Blog
A blog about photography and travel.
Washington DC
Long weekend in the US capital
Late November I travelled to upstate Pennsylvania for a customer visit. I would have loved to spend a few days exploring there, it looked like an interesting rural area with rolling hills, colonial-style houses and nice small cities. There was no time for that unfortunately.
I did extend the trip to stay a few days in Washington DC. The city has an imposing center, with grand government buildings and memorials clustered around the National Mall. Other things to mention are the Arlington cemetery, which is well worth a visit, and the unique metro system. I’m a bit of a train fan, and I found the brutalist design used for all the stations fascinating.
But on the whole I have to say that the city is not very inspiring, so a couple of days is more than enough for a visit. Also the weather was mostly gray and rainy, and not ideal for photography.
Photos taken on Fujifilm XT5 and XE4 cameras using a variety of lenses, and an iPhone 13 Pro Max (due to a temporary misplacement of the real cameras).
A week in Berlin
Walking and taking trains around Berlin for a couple of days
The company I work for acquired a small business in Orianenburg, just north of Berlin, which I visited as part of the integration process. Since Berlin is one of my favorite cities I tacked on a couple of extra days to walk around, take some photos and sample the beer.
The weather was glorious, very nice to be able walk around in shorts and t-shirt in the middle of September. I also got into a bit of train riding mood and travelled all over the city.
Photos were taken on an Fujifilm XT5 with the 16-55 lens, and a Fujifilm XE4 with the 50-140 lens.
Around Manchester
Weekend in Manchester, Blackpool and Sheffield
Towards the end of May I spent a long weekend in Manchester. Booked a hotel downtown and took a couple of train trips to Blackpool and Sheffield.
These three cities may not sound very attractive, and have been going through some hard times over the last decades, but I found then all surprisingly nice really. Manchester is being transformed into a modern metropolis, Blackpool is not the cheap, run-down tourist trap I imagined it to be, and Sheffield is successfully building on its heritage of coal and steel industry to become a hub of technology and learning. What’s the fuss all about?
Easter in Munich
A very long Easter weekend in Munich
Easter is a good time for Icelanders to travel abroad. It’s a 5-day weekend and spring has started to arrive in Europe while in Iceland it’s almost winter still. So for Easter I usually go somewhere abroad. This time it was to Munich, where I stayed for a full week.
Munich city center was restored after WWII to a degree I’ve not seen elsewhere in Germany. Take for example the Residenz palace: unlike Versailles where you visit a handful of rooms, the Residenz not only has a number of breathtaking galleries but you can also walk through the complete palace, where everything has been restored. You can literally spend hours there.
Munich is a city of attractive public spaces, with beautiful historical buildings, an excellent public transport system, the Olympic Park, the Englischer Garten, and so on. An obviously affluent city, very German, with a stark reminder to the past in the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site just outside the city.
A short train ride from Munich you find Ulm, Augsburg and Nurnberg, and the foothills Alps are not far to the south. I did not visit all these places so there’s room to go again.
I was happy with the photography overall but, as usual, street photography in Germany was difficult.
Weekend in Brussels
I’ve visited Brussels on a number of occasions, both privately and through work. The city is easily accessible from the Netherlands, where I frequently work, and there’s also a direct flight from Iceland. The vibe is a bit in between Amsterdam and Paris, with excellent food and beer, relatively easy on the wallet, and a quirky and touristy atmosphere - great for street photography. There are also a lot of interesting cities easily accessible by train: Ghent, Brugge, Antwerpen, Leuven, Mons, and Liege, to name a few. All of them easily worth a day trip.
Towards the end of April I went on a short weekend trip there with my brother Stefán, from Thursday to Sunday. We stayed in the city for the most part, only went on a short trip to Leuven (the beer capital of the world, as it turns out). There were only occasional glimpses of good light but it was still a nice photography weekend.
Two gentlemen (brothers?) enjoying life at the Grand Place. Fujifilm XT5+XF50mmF2.
Wannabe skater near the skateboarding area at Rue de la Chapelle. Fujifilm XT5+XF35mmF2.
My brother Stefán at the Moeder Lambic Fontainas, having one of many beers. Fujifilm XT5+XF35mmF2.
Influencers at the Grand Place. Fujifilm XT5 + XF50mmF2.
