often varying throughout the day and significantly in different parts of the country. The average daily temperature in Reykjavik in June is 10°C, while in the Highlands the average is a little lower at 7°C. Bear in mind though that winds from the surrounding glaciers can make the temperate feel considerably cooler than that. Also, although June is one of the driest month of the year, there is still an average of 10 days rain per month. The best place to get forecasts and weather information for Iceland is through the Iceland Meteorological Office site http://en.vedur.is/weather/forecasts/areas/centralhighlands/ TERMS & CONDITIONS

Payment

This workshop is costed in Euros and that is thus the only constant price due to the fluctuations of the exchange rate prices in other currencies.

In order to secure your place on this workshop a deposit of €500,00, payable via wire transfer, is required. Please note that your spot on the workshop is not confirmed until we have received the deposit payment. Full Payment must be made 60 days prior to the start of the workshop when we will send out an invoice for the full amount to clients. If payment isn’t received and we receive no communication from you, we reserve the right to consider your booking as cancelled. When booking within 60 days of the start of the workshop, immediate full payment will be required to secure your place.

Cancellation

The deposit is partially refundable in case of cancellation. Up 150 days prior to departure the deposit is fully refundable. If canceled up to 90 days before the start of the workshop we will refund 50% of the deposit. However, after that period we are unable to make any refund of the deposit as necessary bookings with all the third parties (accommodation, transport, etc.) will have been made and their required deposits paid by us. If you need to cancel your participation once you have made full payment, a 75% refund of the full price will be given up to 30 days prior to the start of the workshop. Cancellations within 30 days of the workshop starting receive a 50% refund of the full payment. We cannot offer any refund for any participants who, for any reason, leave a workshop already in progress as payments towards accommodation, vehicle hire etc. will have already been made by Light Explorers.

We reserve the right to cancel a workshop in case of insufficient enrolment which might make the tour financially unviable, or due to concerns about the potential safety and welfare of participants. In these instances we offer a full refund of all payments made to Light Explorers. In the highly unlikely case that we need to cancel a trip in progress due to concerns about the safety and welfare of workshop participants, you will receive a refund proportional to the amount of time remaining on the workshop. We aren’t responsible for any refund of airline tickets purchased directly by the participant.

Itinerary

While we will make every effort to follow the itinerary laid out in the workshop documentation, Light Explorers reserves the right to make changes or modifications due to weather conditions or other unforeseen circumstances.

Insurance

We recommend you purchase travel and cancellation insurance which covers the loss of any payments made not already covered by Light Explorers, for example flights purchased by the participant from an airline or travel agency. Insurance should also cover personal accident and injury, medical and repatriation costs, loss of luggage and belongings, as well as flight cancellations and delays. Health

This workshop is designed to be within the capabilities of the average person in good health. Participants will be required to walk over uneven terrain or trails and may occasionally need to hike to a destination while carrying their camera equipment. Any physical condition requiring special treatment should be communicated to us before enrolling in the workshop. If you have concerns about your own capabilities and/or fitness as it relates to this workshop, please contact us to clarify any uncertainties.

Special Requirements

If you have any dietary requirements or requests you should inform us at the time of booking. We will advise the lodges/hotels but we do not assume responsibility for the delivery of such special dietary requirements.

Responsibility

While we ensure that we work with reliable and trustworthy providers who have a history of providing first class care to their customers, we assume no responsibility for injury, medical care, death, damage or loss of property caused by an act or failing of any of our providers. We also assume no responsibility for loss or damage to property, injury or death caused by participant’s failure to comply with local laws, or by impossible to foresee occurrences including, but not exclusive to, natural disasters and war. Participants are responsible for their transport to and from the designated meeting point for the workshop (airport, hotel, train station, etc.), and for arriving on time. While we will attempt to ensure that all participants are collected, in the case of very late arrival this may not always be possible as we have to maintain the timely running of the workshop. In such cases it is the responsibility of the client to join the workshop and assume the costs of doing this, and in such instances we are not liable for any portion of the workshops missed. The participants are responsible for their baggage, photographic equipment and personal items at all times during the workshop.