Sólheimasandur, South Iceland

In 1973, the Navy DC 3 plane ran out of fuel and had to make an emergency crash landing on the black sand beach in Sólheimasandur, just outside of Vik, Iceland. The crew survived, but the body of the plane is still there, four decades later. As the years have passed, people have come and taken most of the valuable parts, so the plane is really just a shell of what it once was, but it’s still an incredible sight.

The location of the parking isn’t too far past Skógafoss if you’re driving east on ​Þjóðvegur 1 (Route 1).  You can find directions to the plane wreckage as you can see a ton of cars parked on the side of the road.  Previously, one could drive all the way to the wreckage, but it is actually on private property and as the number of tourists visiting the site began to increase, the landowners barred cars from entering and you now have to hike the 4km one-way to the plane.

The hike isn’t difficult – it’s completely flat and across packed black sand – but it’s the weather that can be challenging.  Come prepared for changing conditions and remember that even though it’s not a strenuous hike, it’s still exposed and monotonous.

I used two setups here. For still images, I used my SONY α7RIII and SONY FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM lens, mounted on my Gitzo Mountaineer GT-1542 and FLM 32FP ballhead to capture these shots.  My other setup was mainly for timelapse, where I used SONY α​7SII and Laowa 12mm f/2.8 Zero-D with NiSi CPL, mounted on the Leofoto LS-284C and Leofoto LH-30 ballhead. 

PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS

• Be aggressive, and be fast. I would have loved it if people would have let each other take turns or wait while you’re taking a photo, but with that many people there, it just wasn’t going to happen. If you spend the whole time allowing others to take their pictures, you’ll never get your own. Get into the spot you want and then take the photo as soon as you see the perfect conditions.
• Don’t wait for the perfect conditions. I know I just said take the picture as soon as you see just what you want, but you have to take that with a grain of salt based on the surroundings. It’s best to accept the fact that you’ll have to edit people out of your pictures, so try to take pictures with the people in spots that will be easy to edit or crop out. Chances are, you’ll get lucky on a few shots and might not have someone else in it!
• If you do something creative, be prepared for others to copy you. I really wanted shots on top of the plane, but of course as soon as you climbed up there, a bunch of other people immediately followed suit.  So, just take your pictures fast!
  
• Respect your fellow photographers. Remember that everyone is there to get a cool photo, just like you. Don’t get frustrated with the other people there, just work around them – or with them – as much as you can.

​#SONY #SONYMalaysia #GMaster #NiSi #Leofoto #Laowa #LeePhoto #IcelandPhotographyAdventure2018