You can find the diamond beach besides Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon on the southeast part of Iceland. This is a unique place in the world, where icebergs float down from a glacier lagoon to a black sand beach. The beach and the amount of ice cubes are constantly changing, the amount depends on how many icebergs are on the lagoon itself and how many are coming down with the river to the beach. Sometimes you can be lucky and find many icebergs and sometime there are few of them.
It is a great sport and challenge to take pictures of them. It's best to be there at sunrise or sunset and when the tide is high. Then you get a more interesting background and more chances of waves coming around the ice cubes leaving texture during long exposure shot.
The icebergs are different in size, shape and colour. It's best to find those who are crystal clear and blue. The trick is to be standing close to them and let the wave hit you - you need to wear boots and waterproof trousers. You take the picture when the wave is going away, shoot for 2-3 seconds. You need to have a steady tripod and filters, 6 stopper is fine.
You have to be careful when you are standing on the beach and letting the waves hit you, you need to protect your camera and make sure that you will not fall - salt wet camera is ruined forever.
Playing with the sun can also be great fun, getting the sunburst or changing the colour of the icebergs by letting the sun shine through them. Set the aperture to f/22 and then you get a nice sunburst, leave half of the sun behind the iceberg.
The Diamond beach is unique in the world and a great place to get impressive picture of glacier ice floating on a black volcanic beach. Have fun and enjoy, but be careful not to get too wet.
If you want a guided photo tour to the southeast coast, shoot the waterfalls, the black beach, glacier lagoon, diamond beach and the mountain Vestrahorn - be in contact with me.
Jón Hilmarsson, photographer.
I'm an pro landscape and nature photagrapher. I offer photo tours and photo guidance. I also publish photo books and usually have one photo exhibition every year were the subject is Icelandic landscape and nature. I started taking pictures 2007, first I bought Canon 400D and 2010 I upgraded to 50D. Spring 2012 I upgraded again my camera to 5D Mark III and again in autumn 2016 to 5DM4. I was living in the north part of Iceland, Skagafjörður where I was surrounded with beautiful nature and landscape for seven years, 2005-2012. I had my first exhibition in summer 2009 in Hofsós, Skagafjörður. Since then I have had several exhibitions alone or with others. In the spring 2011 I published a photobook; Light and Nature of Skagafjörður. Included with the photobook is a CD with my wife Alexandra Chernyshova. In December 2013 I published my second photobook "Light and Nature of North west". Now I live in Keflavik where I operate my photographic business - photo tours, photo guidance and publication.
