The Top Photography Spots in Iceland
Iceland is a photographers dream, there’s landscape photography at every single turn. It’s hard to pick favourites when it comes to a country so rugged, dramatic and beautiful.
A lot of the best spots for photography are easy access scattered along the Icelandic ring road, however many are further a field. On this list are my favourites, a mixture of easy stop offs and hidden gems.
1) Seljalandsfoss
Just under a 2 hour drive from Reykjavík brings you to the first of many stunning waterfalls on the Icelandic ring road.
Seljalandsfoss really encapsulates what Iceland is all about, water plummeting over a cliff face surrounded by lushes green moss.
You can see these falls from the ring road so it’s hard not to stop. You can even walk around the back of these falls making for some interesting compositions with the evening sun shining back towards you. Be sure to bring some good waterproofs though as you’re bound to get pretty soaked!
Sunset at Seljalandsfoss
2) Gljúfrabúi
Just 600 m away from Seljalandsfoss lies it’s more hidden cousin Gljúfrabúi. Tucked away in a mossy canyon this waterfall is not to be missed.
Shooting inside the canyon can be a pretty tricky as it is super, super wet! I mean what do you expect when you’re essentially inside a waterfall!
Even if you can’t fire off any images though it’s still very worthy of an explore.
Gljúfrabúi from outside the canyon.
Gljúfrabúi from the inside
3) Skógafoss
30 minutes further on around the ring road brings you to the big one Skógafoss! This has to be one of Iceland’s most famous waterfalls.
Even though you can’t make your way around the back of this waterfall there is still lots of photographic opportunity. At the right time of year you’ll find purple lupins close to the river and there’s also some great hiking up and past the falls itself.
The power of Skógafoss
4) Þakgil (Thakgil)
Now this spot, or more specifically some of the hikes in the area, has some of my favourite photography opportunities anywhere on the south coast.
Accessing Thakgil isn’t as straight forward as some of the locations on this list as it isn’t actually situated on the ring road. To get to this are you’ll need to drive 15 km inland on a bumpy gravel road. Now this road isn’t designated as an F road and is in decent conditions however I would recommend exercising some caution, having previous driving experience on gravel or logging roads certainly helps.
Once at the Thakgil campground you’ll have to hike a lot of the trails to make the most of the photography.
Hiking in Thakgil
Black sands and mossy mountain views in Thakgil
5) Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon
Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon is another easy access spot just a short 5 minute drive off the Icelandic ring road.
The Fjaðrá river carved out this canyon over thousands of years and the unique, winding canyon walls tower over 100 m in heigh at certain spots.
There’s a set trail with several designated view points that hug the edge of the canyon to explore.
These do limit photographic compositions a little as staying on trail is the proper etiquette in Iceland as to not damage local fauna. However on the bright side (at the time of writing) you are able to fly drones here and fro the sky this canyon is even more stunning!
Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon
6) Svartifoss
Now I was a little hesitant to add Svartifoss to this list as even though it is a uniquely interesting waterfall the photography is pretty limited.
Nowadays the only place to shoot from is the designated viewing platform and lots of signage warn you away from getting any close. This will limit the opportunity but the towering basalt columns that frame the waterfall is something I hadn’t witness before.
If you have the time to visit and are able to make the 1.8 km walk from the car park it’s probably worth ticking it off your photography bucket list.
Svartifoss at sunset
7) Diamond Beach
I could spend many a morning chasing sunrises and compositions on Diamond Beach. This black sand cove is often littered with mini icebergs that break off of Jökulsárlón Glacial Lagoon and float out to sea.
Depending on the time of year and conditions you could see icebergs 6 ft tall or smaller crystal clear diamonds of ice. This is a great location to shoot at sunrise, sunset or an an over cast day as there’s lots of opportunity to experiment as the sea laps the shore and crashes over the ice.
8) Vestrahorn - Stokksnes
Probably one of the most iconic mountain peaks in the whole of Iceland and another one of my favourite spots. Located on the southeast corner of Iceland’s coast line the Stokksnes headland is home to a large black sand beach.
The beach is scattered with wispy grass outcrops and dunes to be used as foreground whilst the retreating sea offers mirror like reflections.
Reflections of Vestrahorn on Stokksnes beach.
The dunes offer some fantastic foregrounds.
9) Borgarfjarðarhöfn - Borgarfjardarhofn
Now that’s a name I bet you can’t pronounce properly! Borgarfjarðarhöfn in the east is a bit of a detour off the main ring road being an hours drive each way. The road also passes over some steep mountain passes which make the driving a little challenging if you chance upon some late season snow.
However if you want to see and photograph puffins when in Iceland this is the place to do it! Almost 10,000 nesting puffins call this small archipelago home.
A short wooden walk way flows through the landscape with puffins nesting, playing and exploring just inches away, some so confident in their surroundings that they happily walk the man made pathways themselves.
10) Godafoss - Goðafoss
Another one of the big names in Iceland and a great stop off when driving around the north side of the Icelandic ring road.
Although this is another location where access has become more limited in recent years there are still a good variety of maintained trails and view points you can set up to get a few different compositions.
Godafoss on a moody day
11) Kirkjufell
Kirkjufell on the Snæfellsnesvegur peninsular is a little out of the way when it comes to driving the ring road however I imagine you’ve either already seen or heard of this location!
If you’re a photographer this location has to be on your list and it is more than worth the detour. Kirkjufell again now has more designated view points, pathways and ropes keeping tourists and photographers on track. There is still plenty of opportunity to get some iconic images and the nearby tarn offers some different composition options.
Kirkjufell and it’s waterfalls
12) Thórsmörk - Thorsmork
Moving in to the Icelandic Highlands Thorsmork offers some of the best hiking and views in Iceland.
It’s surprisingly close to Reykjavík but not easily accessed. The F roads out to Thorsmork are technical and harsh. The easiest way to visit is to let someone else do the driving and book on to a 4WD specialised bus that easily fords the rivers.
Once in the area though there’s a lot to be explored on foot and you won’t be disappointed!
Views over Thorsmork Valley
