Posted by Doug Beezley on March 20, 2014 at 4:40 PM
A couple of weeks ago I traveled to Iceland as part of a group to spend 10 days photographing the natural winter wonders of Iceland with the hope of including some good images of the Aurora. This is a trip I had been planning for over two years.
Iceland didn’t disappoint – the scenery is beyond fantastic, the people even better and I experienced one of the best Aurora displays imaginable. Locals told us it was the best display in terms of intensity and duration since 2006. The display on the night of February 27- morning of February 28 started about 9 pm and continued past 3 am with every imaginable shape and color on display. Not only were the usual greens present but also red, magenta, and blue. And, those colors could be seen with the naked eye.
In addition to the Aurora, I was pleased to see and photograph geysers, spectacular mountain/volcanos, waterfalls, and Iceland horses and family churches. I missed the black sand beach lagoon with the icebergs, the glaciers and several other waterfalls. Therein lays the “Woe” part.
I rented a Nikon D800 and 14-24 f2.8 lens for the trip on the premise this likely would be my one and only trip to Iceland and I wanted to make it count. The D800 and lens performed as advertised with spectacular pixel-peeping results until…
Until the wind blew over an unattended tripod mounted camera and lens and the lights went out in Nikon land. I had been taking images of the Aurora and decided I needed to clean the lens but had left the microfiber cloth in the car. I was absent from the camera less than 30 seconds when the wind blew over the tripod, the lens broke away from its metal mount and the D800 died forever. Another photographer graciously loaned me his “back up” camera but without the full array of lens I would need, it proved to be a pretty frustrating experience. After the fifth day of a ten day tour, I cancelled the remainder of the tour and returned home. But, I shall return. Iceland is just too beautiful to only go once.
Lessons learned: never walk away from a camera on a tripod; it can be very expensive. Make sure your equipment is insured. Fortunately, I purchased the insurance with the rental company so my out of pocket will likely be the amount of the deductible ($240). If you rent equipment and are taking it out of the US, you must tell the rental company. The insurance does not necessarily apply in all countries and failure to tell them where you are taking their equipment could void the insurance. I did tell them. If an accident happens, advise the rental company immediately via e-mail. Don’t wait until you get home to tell them you ruined $5,000 worth of equipment. They need to know that the equipment you rented isn’t going out on its next assignment; it’s going to the repair department or to the dumpster. And, bring your own "back up" body so you can continue on.
Finally, a big thumbs up to Sarah Marino and Ron Coscorrosa for their outstanding e-book about photographing Iceland, “Forever Light – The Landscape Photographer’s Guide to Iceland”. This is a truly excellent book and it was more than helpful in preparing me for my trip. And, thanks to John Mumaw for recommending it in the Forum. John seems to always know about these things and always shares that information.
Doug Beezley
Snellville, GA
Posted by Bill Pelzmann on March 20, 2014 at 5:35 PM
Doug, thanks so much for sharing your "adventure", it's always good to learn from other's mistakes. It certainly makes the case for backup gear when traveling to distant locations. Not something I'm overly concerned about while in the US.
Glad to hear you were insured!
Iceland certainly has some wicked winds. Last September, our first day started off at the airport with the most incredible wind gusts that I have ever experienced. Talk about being blown off your feet - literally! At one overlook I had to hang onto a signpost while attempting to compose. Fortunately it lasted only until early afternoon! Of course, under those conditions nobody leaves a camera unattended on a tripod.
Yes, I also highly recommend "Forever Light" as a must have resource for any photographer visiting Iceland for the first time.
Hope you can get back soon.
Posted by Karl Buiter on March 20, 2014 at 8:19 PM
I had a very similar event occur to me... but on a train shoot in Durango and the tripod knocked over in another manner and I did not even get my first shot off.... $600 in travel and event costs down the drain... but equally got a reprieve from someone else's backup camera. Fortunately the lens I was using survived with to-be-repaired but not fatal damage. I carry a backup body these days.
Hopefully the memory card remained in good shape and we'll see some of those colorful auroras!
Posted by Monika Chace on March 21, 2014 at 9:44 AM
Doug, what a shame to have to cut your Iceland trip short! Mark had told me how amazing the auroral storm was on that trip. I hope you got some good shots before this happened! I've had a similar thing happen at high altitude on granite slabs (my pack was just out of arms reach & I needed something out of it) but fortunately, it just jammed the zoom on the telephoto lens & the body was fine. I was left with a 10-22mm (cropped sensor) and a 70-200mm (full frame) lens, which made for a good exercise in changing how I saw compositions. I, too, always have a backup body. Best of luck on your future travels!
