Horizons

For those that may be tuning in for the first time, I am Joe shutter: a blogger and photographer based in Iceland. I pass on what I learn out here through my tailor-made photo workshops and tutorials: I always go the extra ten miles (or ten hours) to get the shots and get off the beaten track to me secret locations.  

If you are interested in a photo workshop/tutorial whilst in Iceland, get in touch through my email ( joeshutter101@gmail.com ) or through my Instagram handle @joe_shutter . 

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Today was a strange day, and the world woke up up to news that the UK will initiate the process of withdrawing from the European Union, to be finalised within a two-year time period. It remains to be seen how this will effect (if at all) the European Economic Area, which could affect my ability to stay in Iceland as a UK citizen. As I said, it remains to be seen, so I will be watching the developments of events with baited breath. 

Meanwhile, I soldier on doing what I do best, taking pictures and telling stories through them. 

On this glorious summers day, I set off with Icelandic_explorer to explore some spots around the outskirts of Reykjavik. You only have to go 10-15 minutes out of town to get some beautiful (and interesting) spots. The first part of our evening was spent exploring the geodesic domes around a geothermal power station, then we moved on to the Red Hills, taking turns with "little people" shots and playing with perspectives.

Photography by Joe Shutter and Gunnar Freyr

For your enjoyment,

Joe Shutter

Modular Juice

For those that may be tuning in for the first time, I am Joe shutter: a blogger and photographer based in Iceland. 

I pass on what I learn out here through my  tailor-made photo workshops and tutorials. They can be as long or as short as my clients need them to be, and I always go the extra ten miles (or ten hours) to get the shots and get off the beaten track wherever possible.  

If you are interested in a photo workshop/tutorial in Iceland, get in touch  through my email ( joeshutter101@gmail.com ) or through my Instagram handle

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This is a short post about an afternoon that I sent with the brilliant blogger behind Modular Juice, Instagram @cs.teed.  Easily one of the most interesting bloggers I have ever met, she takes tastefully nude pictures of herself in abandoned buildings wearing a bunny mask. She was kind enough to lend me a picture from her unique situational portrait series as wall as take all of the pictures of me on our our afternoon together. Thank you, Bunny! Her bio:

Making her way into abandoned factories, ruins and forgotten towns, Bunny's character gracefully explores the human body's resilience with the vulnerbility of the uninhabited and sometimes destroyed locations, documenting the encounter between fear and fascinination

On this day she opted for more natural settings, and we went out for the afternoon to explore Thingvellir and the fissures around the lake and the tectonic plates.

A word about the plates: many people are misinformed about them. Many believe that they can walk from "Europe" to "America" and this is the standard plug the tourism industry puts on it. However, in order to truly do this ( cross from one plate to another ) it would  require a hike of somewhere between 8-10KM. 

Thats the take away. Anyway, here are the shots.

Photoglaphy by Joe Shutter and Modular Juice

For your enjoyment,

Joe Shutter

Sculptures

For those that may be tuning in for the first time, I am Joe shutter: a blogger and photographer based in Iceland. 

I pass on what I learn out here through my  tailor-made photo workshops and tutorials. They can be as long or as short as my clients need them to be, and I always go the extra ten miles (or ten hours) to get the shots and get off the beaten track wherever possible.  

If you are interested in a photo workshop/tutorial in Iceland, get in touch  through my email ( joeshutter101@gmail.com ) or through my Instagram handle @joe_shutter . 

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Today, I have very little to say. I swung out one cloudy but peaceful Afternoon with my friend Sahara Rós (Sahara Rose, a desert rose, nice idea don't you think?) Sahara knows this bizarre little spot out in a suburb of Reykjavik and we went there one day recently.

There is also a strange procession of large aluminium sculptures with a path that runs through, each about as strange as the last. A little more research about them certainly wouldn't hurt. It will be updating accordingly.

In the meantime, here the results of that lazy afternoon. I do hope you enjoy.

Photography by Joe Shutter and Sahara Ros

Joe Shutter

High lands

 For those that may be tuning in for the first time, I am Joe shutter: a blogger and photographer based in Iceland.

I pass on what I learn out here through my  tailor-made photo workshops and tutorials. They can be as long or as short as my clients need them to be, and I always go the extra ten miles (or ten hours) to get the shots and get off the beaten track wherever possible. 

If you are interested in a photo workshop/tutorial in Iceland, pleas contact me through my email ( joeshutter101@gmail.com ) or through my Instagram handle @joe_shutter .

So there I was, minding my own business one polite afternoon, when I get a spontaneous message from an Instagrammer with whom I had recently been speaking, @bensimonehn. It went something like this: Lets go somewhere cool, alright then!

And off we went: Before we knew it, we are up in the highlands at near freezing temperatures (its supposed to be summer) and negotiating flash hail storms.  So in between car breaks when we put some life back into our extremities, we grabbed some shots until it got too dark. Here are the results of that escapade

Photography by Joe Shutter and Ben Simon

For your enjoyment,

Joe Shutter

Trees of Green

For those that may be tuning in for the first time, I am Joe shutter: a blogger and photographer living in Iceland. 

I pass on what I learn out here through my  tailor-made photo tutorials and workshops. They can be as long or as short as my clients need them to be, and I always go the extra ten miles (or ten hours) to get the shot, get off the beaten track and share my special "off the map" locations.  

If you are interested in a photo workshop/tutorial in Iceland, pleas contact me through my email joeshutter101@gmail.com  or through my Instagram handle @joe_shutter . 

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Trees in Iceland. Its an interesting subject. Essentially. there aren't any, at least by most countries standards. For this reason, Icelanders have a modest definition of a forest.

Its an interesting story because no one really definitively knows why there are so few trees in Iceland. The fact remains: the growing season is very short indeed, about three months. 

This then has to be taken into consideration along with the theories available: one, it is postulated that Iceland was very well forested when the first settlers arrived, and that most of the land was deforested through animal husbandry and necessity.

The historical tales are replete with stories of Iceland as a green, fertile and wooded land, but it is not known for certain whether these were tall tales in order to encourage emigration to Iceland and further settlements

Anyway, as it is, this post is about a little ramble that Frank and I had through Iceland's largest forest, as well as the lake along which it lies 

Photography by Joe Shutter and Rock Scissors Taper

For your enjoyment,

Joe Shutter