ICELAND

 

Iceland is just one of those places that all landscape photographers have to go.  For such a small island, the diversity of landscapes is breathtaking.   Waterfalls are everywhere caused by the run off from the huge glaciers in the centre, and then there are the incredible colourful rocks in the highlands and the stunning beauty of the Westfjords.  It's also a country where one visit will never be enough, there's just too much to see there.  You could quite happily spend a couple of weeks just driving around the ring road visiting the well known locations like Skogafoss, Vik, Godafoss and the Vestrahorn, but that would be to miss out on the other-worldly magnificence of the central highlands and the thousands of lesser know locations that are everywhere in Iceland. It's also a country of rapidly changing weather which can go from moody low cloud to sweeping light in a matter of minutes and where it's always possible to fit the tone of your photography with the mood of the light.

My travel blogs on Iceland are here

 

WATERFALLS

The Hidden ValleyThese waterfalls run off the glaciers that dominate Iceland centre and south creating landscapes that feel as though you’ve travelled back in time millions of years. On my last Iceland workshop we made an effort to get out to some l…

The Hidden Valley

These waterfalls run off the glaciers that dominate Iceland centre and south creating landscapes that feel as though you’ve travelled back in time millions of years. On my last Iceland workshop we made an effort to get out to some less well known locations that we hadn’t visited before and discovered this incredible scene.

Godafoss

The waterfalls at Godafoss in northern Iceland at sunset.

Haifoss

The falls at Haifoss tumble 150m into the canyon below in Iceland's highlands

Haifoss I

At the bottom of Iceland’s third highest waterfall in Iceland’s Highlands

Haifoss II

At the bottom of Iceland’s third highest waterfall in Iceland’s Highlands

Haifoss III

At the bottom of Iceland’s third highest waterfall in Iceland’s Highlands

Haifoss Cliffs

A wider perspetive captures the incredible cliffs of Haifoss from the river valley

Haifoss Valley

A drone image of the Haifoss waterfall thundering into the valley.

Haifoss Flow

A 1 second exposure blurs the water at the bottom of Haifoss waterfall

Bláfjallafoss

Driving a jeep across a waterfall. Just another day in Iceland’s Highlands

Kvernufoss

If you like waterfalls Iceland is certainly the country for you. This is Kvernufoss on Iceland’s south coast, captured on a recent workshop there

Bruarfoss

The water at the falls of Bruarfoss runs so blue it looks as though someone has put coloured powder in it. Beneath midnight clouds it really is a beautiful sight.

Sigöldugljufur

The water falls in multiple streams as this river is split on it’s passage across the plains of Iceland’s highlands before collecting again into this beautiful coloured river.

The CanyonA telephoto view of one of Iceland’s most incredible canyons showing the fantastic natural symmetry of the place scene.

The Canyon

A telephoto view of one of Iceland’s most incredible canyons showing the fantastic natural symmetry of the place scene.

Bruarfoss

Powder blue waters cascade at Bruarfoss

Gljúfrabúi

The beautiful Gljúfrabúi waterfall in Iceland, hidden in cave accessible down a narrow canyon

Kvernufoss

Walking behind the waterfall at Kvernufoss

 

THE HIGHLANDS

Fjallabak

The volcanic craters of the Fjallabak make the Highlands feel like another planet

 

Emstrur

Looking east at sunset in the Emstrur region of Iceland's highlands. From left to right the peaks and ridges are Tuddi, Útigönguhöftar, Stórkonufell, Litla-Mófell, Stóra-Mófell and the Botnar ridge.

The Blue Lake

Deep in Iceland’s Highlands this beautiful crater link lies hidden and is only possible to see from above. I captured this with a drone as low cloud swept across this incredible isolated landscape

Brennisteinsalda

The incredibly colourful valley of Brennisteinsalda in Landmannalaugar

Brennisteinsalda II

The incredibly colourful valley of Brennisteinsalda in Landmannalaugar

Brennisteinsalda V

The incredibly colourful valley of Brennisteinsalda in Landmannalaugar

Brennisteinsalda III

The incredibly colourful valley of Brennisteinsalda in Landmannalaugar

Brennisteinsalda IV

The incredibly colourful valley of Brennisteinsalda in Landmannalaugar

Landmannalaugar

Late afternoon light (well, it was around 10pm) in the valley of Landmannalaugar in Iceland's highlands

Landmannalaugar Winter

The beautiful valley of Landmannalaugar. i’ve photographed this view many times in summer and it’s always incredible with the colourful rhyolite hills, but in winter with a blanket of snow it takes on a completely different life.

Frozen Landmannalaugar

Iceland’s Highlands in deep winter are a perfect expanse of whiteness. Crossing them in a specially converted 4x4 the sense of solitude is complete.

Landmannalaugar Aerial

The Landmannalaugar valley captured with a drone for an aerial perspective

Arctic Fox

A young arctic fox in Thorsmork

 

Hnausapollur Crater

The incredible blue water of the Hnausapollur crater lake in the Iceland Higlands. I scrambled up here sometime before sunrise on the recent Iceland workshop to get an elevated view of this awesome place. Photos can’t really do justice to how big this lake is, nor how high up were to shoot it.

