What Makes Iceland’s Landscapes So Unique and Stunning?

ICELAND 2014

With a pair of friends, we had a holiday in Iceland. We hired a mobile home and drove around, an ideal way to get around in Iceland. The tourist attractions are many but far from eachother, and the landscape is deserted and barren. It’s difficult to explain why, but the scenery is absolutely stunning. The weather is changeable and can be turbulent and dresses up the volcanos, hot springs and waterfalls in a wonderful way.

Exploring Iceland: A Landscape Photographer's Paradise

Our plan was to follow the coastal road / ring road counterclockwise all the way around Iceland and from the ring road take detours to sights we wanted to visit. It is not easy to demand time for photography, when the other 3 people are not as interested in photography as I am. The motives offered on this trip were very different from those I was used to. Iceland is full of magnificent landscapes, rushing rivers and waterfalls.

On the way around we took the ferry to Heimaey, where we were told about the powerful volcanic eruption in 1973 that threatened to close the harbor entrance. They cooled the lava by stopping the flow by spraying seawater on it. I got a big star from the bus driver when he told us that there had been many great athletes from Iceland who had careers in Europe. Among other things, he said that there had been a footballer in the German Bundesliga in the 1980s. I scored pins when I said that it was Sigurvinsson in VFB Stuttgart.

We visited Gullfoss where there is an enormous amount of water, and a huge cloud of water dust swirled into the air. At Seljalandsfoss I was lucky enough to be able to photograph a young woman with a large red umbrella. I had not brought a tripod with me to Iceland, and since I wanted silky water taken with a shutter speed of ½ second, I had to do it handheld and try not to shake my hands and hardly breathe. I used the technique I learned as a soldier when I had to shoot with a pistol. Four of the pictures came out sharp, and it was great. You can go behind the waterfall, but we didn’t bring rain gear. At the Svartifoss waterfall, the water flows down from a rock wall consisting of hexagonal basalt columns – an incredibly impressive sight and very photogenic. The Icelandic waterfalls have perhaps been photographed so many times that they risk running out of water over time, and we will have to see what happens.

As we traversed Iceland, we quickly discovered that while popular tourist attractions can be quite crowded, the surrounding landscapes remain largely untouched and desolate. This contrast makes for a striking backdrop in photographs, as you can capture the beauty of the wild with the human element of tourism subtly integrated into the scene. The rocky coastlines, expansive lava fields, and secluded valleys offer endless opportunities to play with composition, light, and scale in our images.

One of the most mesmerizing features of Iceland’s landscape is its ever-changing weather. On our journey, we experienced everything from vibrant blue skies to unexpected rain showers—all within a single day. This volatility provided us with fantastic lighting conditions that transformed familiar vistas into something ethereal. For instance, during one of our hikes, we stumbled upon a set of beautiful waterfalls surrounded by lush greenery. As dark clouds loomed overhead, shafts of sunlight broke through, creating a magical interplay of light and shadow, perfect for a dramatic shot.

We stayed overnight in the town of Vik right down by the sea, and here we saw a couple of rocks that jutted out of the sea off the headland – impressively beautiful and photogenic.

At Jökulsárlón we bought a boat trip with an amphibious vehicle on the lake. We were told that the ships / vehicles date back to the Vietnam War. We sailed past some absolutely fantastic formations of icebergs.

When we reached the town of Höfn, we had travelled about a third of the way around Iceland, and here we received a message that the Bardabunga volcano had erupted. Because the Eyjafjallajökull volcano had erupted some years earlier and had more or less shut down all air traffic in Europe, we had to reassess the situation. We decided to drive back to Reykjavik and see what time would bring. Here we experienced Harpa – the new Concert Hall designed by the Icelandic / Danish architect and artist Olafur Eliasson – a very beautiful and photogenic building. We also visited Hallgrímskirkja, which I found more distinctive than beautiful.

The story with the Bardabunga volcano did not end so badly, we were able to fly back to Denmark at normal time. Iceland is a photographer’s paradise, filled with dramatic landscapes, striking contrasts, and a raw beauty that feels otherworldly. T

Was it hard to come all the way down here? Try this from Lanzarote as a reward.

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