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You are here: Home / Archives for Photo Blogging / On The Road / Christopher Mathews

Christopher Mathews

On The Road – Christopher Mathews – Iceland: Season’s Fleeting

by WaterGirl|  July 28, 20235:00 am| 32 Comments

This post is in: Christopher Mathews, On The Road, Photo Blogging

Aurora season in Iceland begins in mid-to-late August, when the summer has receded enough for the stars to become visible again, and winds down in early May, when the sun completes its takeover of the skies.  In between, the nights can be magical.  But you need to get here when we actually have darkness!

Our favorite star also has seasons: every eleven years, it cycles from one active period to another.  As the Sun becomes more active, sunspots become more common, producing flares and vast clouds of debris called coronal mass ejections, or CMEs for short.  If they strike the Earth (which is, after all, a very small target very far away from the Sun), CMEs can trigger brilliant aurora displays sometimes visible in the lower latitudes.  But even without a CME, residents of northern countries like Iceland get to see the lights quite often.  Here, it’s less a matter of aurora hunting than just opening your front door and going “oh all right then there they are.”

We’re headed toward solar max later this year or in 2024.  If you’ve ever wanted to see the northern lights, you might want to think about planning your expedition soon.  For inspiration, here are a few photos from the 2022-2023 season in the land of fire and ice.

On The Road - Christopher Mathews - Iceland: Season's Fleeting 9
Hagavík, southern IcelandNovember 3, 2022

Lady Aurora shines over Hagavík, a small cove on the southern shores of Þingvallavatn, Iceland’s largest natural lake.  In the distance you can see the snow-dusted mountains of the western highlands.

On The Road – Christopher Mathews – Iceland: Season’s FleetingPost + Comments (32)

On The Road – Christopher Mathews – Fireland

by WaterGirl|  July 14, 20235:00 am| 43 Comments

This post is in: Christopher Mathews, On The Road, Photo Blogging

Christopher Mathews

Iceland’s Reykjanes peninsula extends south and west of the capital city Reykjavík.  It’s a barren land of broken lava floes and volcanic cones, formed by the gradual ripping of the mid-Atlantic Ridge as North America and Eurasia drift apart.  The volcanoes of the Reykjanes slumber for centuries at a time, but when they wake they tend to stay that way, with fissures spewing lava for weeks or months at a time, on and off, year after year.

In 2021, the Reykjanes woke up for a while before drifting off to sleep after six months of fire.  It woke again last year, for a shorter eruption.  And it’s awake again right now.

On The Road - Christopher Mathews - Fireland 9
Over Litli-HrúturJuly 12, 2023

While America was celebrating its independence, Iceland was prepping some fireworks of its own.  The first tremors heralding the movement of magma started swarming the evening of 4 July 2023.  Six days later, lava bubbled to the surface, scorching the landscape and building a scoria cone at Litli-Hrútur (little ram mountain).  This shot was taken from about 500 meters above the newly-formed crater.

On The Road – Christopher Mathews – FirelandPost + Comments (43)

On The Road – Christopher Mathews – Ice Lands

by WaterGirl|  January 11, 20225:00 am| 15 Comments

This post is in: Christopher Mathews, Iceland, On The Road, Photo Blogging

Christopher Mathews

There’s an old saying that Greenland is icy and Iceland is green. That’s fairly accurate – especially if you spend your time near the coast, where a branch of the Gulf Stream flows around Iceland to moderate the temperatures. But venture inland a bit and you’ll find Iceland earns its name …

On The Road - Christopher Mathews - Ice lands 6
Just off road F336, REPUBLIC OF ICELANDDecember 10, 2021

The highlands of Iceland. Home of the glaciers – remote, windswept, brutally cold. No one lives here. But there are visitors.