What a shame to cut your trip in half after planning it for 2 years! I really feel your pain! On my trip to Iceland a few years ago, my 300IS/4 lens had the IS feature die leaving the lens useless, and my in-field portable hard drive for downloading cards also died, and my wife's dslr got drenched with salt water while on a whale watching excursion and it died. Fortunately, I had a backup plan for each problem. That all paled to the meningitis infection my wife ended the trip with. I've gotten to the point of almost carrying a backup camera just to use the restroom !.
Hopefully you can revisit Iceland soon and then have a better experience!
Posted by Sarah Marino on March 31, 2014 at 11:35 AM
Doug, I am so very sorry to hear about your mishaps on your trip. You do share some really valuable lessons, which I have learned the hard way. I hope you are able to make it back to Iceland soon to see the places you had hoped to visit on the first trip.
Also, thank you to both Doug and Bill for the kind endorsements of our e-book. We really appreciate it!
Discussion
5 repliesIceland didn’t disappoint – the scenery is beyond fantastic, the people even better and I experienced one of the best Aurora displays imaginable. Locals told us it was the best display in terms of intensity and duration since 2006. The display on the night of February 27- morning of February 28 started about 9 pm and continued past 3 am with every imaginable shape and color on display. Not only were the usual greens present but also red, magenta, and blue. And, those colors could be seen with the naked eye.
In addition to the Aurora, I was pleased to see and photograph geysers, spectacular mountain/volcanos, waterfalls, and Iceland horses and family churches. I missed the black sand beach lagoon with the icebergs, the glaciers and several other waterfalls. Therein lays the “Woe” part.
I rented a Nikon D800 and 14-24 f2.8 lens for the trip on the premise this likely would be my one and only trip to Iceland and I wanted to make it count. The D800 and lens performed as advertised with spectacular pixel-peeping results until…
Until the wind blew over an unattended tripod mounted camera and lens and the lights went out in Nikon land. I had been taking images of the Aurora and decided I needed to clean the lens but had left the microfiber cloth in the car. I was absent from the camera less than 30 seconds when the wind blew over the tripod, the lens broke away from its metal mount and the D800 died forever. Another photographer graciously loaned me his “back up” camera but without the full array of lens I would need, it proved to be a pretty frustrating experience. After the fifth day of a ten day tour, I cancelled the remainder of the tour and returned home. But, I shall return. Iceland is just too beautiful to only go once.
Lessons learned: never walk away from a camera on a tripod; it can be very expensive. Make sure your equipment is insured. Fortunately, I purchased the insurance with the rental company so my out of pocket will likely be the amount of the deductible ($240). If you rent equipment and are taking it out of the US, you must tell the rental company. The insurance does not necessarily apply in all countries and failure to tell them where you are taking their equipment could void the insurance. I did tell them. If an accident happens, advise the rental company immediately via e-mail. Don’t wait until you get home to tell them you ruined $5,000 worth of equipment. They need to know that the equipment you rented isn’t going out on its next assignment; it’s going to the repair department or to the dumpster. And, bring your own "back up" body so you can continue on.
Finally, a big thumbs up to Sarah Marino and Ron Coscorrosa for their outstanding e-book about photographing Iceland, “Forever Light – The Landscape Photographer’s Guide to Iceland”. This is a truly excellent book and it was more than helpful in preparing me for my trip. And, thanks to John Mumaw for recommending it in the Forum. John seems to always know about these things and always shares that information.
Doug Beezley
Snellville, GA
Glad to hear you were insured!
Iceland certainly has some wicked winds. Last September, our first day started off at the airport with the most incredible wind gusts that I have ever experienced. Talk about being blown off your feet - literally! At one overlook I had to hang onto a signpost while attempting to compose. Fortunately it lasted only until early afternoon! Of course, under those conditions nobody leaves a camera unattended on a tripod.
Yes, I also highly recommend "Forever Light" as a must have resource for any photographer visiting Iceland for the first time.
Hope you can get back soon.
I had a very similar event occur to me... but on a train shoot in Durango and the tripod knocked over in another manner and I did not even get my first shot off.... $600 in travel and event costs down the drain... but equally got a reprieve from someone else's backup camera. Fortunately the lens I was using survived with to-be-repaired but not fatal damage. I carry a backup body these days.
Hopefully the memory card remained in good shape and we'll see some of those colorful auroras!
Hopefully you can revisit Iceland soon and then have a better experience!
Also, thank you to both Doug and Bill for the kind endorsements of our e-book. We really appreciate it!