BEWARE OF ICELANDIC WINDS

That mountain known as the Church Mountain is 463m high, on the west coast of Iceland’s Snæfellsnes peninsula, near the town of Grundarfjörður. A hurricane will hit the area, that was the forecast that night on the 12th of March 2016. We wanted (7 Lebanese photographers and an American photojournalist) to make it a short visit before the bad weather hits the area. I have been there twice, in 2014 and 2015, and I can tell that this part of Iceland has a unique weather characteristic, it changes every hour, not like other areas.

After sunset, I went scouting the area and took some great shots with the broken ice blocks from across a calm inlet around the waterfall Kirkjufellsfoss facing the church mountain. At night, some of the group members went to book a table for dinner in a local restaurant… they didn’t find any. Not easy in such a small town. On their way back to the guest house they spotted the light and they informed the rest of us, including me.

I was tired from wearing too many clothes and base layers all the trip and believe me it is something annoying… I wanted to make it fast, no base layers this time, only a fleece and a weatherproof jacket, and yes a pair of jeans, knowing that it will be windy and very low temperature, but who cares! The Northern Lights are performing in the sky.

Tarek (a friend of mine for 8 years now, and my shooting buddy) was driving fast to reach the mountain area; I still remember my spot, I asked him to pull over; went down to reach that inlet, finding the spot, that was very small surrounded by the water… Only me and my tripod can fit in there, a step forward or backward means that I’ll be in the water!

The sky was garnished with a thick ribbon of green lights dancing and changing its shape by the time all over the mountain peak. All set, my tripod which I added to its center column my camera bag providing more stability, my camera has been leveled, the composition was determined. And the shooting started…

I was so amazed by the show in the sky. From time to time some bearable wind blows and it was fine. After an hour of shooting and tuning my camera settings to get a decent printable shot, a sudden rush of wind hit my camera and I wasn’t looking, maybe I was trying to light a cigarette. I looked back at the camera to see it on its way to the water. At that moment I was ready to get wet and cold but not my camera since it is the only body I had. I rushed to save the situation and I made it. Not easy for me to lose my equipment, and not for anybody else I believe…

Again re-positioned my camera in a better way. Continued the shooting with my eyes on my gears… Here is the photo which was taken while the camera was falling…