Click on images to enlarge. All images by Matt Leedham.
In late July, Matt Leedham packed up his Nikon D810, two lenses, a tripod, and a few filters, and headed to Iceland to join mountain photographer Alex Nail and five others for a backcountry photography trip. His six days fording rivers and climbing ridges while capturing beautiful vistas would be challenging and rewarding.
Leedham initially planned to make the trip in 2020, but was sidelined by the pandemic. When Nail started up his photography expeditions again, he jumped at the opportunity. “I signed up for it, trained for it, and eagerly prepared for it.”
In hindsight, Leedham says with humor, he may have mis-prepared for it. “I didn’t have a lot of experience with this type of trip. Between my tent, sleeping bag, camera gear, food and water for 6 days, and a lot of unnecessary gear, I had 60 lbs. on my back. About 20 steps in, I realized that was a mistake.” Fortunately, the other members of the group lent their expertise to the rookie, and Leedham gained comfort and confidence as the trip progressed.
Off the beaten path
If you’ve ever been to Iceland, you know there are “must-see” areas that every tourist aims to visit: the Ring Road, the Golden Circle, Seljalandsfoss Waterfall, Jökulsárlón Glacial Lagoon, Reykjavik, thermal lagoons, and more. This wasn’t the aim of Leedham’s group, however. “We took a Super Jeep deep into Iceland. We traveled for five hours from Reykjavik to the middle of nowhere, driving through rivers, over boulders and even into a lake. When we arrived at our starting point, the driver waved goodbye, leaving the seven of us on our own for the next six days. It was high season for tourists in Iceland, but during our time in the backcountry, we saw only two other people trekking in the opposite direction.”
Rising to the challenge
Leedham says the first few days were both physically and mentally challenging. The group hiked 8-10 miles each day, up and down ridges while carrying their packs. Walking up a black volcanic sand dune felt like moving through freshly poured cement. Iceland is known for its fantastic food, but fancy meals were not part of the program. Instead, they boiled water and hydrated the dried food they had packed.
Leedham says these challenges, while hard in the moment, made the rewards he reaped from the trip even more satisfying. “The sun doesn’t set this time of year so we would wake up at 4 a.m. and look at the skies to see where they were interesting. We’d hike up to a ridge to set up and begin shooting. It’s hard to describe the uniqueness of the landscapes that were before us, and we each worked to photograph them in our own ways.”
Trust your style
The Icelandic landscape forced Leedham to think deeply about his typical photographic style. “The landscape was different from what I’m used to. It was stark. Not a single tree. No wildlife. After a time it began to feel a bit redundant to my eye so I had to work to see beyond what I was initially taking in.”
Leedham found that while he could be beguiled by a grand landscape, his style lends itself more to an intimate landscape that isolates a small part of a larger scene. If he goes back, he says, he will spend more time shooting with his longer lens. “This trip helped me embrace and trust my style, and I’m looking forward to carrying that with me when I take a backcountry trip again.”
Leedham’s other important takeaway? Sometimes you should put your camera down, even if it’s just for a minute. “It’s easy to get distracted by your effort to photograph and not fully absorb what’s in front of you. Always take a moment to just enjoy the scene. You won’t regret it.”