I'm slowly (very slowly actually) processing my images from the trip to Iceland this November. While doing so, I'm looking back at my older work wondering if I see any creative and conceptual progress.

Except for plenty of unprocessed scans and raw files, what I see is a very different quality of light during each of our trips. And this essentially defines everything else.

We had some tremendous lighting conditions and whole-night shooting shifts when we first visited Iceland in 2009. This brought some nice pictures that I include into my collection with a big smile. On the other hand, we were rushing far too much in an attempt to photograph all iconic places we could reach in a week. I didn't know what to expect so the results are necessarily "expectable" and predictable.

*Caption: Ice Smile, Location: Near Jokulsarlon, Iceland, Camera: Hasselblad H1, Lens: Hasselblad HC 35mm, Film: Fuji Velvia 50, Exposure: 0.5s, Aperture: f/16, ISO: 50, Filters: No*

On our trip in the winter 2012 and 2013, we were not particularly lucky with the weather conditions. Perhaps this was the reason that slowed me down and let me work with more concept. I also spent considerably more time at the same places. Having become more familiar with the vast and rough Icelandic landscape, I began to feel it in a more abstract way. The content was not so important anymore, I liked to work with mutual relationships between the subjects in the frame and their alignment into pleasing compositions. For landscape "de-contenting", winter Iceland is ideal.

And then there are northern lights. Separate class of quality of experience. It is worthless to describe feelings one has when watching the performance on the sky. But it is when photographing in minus 20 turns highly enjoyable.

Enough said, here are new uploads to my Iceland gallery. It's the brief selection of images made in Iceland in winter 2012.