Iceland in the dead of winter is no joke.
Mother Nature decided to throw something new at me every day I was on this tiny volcanic island nestled between the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. Some days it was gale force winds threatening to blow my vehicle off the road, while other days I would step outside into air so cold my face felt as if it would instantly freeze off... And these extremes would all be occuring during the short window of only 4 hours of daylight.
Stillness after the chaos — an extreme winter storm advisory had just been lifted. Just prior to snapping this photo, I was forced to spend several days hunkered down indoors due to severe weather and the roads had been shut down as the winds were so strong cars were getting blown straight off of them.
As soon as the lockdown was lifted, I eagerly went out into the wild, snowy landscape to finally explore this side of this tiny island. As I rounded a bend, I was in awe as Kirkjufell came into view in all of its glory. A soft golden glow was lighting up the peak, the blue waters of the sea were splashing up against the shore and the entire land was blanketed in a beautiful dusting of fresh snow.
The moments leading up to this had been a struggle as I battled the elements just to try and see Iceland with my own two eyes. Intense wind and snow had been destroying visibility, clouding my ability to fully realize the true beauty of this island in the harshest of seasons. After clicking the shutter, I quickly forgot about the trials that came before and was ready to finally take in everything that this beautiful island had to offer, enveloped in white.
Frosted Shores by Brayden Hall