Haifoss Valley

The waterfalls at Haifoss cut a deep valley out of the Highland landscape

Langisjor Peaks

An aerial view of the ridges and peaks in the remote Langisjor area

Rain

Deep in the highlands distant rain falls on the landscape

The Crater

A colorful crater in the Hekla area of the Highlands

The Hidden Lake

Deep in the Highlands in the Langisjor area this hidden lake sits among the hills.

Kerlingarfjoll

The incredible other-world landscape of the Kerlingarfjoll geothermal area.

Kerlingarfjoll II

The incredible other-world landscape of the Kerlingarfjoll geothermal area.

 

Kerlingarfjoll Bridge

The smoke and steam of the Kerlingarfjoll geothermal area

Brennisteinsalda

A telephoto abstract of the colourful hills of Brennisteinsalda in Iceland’s Highlands

Another Planet

The wilderness of Langisjor as a storm rolls in

Langisjor Rain

Distant mountains in layers of mist and rain in the depths of Iceland’s Highlands

Highland Light I

Low cloud and light combine to create ethereal conditions in Iceland’s Highlands. This image was captured near Thorsmork

Maelifell

The conical mountain of Maelifell rising from the black volcanic plain of the Maelifellsandur infront of the Mýrdalsjökull glacier is one of the most striking landscapes in the Highlands

Highland Light II

Low cloud and backlit rain create a dramatic landscape on the road to Kerlingarfjoll

Mælifell II

The volcanic cone or Mælifell in the southern part of Iceland’s highlands

Maelifellsandur

The days last light sweeps across Maelifellsandur and the volcanic cone of Maelifell

Langisjor

The remote lake of Langisjor and the mountain of Sveinstindur in Iceland’s Highlands

Langisjor Rivers

Near the lake of Langisjor river braids flow around the hills and mountains deep in the Highlands.

Langisjor II

An aerial of the incredible lake deep in Iceland’s Highlands

Landmannalaugar

Last light illuminates the Jokulgil river valley and the rhyolite mountains of Landmannalaugar in the Icelandic highlands

 

THE SOUTH COAST

Jökulsarlon

An aerial panorama of the frozen plain and peaks next to Jökulsarlon glacier lagoon, taken with a drone during the blue hour.

The Big Ship

A rock stack stands alone in the endless black sands of iceland’s south coast. A drone gives an aerial perspective and helps to give the image some scale

Vestrahorn

The jagged peaks of Vestrahorn in south west Iceland at dawn

Vestrahorn

In summer in Iceland sunsets and sunrises blend into one another and on the evening I was shooting these peaks on on the south eastern corner of the country I had some of the most amazing light and colour I've ever experienced in Iceland. This is a 6 image stitched panorama of the black sand dunes and mountain range in this incredible place.

Dyrhólaey Sunrise

A brief glimpse of the sun just after sunrise illuminates the scene at Dyrhólaey in southern Iceland

Dyrhólaey Sunrise II

A brief glimpse of the sun just after sunrise illuminates the scene at Dyrhólaey in southern Iceland

Dyrhólaey Sunrise IIII

A brief glimpse of the sun just after sunrise illuminates the scene at Dyrhólaey in southern Iceland

Reynisdrangar

The sea stacks of Reynisdrangar at sunrise

Stakkholtsgja

A frozen waterfall at the end of Stakkholtsgja canyon near Thorsmork

Vatnajökul

Standing beneath the ice in the Vatnajökul glacier. The melting water carves holes down through the ice creating incredible patterns.

The Ice Cave

The ice beneath the Jokulsarlon glacier is 800 years old. Standing there as the light filters through you can’t help but be a little awed at what the forces of nature and time have shaped here

In The Ice

Standing in a tunnel made completely of ice inside the Vatnajökul glacier

BreiðamerkursandurThe plain of Breiðamerkursandur is a long black beach where icebergs from the lagoon of Jokulsarlon are washed up by the tide. It’s often called diamond beach because of all of the icebergs on the black sand and we spent some time …

Breiðamerkursandur

The plain of Breiðamerkursandur is a long black beach where icebergs from the lagoon of Jokulsarlon are washed up by the tide. It’s often called diamond beach because of all of the icebergs on the black sand and we spent some time there on my recent Iceland workshop when I took this shot. It’s a half second exposure to give a small amount of blur to the waves as they recede around the small icebergs on the black sand.

Vestrahorn II

The dunes on the beach at Stokksnes catch the days first light

Vestrahorn Panorama

A multi image panorama of the Vestrahorn peaks at sunrise taken with a drone

Fjallsarlon

Icebergs float on the glacier lake of Fjallsarlon on a misty day in southern Iceland

Jokulsarlon

Sunset at the lagoon of Jokulsarlon. The huge Vatnajökull glacier (the biggest icecap outside of the two poles) is in the background and a branch of it comes down the valley to the lagoon where icebergs calve off, float across the lagoon, and then eventually out to sea. The ice here is 1000 years old apparently

Hjorleifshofdi

The shape of this cave makes for a great silhouette when shooting out from the inside. We took shelter here from a passing rain storm and ate lunch.

