Kirkjufellsfoss photography – The Story Behind – Kirkjufellsfoss.
Picture postcard Photography – read all about it! So this is an occasional series where give a full account of a particular image… in this case it’s all about – how you can oh so nearly lose the prize – whilst keeping your eye on it!
My original photo story went something like …
The Story Behind – Kirkjufellsfoss
It’s That Place. That Place I went to Iceland to photograph (well, among other, better things I found after I got there). Eat your hearts out all those Game of Thrones people (no I haven’t seen it but I have read all the books). Read that sentence again. Really.
And I got some clouds on the second day we stayed near there. Which were nice as I was able to make them move. And I got an awful lot of people, too. Which, although I am sure they were nice people, having so many of them wasn’t nice. If you get me.
For the full story involving a wipe out day, hordes of humans, and a SHUT sign where I ended up taking this from, please Google ‘Andrew Barnes Game of Thrones’ on my blog
A few more details:-
What you don’t see.
So, this was ‘the shot’ that I went to Iceland for. Why, on Earth, was it ‘a thing’, I wonder, to me. I mean, I am not going to get ‘hero lighting’ when I am there, as it’s only for a two days stay. So I will have to make do with what lighting I get. (When I say hero lighting, I mean the sort of amazing lighting that generally locals can see and capture. Because they live there and can revisit. Rinse and repeat.)
And yet.
It’s a bucket list item.
So, halfway round the world, a drive from the airport late at night that redefined Bad Weather and, ah-hem, moderate roads. And, add on a Dacia Duster that the rental company decided was a suitable vehicle to impart to the consuming masses. ‘Suzuki Vitara or similar’ said the rental company ad. I think I saw one Vitara in all my time in Iceland, and every fourth vehicle seemed to be a white Duster, with a driver who seemed to have a nervous tic. [I later found that they were a cult car for the Top Gear crew… because they are so unbelievably bad to drive]
Did I divert my story? Anyways, our first day in Grundarfjordur was Wet. With a capital W. We were tired. So we slept in. We drove past the falls, and there did seem to be some works going on. Didn’t register. Never mind, we will visit tomorrow. A Sunday.
And we turned up on the Sunday. Major building works! OMG. Yellow construction vehicles, barricades, you name it. No access across the stream to get to ‘the shot point’ due to barricades. But no workmen, as it was Sunday. So, it being 2025 and people behave, well, like people behave, everyone walked around the barricades. Easy, but a slight element of danger, falling from the side of the bridge.
People being People in 2025 and walking round barricades.
So I got The Shot. Set up the tripod. Nice long exposure for the water. Some nice dappled light. Hey, not too shabby. But.
People everywhere! Fences above the river! Never mind. I also got a nice phone grab, so I knew for a small image I could remove the people. But… that much excess in Photoshop? Hmm.
We drove on further. A beautiful drive. And as we passed back later on the Sunday afternoon, the Men had arrived. And there were no tourists on the far side of the bridge. They had all been stopped in their tracks. Zero Zip Zilch. Herded back to The Dark Side of the stream. No photo op for them.
What I saw Afterwards
Ok, I’m back home now, and have taken a leisurely approach to processing my Iceland images. And thinking…
Wow…. I could have traveled sooo far, and got nothing. It was just my luck the workmen had a half day, and weren’t working on the Sunday morning. We had a loooong drive to Akureyri the next day, so would not have taken an hour or so detour to return and try again for the shot.
I have no answers here. It was a bucket list total whim for me to want this shot. So we stayed in a much less visited area of Iceland to get it, and suffered apocalyptic weather for one of the two days we were there. And…. It’s nowhere near the ‘hero’ shot of my trip.
I was also in a heightened sense of anxiety when I was there. At the very start of the holidays. What happened if? Goodness your mind can play tricks. The terrain was really quite slippery. In hindsight, yes a new walkway is needed due to over tourism.
Also… some technical details. I took many variations. Quite clearly water doesn’t look like that in real life in bright sunshine. I also balanced the image… there was movement of the water so I added some extra movement in the cloud patterns. I used a motion blur filter.
And no, I still haven’t seen Game of Thrones.
Am I Happy?
Yes, quite the shot and quite the story.
8 / 10
Andrew Barnes
The Kirkjufellsfoss Photographer
Yep, I’m happy.
