Packing for Photography in Iceland
Iceland. The new IT place for photography. If you’re planning a trip soon, you don’t want to miss this read!
In late September to early October 2022, I spent over a week driving throughout Iceland on a landscape and dog photography trip (check out the photos here). October is a particularly unpredictable month as the rain begins to set in. The drier parts of Iceland receive an average of 3 inches of rain while the wettest gets a whopping 8.5 inches! And though it wasn’t raining consistently by the hour, it was consistent in that it rained nearly every day (Iceland averages 15 days of rain in October with only 4 days of sunshine).
The good news? I expected this and packed accordingly. Well, if truth be told, I actually OVER PACKED. Below is my gear list, lessons learned, and what I’d do over to avoid dragging around unnecessary gear. OUCH MY BACK!
My GO-TO Photography Gear
I usually travel with one body, one zoom and one portrait lens; the best that I have. For this trip, I packed two bodies, my monster 200 mm prime, a prime portrait lens, a zoom portrait lens, and a wide angle zoom lens. My mistake was bringing the 200 mm and leaving behind the faithful 70-200 mm. Leave your primes behind unless you’re specifically shooting portraiture. Also, unless you’re accident prone, I’d leave the backup body as well.
What To Take:
Your best camera body.
Your best long zoom lens.
Your best wide angle zoom lens.
Your best prime portrait if you can’t live without it.
Your best protective backpack - I use the Lowepro ProTactic BP 450 AW II Camera and Laptop Backpack.
Cleaning gear.
Chargers, power adapters, waterproof SD card holder, gobs of SD cards, and SD card dock.
Laptop
Don’t have what you need or want to try new better equipment for the trip? LensProToGo is my go-to for lens rentals. The prices are reasonable, I’ve always received the equipment on time, and their shipping process is easy. For this trip I rented the Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG HSM Art for Nikon.
What to Leave Behind:
Backup camera body
Monster prime lens
Portrait zoom lens - like the 24-70 mm
Rain covers - I bought the Altura Photo Professional Camera Rain Cover and didn’t use it even when it was raining. I used small travel towels a lot.
Gorilla Pod
Best Advice:
Service your gear before you leave. If you forgo backup equipment, you want to make sure everything is in perfect working order.
While in country, inspect and clean your gear daily! I skipped cleaning one night after a long and tiring day and woke up to moisture in my camera’s control panel. UGH! All was good after an hour of attending to my equipment but it’s not something I wanted to repeat. Also, as beautiful as Iceland’s black sand is, it gets into EVVVVrything so bring the air blaster!
My GOTO Miscellaneous Gear
Here’s where I nailed it. I used my support gear daily and they took very little luggage room.
Sea to Summit Dry Sacks - I carried extra dry clothes and my sack lunches in the conveniently colored bags for easy identification; helpful with all the gear bags in in the back of the rental.
Petzel Rechargable Headlamp - you will find yourself leaving in the dark to drive to locations.
Nite-Ize Gear - ZipIt Zipper Pulls | S-Biners | Gear Ties
Witz See It Safe Waterproof ID/Badge Holder Case - I never travel without this. Carries my ID’s, credit cards and cash in a safe place. Wallet stays home.
Don’t forget the blue tooth noise cancelling blue tooth headset for onboard entertainment and the little screamer two rows back while mid-flight. I also bring an extra set of ear buds with the 3.5mm jack just in case I can’t get the blue tooth to connect. Nearly all airplanes still accommodate that.
My GOTO Clothing Gear
Arguably the most importing gear you consider is clothes. If you’re not comfortable, you won’t be venturing out to see the sights AND it takes up the must luggage real estate. Having said that, I completely overpacked my clothes!
By nature I’m planner and I notoriously overpack for contingencies. But I found myself wearing nearly the same thing every single day because I knew I was getting dirty and wet, so why dirty everything? Trust me on this one, you really don’t need the handbags, matching outfits and all that non-sense. Leave it.
What To Take:
Short rainproof/windproof jacket - if you love getting IG story shots, go ahead and bring those obnoxious bright red, orange or yellow jackets to stand out against the blacks, greens and blues of Iceland.