Young lady without a happy face at Rue des Bouchers. Fujifilm XT5 + XF50mmF2.
Hipster ladies? at Rue des Bouchers. Fujifilm XT5 + XF50mmF2.
More hipster ladies at Rue des Bouchers. Fujifilm XT5 + XF23mmF1.4.
The extravagantly ornate city hall in Leuven. Fujifilm XT5 + XF23mmF1.4.
Two blokes in Leuven, one sitting uncomfortably. Fujifilm XT5 + XF23mmF1.4.
Just behind the guys above, this one was much more comfortable. Fujifilm XT5+XF23mmF1.4.
At the market in Leuven. Bike repair shop in an O Transit. Fujifilm XT5 + XF23mmF1.4.
Sharp dressed guy, with onlookers. Fujifilm XT5 + XF35mm F2.0.
Two blokes at Rue de Charles Buls. Fujiflim XT5 + XF23mmF1.4.
Hipster ladies at the Grand Place. Fujifilm XT5 + XF35mmF2.
Le Chat Déambule, in-the-rain version. Fujifilm XT5 + XF35mmF2.
Place Sainte Catherine. Fujifilm XT5+XF23mmF1.4.
Grown up hipsters at the Grand Place. Fujifilm XT5 + XF23mmF1.4.
Colorful guy happy at being photographed. Fujifilm XT5+XF35mmF2.
Color-coded tourists neear Gare Central. Fujifilm XT5+XF35mmF2.
Berlin
Short trip to Berlin squeezed in between Christmas and New Year’s
Between Christmas and New Year I travelled with my brother to Berlin on a photography and city trip. Lots of walking, taking photos and having beers. We also took a day trip to Leipzig and Wittenberg, places I’ve not been before, now off the bucket list.
I like Berlin. It’s a bit scattered and disjointed, having been two cities for a long time, but it manages to be both down to earth and bohemian at the same time, which is an interesting mix. Its turbulent history is visible everywhere, and some places are quite emotional to visit. This still sits badly with many people, but at least you can give the Germans credit for not trying to hide what has happened. A case in point is the Neue Wache, a powerful testimony to the horrors of war.
Photos are taken with the Fujifilm XT-5, with XF10-24mm, XF50mmF2.0 and XF80mmF2.8 lenses, and a GFX50R with the GF80mm lens. We got good light a few times, and the GFX50R is just marvelous when that happens.
Paris
Solo trip to Paris
On short notice I booked a flight to Paris for a long weekend in November. I went by myself, with little plans other than to take photos and walk around. I stayed at the CitizenM hotel in La Défense, the kind of big-scale city redevelopment that is destined to be horrible but actually succeeds.
Like the last time I was in Paris, I was very happy with the photos I took. There’s such a vibrancy to Paris that you don’t really experience in other large European cities.
The photos are taken with the Fujifilm XE4 using a variety of lenses: XF16mmF1.4, XF27mmF2.8, XF35mmF2.0, XF50mmF2.0 and XF50-140F2.8. Quite a bit to carry around, and a lot of lens changes, but I try to mix it up so that every time I go I bring different equipment.
Scotland
A trip to Glasgow and the Highlands
In between work trips I met with my brother in Glasgow, from where we drove to the Scottish Highlands. A very memorable trip, with a bit of street photography in Glasgow and a short stay in Aberfeldy from where we explored parts of the Cairngorms and Trossachs. Way to short a trip, but a good introduction - definitely need to go there and explore further.
Japan
To Japan for the first time
In the spring of 2019, my friend Svenni and I travelled to Japan, a first for both of us. I absolutely loved it, and cannot wait to go back. We planned the trip so that we would be there when the cherry blossoms bloom, and were not disappointed. We did a bit of a mix of city tour and road trip. A few days in Tokyo, followed by the Shinkansen to Osaka, and nearby Nara, before picking up a car in Osaka to drive to Kanazawa and Nagoya. After we dropped off the car, we stayed in Kobe and Kyoto for a few days, before heading back to Tokyo.
For me, this was a magic trip. The culture is so different, and not a lot of people speak good English, but somehow it all works out really well. And as for photography, I think there is no place I would rather go.
On a side note, when I got back home I bought “Forms of Japan” by Michael Kenna. That book is a double edged sword. It’s so good that you almost wonder why you bother with photography.
