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Ranney Senior Tours Iceland with National Geographic

The Class of 2017’s Pooja Nayyar describes her trip-of-a-lifetime experience.
For two weeks in July, I went on a National Geographic photography expedition to Iceland with a group of 25 students. All of us had to apply to this program, and being chosen was a true honor. Most of the students were from the states, but one lived France and another, Indonesia. It was an amazing experience—we did everything from climbing glaciers to ice climbing to kayaking in glacial lagoons.

One of the trip’s highlights was swimming in a volcanic caldera. We hiked eight miles through a steep, muddy lava field to reach to the top of the volcano. Despite many falls and a few scrapes among our group, the additional hike into the caldera to swim in a volcanic hot spring–even for a brief 10 minutes—was definitely worth it!

The trip was not all fun and games, of course. As a final project, we created a series of five photographs. My series focused on silhouettes, specifically of people. I wanted my photos to invoke the sense of mystery and eeriness, so I converted all my pictures into black and white. The decision made me nervous because color is a huge part of what makes Iceland's landscapes so spectacular. Nevertheless, I went with my gut and used the black and white to my advantage—the lack of color, combined with the isolation of each individual and the vastness of the landscape, created a sense of unfamiliarity and uneasiness in the pictures.
 
My photography class at Ranney helped prepare me for this trip. I was able to use the lessons and techniques that Mr. Sullivan taught me in class. Additionally, I was able to learn from my fellow photographers and try out new concepts, such as long exposure and photo stitching. Seeing what others did broadened my horizons and made me a better photographer.

At the end of our trip, National Geographic headquarters asked our group to talk about our experience on a live video stream for their Facebook page. Although it was exciting, it was also very nerve wracking as we were told that at least 200,000 people would be watching. On top of that, we were the first students to be asked to do a live feed for National Geographic! We did not want to mess this up! But our group leaders assured us that all would be fine. The next day, we went to the Reykjavik City Hall, where there is a huge map of Iceland. Everyone was assigned one or two places and/or events to talk about on the feed. I focused on Gullfoss and a hike we took in Hofn. Our video ended up reaching 800,000 viewers, the most viewed National Geographic live stream video ever! It was definitely the best way to end our expedition. (Pooja’s portion of the videos begins about 11:00 minutes in, at https://www.facebook.com/natgeo/videos/10153792227893951/).

I gained many new friendships during this trip, as well as a better understanding of photography, and memories that will last a lifetime! In the future, I plan to continue taking photos and possibly studying the art in college.
 

View Pooja's photos in our Summer Student Art Exhibition, opening August 29 in Panther Hall Gallery.
 
 
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Tinton Falls, NJ 07724
Tel. 732.542.4777
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