Rainproof paints - I bought the 33,000 Ft Women’s Rain Pants for the trip. It wasn’t sexy and it ripped in the knees when I was kneeling on rocks. But it did the trick and didn’t break the bank. When I got home I sewed the rip and its good to go for a few more sessions!
Long sleeve fleece jacket.
Puffer vest - I could have left this behind but I used it for the plane ride. Glad I did. I got stuck on the tarmac for 2 hours and having layers that I could easily strip was S.M.A.R.T. (why the airlines don’t turn the air on when you’re stuck on the runway is a mystery).
Wool sweater - my faves are from REI.
Leggings - I wore this under the rain pants.
Base Layers - I love the ones from REI, they’re not itchy wool and they have thumb holes (a must).
One beanie.
Gloves - I bought these great fitting gloves Temei Winter Waterproof Gloves.
One balaclava / neck scarf - I bought the The Buff Merino Wool Buff, it was a little on the big side but I wore it everyday.
Wool socks - don’t skimp here and bring extra. You WILL be wet and nothing is worse than putting on wet socks at 4:30 am. My faves are Darn Tough Cushion Hiking Socks.
Hiking Boots - my faves are Vasque Breeze 2.0 Waterproof Gore-Tex Hiking Boots and Sorel rain boots for the city.
Airplane clothes.
Small towel - many of the places I stayed did not have towels and it double dutied as protective shield out in the rain.
What I Wish I left Behind:
Long rainproof coat with puffer - The Alaska Long 3 in 1 from Mountain Warehouse. It’s a great coat but not practical for dog photography.
Waterproof snow pants - eye roll.
Water-resistant joggers - another eye roll.
Backup gloves - over planning is a problem for me.
Backup beanie - ditto from above.
Two backup sweaters - I nearly wore the same sweater the entire trip.
Two Base Layer Tanks - Woolly are my fave, but I I didn’t need it this time around except for sleeping in.
Two scarves - didn’t use any of them.
Two pants - used one once for going to the mall in Reykjavik. Other than that, it was a waste of space.
Lounge clothes for the lodging - I was fine walking around in my base layers.
House slippers - I was fine walking around in my socks.
Best Advice:
If you’re not worried about looks and don’t plan on clubbing in the city, you can save yourself luggage space by going without. Minimally, just bring the best of what’s necessary. Don’t worry about being too warm - you likely wont be. Don’t worry about being too cold - you do so much hiking and moving you warm up quick. And if you really really need it, you can buy it there (for a small fortune).
Miscellaneous Advice
Don’t go cheap on the rental car auto insurance. The sheep there are a real concern, I had a small herd SPRINT across the road in front of me. I barely missed them.
Gas up frequently! You don’t want to run out of gas. You will do A LOT of driving.
Rent a modem from Trawire so you have constant mobile service.
Plan your road trips well before you get on the road. Create a Google Map of planned stops and send it to someone who should know your whereabouts.
Look into the YouTube Channel “Iceland with a View”. Jeannie is an American currently living in Iceland and her advice is priceless. I bought her Google Maps and used it daily. Well worth the $20+ bucks.
They say to bring a credit/debit card with a pin code so you can get gas at the unattended gas stations around Iceland. I followed this advice and my cards still didn’t work at some of the pumps. The only recourse (especially at Vik) is to go into the store and purchase gas credit so you don’t have issues buying gas further down the road. Trust me, the gas credit will get used.
If you’re traveling on a budget:
Look into AirBnB instead of hotels. I stayed at the Blue Mountain Apartments near Reykjavik. It was outside the city but a great value. Large apartments, free washer and dryer in the hall, free gym, and near a bistro.
If you’re staying in a local area like I did, be super respectful. Icelanders are being inundated by tourists in a big way since IG made their beautiful country the go to for photography. As a native Hawaiian islander, I can tell when locals are feeling the crush and are just plain over it.
Shop in the local grocery stores but be prepared to make due without english in signage, at the self checkout, and sometimes with the locals.
Brown bag your lunches.
Rent from Blue Rental Car and use their gas discount tag on the car keys.
Site seeing is free (except the cost of gas).
Must important …. Have Fun!
Images from Iceland will be posted in the link below.