Iceland Cinematic Road Trip Film | 1,900 miles in 10 days

Описание: I finally managed to visit Iceland in March 2024 after putting off the trip for 2/3 years and wanting to visit for at least the past 10. It was nothing short of a dream.

My friend Fione came along for the ride and for the first 6 days we had wall to wall rain, gales, blizzards and darkness, sometimes driving 100+ miles at night during all of the above. We lived out of a Jeep Renegade with a rooftop tent and had a single burner camping stove for our meals. To keep us on our toes some of the supposedly year-round campsites we arrived at were either closed or had permanently changed use, just as well I had planned some contingencies for this happening!

Initially we had planned to drive around the entire country though decided against going further north from Vestrahorn, mainly because of one night's forecast showing -20°C (-4°F) with -35°C (-31°F) wind chill. Another factor in this decision was that we had passed most of the scenic areas during terrible weather or at night. We thought that by retracing the road we had a better chance to see these locations with slightly less rain and cloud around (it was the correct choice!)

On the 3rd day I opened my phone to see that just a half hour before at around 9/10pm, the Reykjanes Peninsula had began to erupt. I knew there was a good chance it would while we there given the history of eruptions over the past year and the magma chamber being fuller than it had been before previous eruptions.

I thought I should at least try and see it for myself as it's not every day you're in a country with an active volcano! I hatched the plan to set off around 5am and drove around 100 miles back the way we came towards Grindavik through some awful weather while Fione was able to nap for some of the drive. As we reached a junction with a turn off for the Reykjanes Geopark a mere 10km from the eruption, the road was sadly already blocked by an emergency vehicle and we had to to come up with a different plan for the day. I knew it was a long shot though I'd have regretted not at least trying to see it for myself.

Some personal highlights of the trip were visiting the infamously treacherous Reynisfjara Beach during a red warning, hiking above Skaftafell Glacier, seeing the aurora, albeit faint, on the first clear night whilst at Vestrahorn, cooking Arctic Char during a blizzard at night and the following day making breakfast in the car park opposite Kirkjufell on the most incredible bright, crisp winter morning before any tourist buses arrived.

I'd love to go back in future though perhaps for a slightly more comfortable summer trip next time!

You can find me at www.instagram.com/raeburnfilms
Website www.raeburnfilms.com

Locations in the film:

Gaukshöfði
Gullfoss
Grotta Island Lighthouse
Gunnuhver Hot Springs
Hjálparfoss
Jökulsárlón Lagoon
Kirkjufell
Mulagljufur Canyon
Reynisfjara Beach
Skaftafell Glacier
Skogafoss
Seljalandsfoss
Vestrahorn / Stokksnes

Equipment used:

DJI Mavic 3 Pro

Sony a7sIII
Tamron 17-28mm f2.8
Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 mk 1
Sony 35mm f1.8
Sony 70-200mm f4 mk 1
Sony 200-600mm f5.6-6.3

DJI RS2 Gimbal


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