When shooting landscapes, most photographers prefer adverse weather to clear, cloudless skies. However, strong wind and sideways rain are enemies of photography.

While in Iceland, I experienced some very unfavorable weather conditions--even for the Icelandic winter. I participated in a photography tour led by Tony Prower. It started on February 20th and ended on February 24th. Here is the weather forecast from the hotel:

Note the 100% chance of rain every day until Sunday. The tour ended Saturday night. One of the tour participants pointed out that just because the forecast calls for a 100% chance of rain for a day doesn't mean that it calls for rain all day. It just means that it is expected to rain at some point during the day. That's true...but here is the hourly forecast that typically appeared:

This was the first time I ever saw a forecast with a 100% chance of rain for each hour over a 48 hour time span. And, take a look at the consistent wind! So, we experienced sideways rain on a regular basis.

One day, we were shooting inside the ice cave at sunrise--so that photo shoot proceeded despite the weather. But, once that photo shoot ended at 10 am, we were unable to leave the hotel for the next 24 hours.

One might think that this is typical of Iceland in the winter. Iceland certainly has its share of adverse weather conditions, but this was an unusual streak of bad weather even according to the locals.

Here's how the weather forecast looked for the days after we left Iceland!

A few things helped offset the miserable weather:

• I arrived in Iceland three days before the start of the tour to explore Reykjavik. The light was good and I captured many pictures during that time.
• Despite the forecast, there were breaks in the sky for a couple of hours each day--and those breaks usually occurred near sunrise or sunset. Despite having only a few hours of shooting, those hours were productive.
• It's much better to have a dramatic sky than a clear, cloudless one.

In the end, I was pleased with the photographs that I captured during my visit. To view my favorites, please click here.

Diamond BeachDiamond beach by Jokulsarlon glacial lagoon in southeast Iceland on February 23, 2018 Sun Voyager sculptureSun Voyager stainless steel sculpture in Reykjavik, Iceland on February 18, 2018 Dyrholaey sea stacksReynisfjara black sand beach and Reynisdrangar basalt sea stacks as seen from Dyrholaey near Vik, Iceland on February 24, 2018 Iceland ice caveIce cave at the Vatnajokull Glacier, the largest glacier in Europe, near Jokulsarlon, Iceland on February 21, 2018 Vestrahorn MountainVestrahorn Mountain in the Stokksnes peninsula in Southeast Iceland near Hohn, Iceland on February 22, 2018. Note that this is a composite image--a blend of the picture of the mountain range with a picture of the sky (and reflections) from earlier in the photo shoot.