The Perfect Shot

Photographing Icelandic nature and weather conditions can make your usual photography sessions at home seem as difficult as sitting on your couch watching Netflix. This is why we’ve devised two great tutorials for photographing in Iceland. Enjoy and please #wowair if you share your awesome photos on Instagram.

Aerial photography

If you are planning to check out Iceland (or any other land) by air, you probably want to take some photos but aerial photography can be a little tricky. If you’re a complete novice you might just end up with bland or blurred images that really depict none of the awesomeness you just witnessed. Don’t worry, the simple shot guide to good aerial photography is about to become your best friend.

We teamed up with pilot and photographer Haraldur Diego who gave us a few tips to keep in mind when capturing stunning aerial photos.

APERTURE

When shooting at a downward angle, such as trying to capture rivers or landscapes underneath, Haraldur’s optimal aperture setting is F4.5 - F6.3. However, since most of the time you’d be shooting sub jects at a great distance, you might want to set it higher.

SHUTTER SPEED

Since you’re trying to capture your perfect shot from a moving air plane, you’ll want to keep your shutter speed high. Haraldur recom mends 1/1000 sec, but keep in mind that your needs will differ accord ing to the distance of your subject.

ISO

If you’re working with a high shutter speed, bump up your ISO accordingly. Somewhere in the range of 400-1600 is optimal.

CONTINUOUS HIGH MODE

Flying through the air and keeping an eye out for that perfect shot can be intense work, so using a continuous high mode while shooting, ups your chances of striking gold. Just remember that this in-turn requires a high-speed SD card.

Haraldur Diego offers flight services for photographers who need to get on “higher ground” for some jaw-dropping aerial photographs of their own so check out his website www.overiceland.com for more information and stunning photos.

Find a pilot, have fun and prepare to be amazed!

Check out our aerial tutorial video and more of Haraldur’s photos at wowair.us/magazine/perfect-shot-aerial-tutorial

Northern Lights photography

You might have come here for the Northern Lights but you should stay for the photo ­ graphy lesson. Taking photos of these green goblins is more difficult than it appears but if you know how to set your camera you just might be going home with your very own northern lights photo to show your friends.

Professional photographer and aurora borealis hunter Óli Haukur, aka OZZO, gave us a few essential tips to keep in mind when capturing the Northern Lights.

TIMING

This is obviously going to be your most important issue. The Northern Lights are natural phenomena that occur all year round but are only visible in the dark and clear skies. This means that Iceland’s near 24-hour daylight in summer won’t get you very far for that perfect Aurora Borealis shot. Time your trip somewhere between September and early April and get familiar with the Icelandic Met Office’s Aurora Forecast to stay up to speed on visibility and aurora predictions. (en.vedur.is/weather/forecasts/aurora)

APERTURE

You’re essentially trying to capture a moving ray of light in the pitch-black night sky so keep your aperture large, somewhere in the range of F1.4 – F2.8, or as low as possible.

SHUTTER SPEED

You are shooting a long exposure and the lights are moving, so try to keep the shutter speed as fast as possible so the lights don’t get blurry. Somewhere in the range of 5-10” seconds is optimal.

ISO

We want to be as light sensitive as possible for the Northern Lights so we set our ISO very high, 1600-6400 is optimal.

Remember to dress well, because standing outside on a dark winter’s night in Iceland can be both a magical and a very cold experience. Mittens and a warm beverage are always a good idea and getting out of the light-polluted city is a must.

Have fun, stay warm and prepare to be amazed!

Go to wowair.us/magazine/perfect-shot-northernlights to check out our video tutorial and photos by OZZO.