What an incredible experience, descending into this remarkable Ice Cave below Vantnajokull Glacier was like entering a fairy tale.

Captured in February 2018, there have now been 2 Iceland Summers since and I’m told this cave has now melted significantly. How incredibly blessed I am to have been able to visit and capture it.

Walking across glaciers has always been a personal fear of mine. I’ve heard too many stories of people disappearing into snow covered crevasses, never to be seen again!

When I learnt that accessing the best ice caves in Iceland required a 7km return hike across Europe’s largest glacier I wrestled with the idea for quite some time. I just knew though that if I wanted to capture a unique photograph of an ice cave, I was going to have to conquer my fear.

This was my first trip to Iceland and I was travelling with a close friend from New Zealand. Self-driving around the region in the middle of a sub-arctic Winter is not for everyone, we experienced regular blizzards with white-out conditions and gale force winds so strong they have been known to burst windscreens right out of people's cars while driving. Suffice to say, it was an adventure every day before we even left the highway!

Accessing Iceland's ice caves safely is easier said than done. Firstly, you need to be there during Winter, secondly there can't be any rain forecast and thirdly you usually need to have booked a trip well in advance with one of the few licensed, local operators.

Midway through our trip the weather conditions were looking good so we proceeded with a private tour with Siggi, a friendly local guide from Hofn that we had booked a few weeks prior. Siggi drove us across Vatnajokull glacier in his Super Jeep right up to the entrances of 2 of the most accessible ice caves near Jokulsarlon, the Crystal Cave and Black Ice (or Anaconda) Ice Cave. Both caves were beautiful but with many vistors each week they lacked the beauty and feeling of isolation that I was after.

We returned to our accommodation that night and after reviewing my shots felt a real urge to try and access more remote ice caves. I had been researching online some of the longer hikes out to the more remote ice caves

I teamed up with some awesome local guides and despite the challenge of my first time hiking in crampons, the weather behaved and I arrived in no time at all.

On entering the caves underneath the Glacier it was like being in another dimension. As the sun began to set, beautiful warm light shone through the entrance bouncing off the walls made of ice. It was like being on another planet!