On The Road – Christopher Mathews – Ice LandsPost + Comments (15)

On The Road – Christopher Mathews – Iceland – The Lights of Darkness, Part Three

by WaterGirl|  December 10, 20215:00 am| 19 Comments

This post is in: Christopher Mathews, Iceland, On The Road, Photo Blogging

Christopher Mathews

A few more views of the northern lights from various sites in Iceland.

An unfortunate trick of evolution is that human color vision degrades significantly in the dark.  Seeing the green and purple glow of the aurora generally requires either very good night color vision – which not everyone has – or a very dark night.  It helps to get out of town and to resist the urge to check your cell phone.

Cameras don’t work the same way and can capture the lights in all their glory even when it’s not totally dark.  Thanks for letting me share their magic with you!

On The Road - Christopher Mathews - Iceland - the lights of darkness, part three 7
Þingvallavatn lake, Republic of IcelandOctober 10, 2021

Pastel lights on the shores of Iceland´s largest natural lake.  This was at the beginning of a particularly powerful geomagnetic storm; unfortunately, the clouds closed in a few minutes later, hiding it from view.  Aurora hunting is not for the easily-frustrated.

On The Road – Christopher Mathews – Iceland – The Lights of Darkness, Part ThreePost + Comments (19)

On The Road – Christopher Mathews – Iceland – The Lights of Darkness, Part Two

by WaterGirl|  December 9, 20215:00 am| 18 Comments

This post is in: Christopher Mathews, Iceland, On The Road, Photo Blogging

Christopher Mathews

Shortly after submitting my first batch of aurora photos, I got an email asking if there might be a few more to share. As luck would have it, there are!

Aurora season in Iceland begins in August and runs through May, but the lights tend to be especially vivid around the equinoxes in September and March. Unfortunately, terrestrial weather sometimes clouds the skies and hides the lights from view, so you’re not guaranteed a glimpse of the magic.

Unless you emigrate here, of course. That’s how I did it.

On The Road - Christopher Mathews - Iceland - the lights of darkness, part two 7
Snæfellsnes Peninsula, Republic of IcelandSeptember 24, 2020

Mount Kirkjufell is perhaps the most photographed mountain in all of Iceland. It appeared as “Arrowhead Mountain” in the HBO series “Game of Thrones” … though not quite like this.

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On The Road – Christopher Mathews – Iceland – The lights of darkness

by WaterGirl|  December 7, 20215:00 am| 50 Comments

This post is in: Christopher Mathews, Iceland, On The Road, Photo Blogging

Christopher Mathews

Summers in Iceland are wonderful, with mild weather, long daylight hours, and a landscape full of history and wonders.  I love the days here.

But I live for the nights.

 

On The Road - Christopher Mathews - Iceland - the lights of darkness 7
Hraunborg, Republic of IcelandApril 19, 2021

This is my house, about an hour outside the capital.  Apparently, I live in a Christmas card.

On The Road – Christopher Mathews – Iceland – The lights of darknessPost + Comments (50)

On The Road – Christopher Mathews – Puffins of Iceland

by WaterGirl|  July 16, 20215:00 am| 33 Comments

This post is in: Christopher Mathews, Iceland, On The Road, Photo Blogging

Let’s give a warm welcome to first-time submitter, Christopher!

Christopher Mathews

Iceland is home to thousands of species of birds. The most famous, and arguably most photogenic, are Atlantic puffins. They live most of the year at sea, bobbing in the waves and plunging below to dine on fish, but come to shore in late spring and early summer to raise their young.

On The Road - Christopher Mathews - Puffins of Iceland 7
Látrabjarg cliffs, Icelandic WestfjordsJune 23, 2021

Stretching across more than a dozen kilometers of crumbling rock face, the Látrabjarg cliffs in northwest Iceland are home to hundreds of thousands of nests. Gulls, razorbills, guillemots, and puffins return to the cliffs each year. Get close to the cliff’s edge and you can say hello to the birds, but beware! Get too close and you’ll say hello to the icy waters below.

On The Road – Christopher Mathews – Puffins of IcelandPost + Comments (33)

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