I’ll do a little day-by-day of my SATW Photo Shootout experience over the next few posts. In this report, I’ll show a few images from my first day in Reykjavik.

I’ll admit, I was off my game. My luggage didn’t arrive and, while I had everything really critical with me in my carryon, I didn’t have my tripod which I’d planned on using for some long exposures both at sunset and sunrise. Suck it up and adapt, right? That’s what I tried to do, although my first day of any trip is seldom my most productive. You need to make a start, though, and get those creative juices flowing.

I had arrived early that morning and would be staying at the Icelandair Marina Hotel in Reykjavik that first night. We’d each get a rental car the following morning, to begin exploring the country on our own. So, really, this was kind of a warm-up day without too much expectation. The Photo Shootout participants met mid-day and we were given the rules and cut loose to start shooting.

I knew I wanted to get some images of Reykjavik’s iconic Solfar sculpture, even though I doubted I’d enter any in the competition because it has been shot so many times and in so many ways. I didn’t imagine I’d get anything “new” but I wanted to shoot it for my files nonetheless. Here are a couple that I ended up liking. One fairly straightforward and one more abstract, made by spinning the camera during the exposure:

Next stop was the famous church, the Hallgrímskirkja, and the statue of Leif Erickson:

Nearer sunset, I returned to the church hoping to get some color in the sky but it turned out to be fairly grey. Still, there were some nice shots to be made as the lights were beginning to come on around downtown.

In the end, none of my Day 1 shots made it into my 15 shot Shootout portfolio, but I hadn’t really expected they would. The following morning I’d get my car and drive back to the airport to (hopefully) pick up my lost luggage, and begin the “real” part of the Shootout. I was looking forward to seeing some new country — and to seeing my luggage again.