ICELAND: Northern Lights and Wondrous Winter Landscapes

DAY 1 – Arrival in Reykjavík

As always, we will need to be flexible and adjust to the weather conditions to make the most out of our workshop and travel safely.

You arrive in Iceland and check into your hotel in Reykjavik in the evening we meet up in the lobby and go out for dinner in Reykjavik. We’ll go briefly through our itinerary, safety precautions, and some practical things before we start our adventure in Iceland.

If you arrive early in town, you can photograph some of the attractions in the city of Reykjavik such, as Harpa concert hall, Hallgrimskirkja church, the Sun Voyager sculpture, or Perlan.

DAY 2 – Þingvellir & Vík area

We start early in the morning from Reykjavik and make our way to the South Coast of Iceland. Photography begins with a one hour drive to Þingvellir (Thingvellir) National Park.
From Þingvellir, we travel to the southernmost point of Iceland in the town of Vík, where we will spend the night. The Vík area has some of the most iconic frozen waterfalls and dramatic seascapes in the country, such as Seljalandsfoss waterfall, Skogafoss waterfall, Reynisdrangar sea stacks, and Dyrholaey peninsula. We will also explore the black volcanic beach of Reynisfjara that offers brilliant opportunities for seascape photography with the Reynisdrangar sea stacks and Dyrholaey rock arch.

DAY 3 and 4 – Vatnajökull National Park

After sunrise along the coastline of Vík, we continue on the road east to the glacier area of Vatnajökull National Park. We will stay in a comfortable hotel with views of the glacier, and close to the famous glacier lagoon.

For the next two days, we explore and capture glaciers from all angles, including under the glacier from inside an ice cave. We visit Fjallsárlón glacier lagoon, Vestrahorn mountain, and many more incredible landscapes to shoot. The variety of quality locations will allow us to move around as the weather dictates, with excellent photographic opportunities in every direction.

Should the northern lights decide to make an appearance, our options for foregrounds are truly endless.

DAY 5 – East Fjords of Iceland

The picturesque East Fjords are calling us. At this point in the workshop, we have already visited the Stokksnes peninsula and photographed Vestrahorn mountain. Now, we will stop at the more jagged coastal peak of Eystrahorn. As we make our way further east, we’ll visit unique and lesser-known locations until we arrive at our hotel, located in a small and charming fishing village.

We will photograph sea stacks, the winding coastal roads, and cascading streams down the steep terraced mountains. The East Fjords are very quiet and isolated during the winter, so for this part of the tour, we will feel like we are all alone on the island, aside from the  local farmers and possibly a few reindeer.

DAY 6, 7 and 8 – Mývatn and the Majestic Waterfalls of the North

From the East Fjords, we travel north to Lake Mývatn, known as the winter paradise of Northern Iceland. We capture such breathtaking winter scenes as horses and turf houses along the way. We first head to the majestic waterfall Dettifoss, where we’ll photograph sunset before we check into our hotel in Mývatn.

For the next three nights, we’ll stay at the same hotel in Mývatn, and each day/night, we head out to explore and shoot new locations. If we find ourselves with some downtime in the area, between sunrise and sunset, we can visit the milky blue waters of the Mývatn Nature Baths to relax and charge our batteries for the next shooting session.

We will visit and photograph many of the most spectacular waterfalls in Iceland, such as Goðafoss, Aldeyjarfoss, and Hrafnabjargafoss. These waterfalls are gorgeous, with their winter coats on and quite remote.

The Mývatn basin sits squarely on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and many of the enthralling sights in the area are either volcanic or geothermal. The last volcanic eruption in this area was quite recent, in September 1984 in Krafla.

This area in the north of Iceland is the perfect location for aurora borealis (northern lights) photography as there is no light pollution, and the options for beautiful foregrounds, such as the reflecting lake, are endless.

DAY 9 – Mývatn and the Northern Coastline

After breakfast at our hotel, we head back to the north coastline and make our way towards Reykjavik. Depending on the weather, we will stop in lesser-known areas for more photographic opportunities.

We will go through the second-largest city in Iceland and the capital of the north, Akureyri—home to around 20,000 Icelanders. After a short stop, we get back on the road and photograph the mountain peaks of Hraundrangi, a sharp mountain peak not far from Akureyri.

From there, we travel into Skagafjörður, a fjord that offers exciting photo opportunities, such as seascapes, basalt columns, and beautiful waterfalls.

Our hotel for the night is conveniently located about a half-hour drive from Hvítserkur cape, a well-known landmark of the area.

DAY 10 – Laugarbakki

We start the day with sunrise at the Hvítserkur seascape, a 15-meter high monolith or sea stack. Legend has it that Hvítserkur is a petrified troll, while others believe that it is a volcanic plug from a long time ago. Whichever you choose to believe, you will agree that it is an impressive photo opportunity.

After lunch, we head towards Reykjavik and stop at a few waterfalls along the way. West Iceland is known for its impressive waterfalls, salmon fishing and Viking Sagas. We will also make a stop to photograph Icelandic Horses before we arrive at our hotel in Reykjavik.

When in Reykjavik we will check into our hotel and say farewell as the workshop concludes here. You then have some time to explore, photograph, have dinner or just rest before your departure flight.

DAY 12 – DEPARTURE

Transfer from the hotel in Reykjavik to Keflavik International Airport.