The hope of a good shot a great incentive

Jón Gauti Jónsson won the photography competition from the Icelandic travel website of mbl.is recently with the photograph “A traveller in his own world in the Kerlingarfjöll mountains. Jónsson works as a project manager for the company Icelandic Investment, but enjoys his spare time going to the mountains with the camera throughout the year.

“I’m an amateur photographer and have been taking pictures for some four or five years and a lot out in nature. The camera is often the driving force to go out to capture specific moments, especially if you have some idea of a picture. I’ve been hanging around the highlands and nature with a camera, trying to snap interesting frames, but you also go on special trips to get specific pictures,” he says.

"Sometimes you're just lucky"

The award-winning film was taken by Jónsson on his journey through the Kerlingarfjöll mountains, but he has traveled quite often in those regions, and claims to have captured a unique moment with a bit of luck.

“I’ve traveled the Kerlingarfjöll quite often, and you often see pictures from there from the same angles. But there the conditions were a little different — a different angle and a beautiful lighting, but then there’s a foreign tourist walking there who looks like he’s in deep thought in his own world. So sometimes you’re just lucky with the time and place,” he explains.

“There’s both a different and beautiful environment there, but then there’s this person who puts a bit of the mood into the photo,” he adds.

Every place with its own charm

Jónsson has been involved in mountaineering for many years and has done a lot of walking around the country, both on short and long trips. Asked if he has a favourite hike in Iceland, he replies that he has difficulty choosing a place, as each place has its own charm.

“There’s just so many of the most beautiful places in Iceland and I’ve been to so many great places all over,  so it’s kind of hopeless to choose between them. No matter where you go, each place has a certain character and charm,” he says.

Jónsson says that many of the most beautiful places are on the glaciers and around glaciers, but also in the high-temperature areas where the colorful scenery captures the eye. “I also go to Reykjanes, which is a hidden gem. There are many beautiful places that are very accessible but Icelanders don’t go there that much. However, you notice the foreign tourists in the area now, ” he says.

“Being in the sun and summer’s heat is one thing, and being in the gloomier weather and cold is another thing; and that is another mood that still has its charm,” he adds.

For the award-winning photo, Jónsson was given a price win at Fjallakofinn, a shop with everything for the outdoors, which he says will be useful, with plenty of fun travel ahead of him.