Fjadrargljufur Canyon

An aerial view of Fjadrargljufur canyon on Iceland’s southern coast

Reynisfjara Winter

A photographer captures the sunrise at the black sand Reynisfjara beach

Reynisfjara II

The stunning black sand beach at Reynisfjara with its iconic rock stacks, captured around midnight one summer night a few years ago. I always love this location, it always feels dramatic to be here.
I used a fast exposure to capture the birds in flight, and a slightly slower one to give me a little blur in the waves, and then blended them together in post.

Reynisdrangar

The jagged spire of Reynisdrangar off the coast of Vík in Iceland. There are so many different ways to shoot this place. Wide or with telephoto, fast exposure to freeze the waves or long exposure to blur them, it’s always an exciting place to shoot. This was captured last month at sunrise. I took loads of frames as the sun back lit the waves, trying to get the perfect frame that really showed the power of the ocean here.

 

SNAEFELLSNES

Kirkjufell

The waterfalls at Kirkjufelll on a cloudy end to the day

Hellnar

The church at Hellnar in a driving blizzard in western Iceland

Budir I

The black church at Budir in winter

Budir Winter

The black church at Budir in a snowstorm

Ingjaldshólskirkja

The church at Ingjaldshólskirkja in Western Iceland on a cloudy, snowy day. I love days like this for photography in Iceland, the mood it conveys just fits the locations so well.

Arnarstapi

A lone cottage at the edge of the ocean in the fishing village of Arnarstapi in western Iceland

Kirkjufell

Kirkjufell in in Iceland, despite visiting Iceland many times over the last 11 years I’d never actually visited this iconic spot until this year. It really is a fascinating mountain and photogenic from pretty much any angle.

Icelandic Light

In my experience golden light like this is pretty rare in Iceland, so when it comes you have to find a way to take advantage of it wherever you are

Kirkjufell II

Frozen sea ice in front of Kirkjufell mountain

Aurora Abstract I

The strongest solar storm in the last 15 years found is in a part of Iceland with 100% cloud coverage and the only place we could find where we could see the sky was in the middle of nowhere, giving us no foreground to use to put the aurora against. The only solution was to point the camera directly up at the sky and make abstracts as the sky exploded in colour above us.

Aurora Abstract II

The strongest solar storm in the last 15 years found is in a part of Iceland with 100% cloud coverage and the only place we could find where we could see the sky was in the middle of nowhere, giving us no foreground to use to put the aurora against. The only solution was to point the camera directly up at the sky and make abstracts as the sky exploded in colour above us.

Aurora Abstract III

The strongest solar storm in the last 15 years found is in a part of Iceland with 100% cloud coverage and the only place we could find where we could see the sky was in the middle of nowhere, giving us no foreground to use to put the aurora against. The only solution was to point the camera directly up at the sky and make abstracts as the sky exploded in colour above us.

 

FAGRADALSFJALL ERUPTION

Fagradalsfjall Eruption

The crater erupts with lava bubbling over the edge at Fagradalsfjall

Fagradalsfjall Flow III

The lava flows from the volcano at Fagradalsfjall captured with a drone

Fagradalsfjall Flow

Lava flows from the Fagradalsfjall crater

Fagradalsfjall

The crater of Fagradalsfjall glows as it slowly wakes in the blue hour before sunrise

 

AERIAL ABSTRACTS

Braids

The incredible river braids of Iceland rivers get these colours and textures from the silt they pick up as they come down from the glaciers. It contrasts with the black river beds and the colourful moss and algae. I captured this image as we flew across the river deltas of the south of the country in a light aircraft.

Braids II

Braids III

Braids III

Braids IV

Braids V

River Braids

Deep in the Highlands the glacial waters create river braids which look almost 3 dimensional when seen from above

Braids VI

Flood

The river braids of Iceland in high flood waters after heavy rain

MarkaflojtThe braids of Iceland's Markaflojt river. The waters run down from the glaciers of Iceland's central highlands creating incredible patterns as they cross the black volcanic sands which can be seen from a low flying light aircraft.

Markaflojt

The braids of Iceland's Markaflojt river. The waters run down from the glaciers of Iceland's central highlands creating incredible patterns as they cross the black volcanic sands which can be seen from a low flying light aircraft.

Markaflojt II

Another image of the river braid in Iceland taken from a low flying light aircraft.

 

Svinafellsajökul Aerial

A drone image looking directly down on the ancient ice of the Svinafellsajökul glacier

Frozen Heart

An aerial view of a frozen heart shape in the Landmannalaugar river.

 

Stórasúla

The peak of Stórasúla shot during an aerial flight above the highlands. The views from the plane were absolutely amazing, the patterns of green and black with patches of white snow. Iceland is an amazing country, and the views from the air above the highlands are some of the most stunning I've ever seen.

When shooting from a plane it's important to have as fast a shutter speed as possible to keep the image sharp. As depth of field isn't a problem from a plane, then shooting at a fast aperture, as well as raising the ISO allow shutter speeds of between 1/500 and 1/1000,