Where to in 2017? How about Iceland and Norway?

LAYING THE GROUNDWORK

I almost went to Iceland in 2012. Almost. I was planning to go with an attorney/photographer

friend who had already been there twice but just as we were about to schedule the trip my

friend suddenly got tied up with lawyer stuff and that was the end of that. Two years later I

thought I had convinced another photographer friend to go but he got it in his head that Iceland

and New Zealand were about the same as far as photo opportunities were concerned and since

he had already been to New Zealand he nixed the Iceland idea. Then later, after he had done

some research, he told me that Iceland would have actually been a great trip. But at least he

finally agreed with me about Iceland being a great photography destination.

By baseball friend Ken and his Norwegian wife split their time between homes in Florida,

Maryland and Norway. About four years ago or so they extended the invitation for me to fly

over there and hang out with them at their Oslo house. They may have invited me just to be

polite and probably thought I’d never take them up on it, but the long and the short of it

is that my plan now is to visit both Icland and Norway on the same trip. Iceland would be

first, spending 8-10 days there before continuing on to Oslo for another week.

It is a photographer’s paradise, that’s why. Even though I already knew how spectacular

Iceland is, further research on Google, Google Earth, YouTube, Flickr, and you name it sealed

the deal. The scenery in Iceland is unique and second to none with countless waterfalls, ice

fields, glaciers, volcanoes, seascapes, landscapes and, of course, those little birds called puffins.

Iceland is also known as one of the safest countries in the world and the people are considered

to be the world’s friendliest. Mix in the Reykjavic’s music scene and it’s a can’t-miss

proposition. And, as an added bonus, the Blue Lagoon might cure my psoriasis. Norway

because I have friends there, I was invited, I’ve never been there, it’s beautiful and photography

opportunities abound there as well.

A few years ago I dabbled in creating travel posters out of my photos of places I’ve had the good

fortune of visiting. The idea came to me as I was walking through an airport one time and I saw

big posters which featured a variety of destinations served by the airlines. There would be a nice

photo of, for example, pyramids with the words “Fly XYZ Airlines to Egypt” underneath. So I

figured I’d do a series of poster designs featuring my own photos and travels. A few of them are

accompanying this blog. Thanks for reading.

Next blog target date: February 20.