Iceland, with its breathtaking vistas of glaciers and waterfalls, is on the list of the best landscape photographers. With so many honeypot shots, can you really go wrong? It all depends on Iceland’s ever-changing weather available for your visit and it can change quickly.
We have been lucky enough to visit Iceland on a few other occasions over the years, the first visit spending time on the south coast, the second driving the entire ring road, and then again during the trip. visit this. The whole trip around the 1,332 km ring road this time is different and the weather sometimes changes quite quickly. This means that some of the places we hope, and I use that word loosely, to visit are still closed due to the changing seasons. However, we know this and are not too disappointed not to be able to reach them.
Did it go as planned?
The whole trip was planned by my partner who is good at scheduling and finding the best price. We landed at Keflavik airport, picked up a rental car from the airport, and then headed to our hotel in Reykjavík for the first two days of our trip. The first harbor to be visited for the rest of the day was the church of Hallgrimskirkja, with its basalt spine and arched wings. Getting a clear shot here can be a bit tricky depending on what time you visit and for us at 7pm it was basically impossible without a lot of Photoshop or a lot of patience. . I consider very long exposures to minimize human movement or in hopes of emulating Alexey Titarenko’s photographic style. In the end, however, I just picked up some snapshots to save time, and since the sky was clear I edited in monochrome.
Church of Hallgrimskirkja
To shoot this location, the best time I’ve found so far is early in the morning. Sunsets are amazing, depending on the time of year and what the sky is doing. I like textured skies to complement the architecture. And when it snows, even for all the people there, this can be quite a sight to behold.
From there, we headed to the Harpa Concert Hall, and I have to admit that from previous visits it’s my favorite place to shoot just before and during blue hour, as the colors on the façade allow it to reflect respond to light in such a dynamic way. That, along with the interior lighting, gives you some opportunities if the timing is right. Unfortunately for us, timing was poor, but we managed to get some phone shots and a couple of camera shots.
I considered long exposure for the center shot above due to the angle of the clouds emanating from behind Harpa, but since the clouds overhead were moving slowly, if so, I decided to expose for 13 seconds. After talking about rendering colors, there’s not much to show here, but that’s due to the time we’ve been there, as they’re just getting started.
Harpa . Concert Hall
For this location, blue hour sunset seems to be the best time, as that’s when the concert hall lighting comes into play. Try to avoid concerts, as it can get very busy. Be sure to go inside to take some photos, as the interior architecture and its details are impressive.
The second day included skiing on the top of the glacier, visiting Geysir falls and then Gulfoss falls, the second day was disappointing on this occasion as the lower path next to the falls was closed for safety reasons. So again, we just took a few pictures on our phones and left. That sounds horribly annoying, but knowing we couldn’t access the lower path for the footage, we wanted to make the decision simple.
Mývatn, Hevirir
From our base in Akureyri, we head to Mývatn for the geothermal area, the crater and the Godafoss. These three places we were hoping to have a good time, and we did, except perhaps Godafoss, but that was beyond our control.
Getting to Mývatn early will give you the luxury of not having too many visitors Photoshopped out of your images. As for the layout, I mostly record the area instead of looking for an image. This is not a bad thing at all, as I can use some images in composites. I actually find myself more scared of what’s going on around me than thinking this would make a great photograph.
If you’re visiting, just drop in. The smoke exudes a strong stench of steam and the pots of bubbling mud float away, along with the barren landscape without trees creating an otherworldly experience. 
When photographing this location, I cannot call when is the best, as this is only the second time we have visited and both times have been very different in terms of snowfall. The first time was a heavy snowfall, and this time, layers of lighter dust. However, color always shows through.
Hverfjall
Once you’re in the area, it’s well worth the risk of venturing up and around the Hverfjall crater. When you reach the top, weather permitting, you can see the surrounding mountains and Lake Mývatn. It’s a short 20-minute hike up to the top of the crater for the views, and if you want to walk around, the summit circumference takes another 45 minutes. However, be careful with the wind as it can be quite strong.
Grjótagjá
Made famous by Game of Thrones, the Grjótagjá cave is also worth a visit. However, please note that it can get very busy. When we arrived we were the only ones there, but within about 10 minutes a tour bus and four cars arrived, so we got out of the cave and sat in the car until everyone is gone.
Visitors will emerge from the cave like rats on the observation and then move towards their car. Just when you think they’re gone, another gopher will appear. It’s actually pretty funny to watch, similar to the Monty Python scene in Life of Brian when all the Romans are leaving the room where they’re looking for Brian. Once we were sure everyone was gone, we went back to find some pieces. Within a few minutes, it started back up with more tour buses and tourists. So a quick shot was taken, and we set off.
Godafoss
Well, this will be short! The weather was changing as we headed back to Akureyri, and as we had planned to photograph Godafoss, we thought it might be. We know the sky’s gone, so again, it’s really just recording location and scouting for next time.
The place was deserted, obstructing a few other vehicles, so we wandered along both sides of the falls, just to find works for our return trip. Since I wanted to go down closer to the river, we ventured to the far side of the parking lot. The wind was picking up now and the snow was falling a little heavier. I took a quick shot from the river side, then went up to the main viewing area and took another shot. Now the wind is howling and the snow is a bit heavier, so we decided to take one more shot before leaving.
The last shot, just 30 meters from the last, turned very quickly into 40 km + wind and snow, so we rushed to snap one and rush straight into the wind back to the car, taking longer than it should . .
Naughty North
This was our last evening in Akureyri. The drive back from Godafoss was a bit sketchy due to the weather. While it wasn’t disappointing in any way (it’s Iceland, after all), we never got the shots we expected, although the experience was something else altogether. Yes, we’ve been there before, but each time, there’s something new to discover. Because of the time of year and two-wheelers only, we never ventured on any other road. We’ll leave that for a summer tour.
Suffice to say, the north wasn’t so annoying as it was a wonderfully wonderful experience, but the weather certainly was. We were prepared for the cold, and during the trip, the temperature reached minus 10. Four-wheel drive would also be better to move, but finances do not allow at this time.
The next day, we went to Hofn. Those were the scariest driving conditions I’ve ever experienced. The phone shot below was taken by my partner before going completely empty-handed. This is not irresponsible driving, as we checked with the Vedur weather app prior to departure. This is heavier than expected.
We made it to the Hofn and the south coast, and a few hundred kilometers made all the difference.
