Kirkjufell on Iceland’s Snæfellsnes Peninsula

Kirkjufell (Church Mountain) is on the north shore of Iceland's Snæfellsnes Peninsula and is probably one of the top 5 most photographed places in the country. If you search photos of Iceland, you'll immediately see it and the two nearby waterfalls.

For a photographer in Iceland, this is one of those bucket list locations. I'm not proud to say that I had a lot of anxiety in photographing this location. I've never felt like a very talented landscape photographer. I never felt like that side of my work ever really connected with people, in the same way that my performance work had. But I also felt like I knew the techniques. And I've seen this photo taken by so many other photographers that I felt like, if I could nail the techniques then I'd have at least an image I could hold up for comparison. And at least find some validation that I could make something at an equal level.

That's also a pretty unfair thing to put upon one's self. So many factors come into play. The weather for one could literally be anything. The day before this was gale force winds and snowy. The day after was icy rain. But this day we actually got to see a sunset, and we got some color in the skies.

Personally I have no shame attached to photographing popular spots. I think walking in another photographer's shoes and seeing the scene the way they did can be incredibly helpful. And ultimately I'm proud to have gotten this shot, even if it is the same.