Iceland
Photo tour

Our Iceland expedition will begin with a meeting at Keflavik Airport. You can arrive at any time, as we will spend the first night in Reykjavik. Reykjavik is the northernmost capital city in the world. It wonderfully combines the cozyness of a small Scandinavian town with the spirit of a modern creative capital. Here, colorful wooden houses with bright roofs stand next to avant-garde architecture, and old streets mix naturally with street art and unusual art installations.

A photographer in Reykjavik will find a huge variety of subjects: the famous Hallgrimskirkja church with its futuristic silhouette, the Harpa Concert Hall with the play of light on its glass facets, fishing ports with boats and seagulls, and narrow streets where every door and sign looks like it was made for a photo.

Capturing the city at sunrise and sunset is especially beautiful: the first rays of the sun color the Faxafloi Bay and reflect in the glass of the Harpa building, while the warm light makes the colorful houses look even brighter. In the evening, if the weather is good, the Northern Lights may light up over Reykjavik, turning the capital into a scene from a Nordic fairy tale.

Reykjavik is the perfect start to an Iceland photo tour: it sets the mood, inspires, and shows how harmoniously nature and people can live together in one space.
This will be an acclimation day, but we will still go for a walk and explore the city.

What will we see in Reykjavik?

• Hallgrimskirkja — a huge Lutheran church shaped like a frozen basalt column, visible from anywhere in the city. It offers a panoramic view of the whole Reykjavik and the mountains.
• Laugavegur — the main street with cafes and shops featuring Icelandic design, woolen products, and souvenirs.
• The Old Harbour (Grandi) — a district of former fish warehouses that now hosts museums, street food spots, and the Omnom chocolate factory.
• The Sun Voyager (Sólfar) — a steel boat sculpture by the water, which we will photograph at sunset.

At the end of the first day of our Iceland expedition, we will have dinner at Höfnin. This is a family restaurant located in a 1930s building with a view of the harbor and Mount Esja. Here, we will enjoy modern Icelandic cuisine: seafood soup, plokkfiskur (fish stew), lamb, lobster with risotto, and licorice ice cream for dessert.

On the second day of our Iceland expedition, we will drive east from Reykjavik. Our first stop is Geysir: a famous geothermal field where the Strokkur geyser shoots a column of boiling water 20−30 meters into the air every 5−10 minutes. Another 10-minute drive brings us to Gullfoss, the "Golden Waterfall," where the Hvita River drops into a 70-meter-deep canyon. You can feel the mist from hundreds of meters away, and on a sunny day, a rainbow hangs over the falls for hours.

After Gullfoss, the most exciting part begins: we leave the asphalt for a dirt road, and our Toyota Sequoia transforms into a true off-road vehicle. The landscape outside changes drastically as green fields disappear, replaced by lava fields. Around us is nothing but black volcanic sand and a deserted highland without a single tree…

A couple of hours later, rhyolite mountains of impossible colors begin to appear on the horizon: red, orange, purple, and green. Many people think these colors are photoshopped when looking at pictures, but the secret lies in the mineral composition of the rock.

For these days, Landmannalaugar will be our camp for this Iceland tour. It is located in a valley at the edge of the Laugahraun lava field, where hot springs mix with a freezing stream to create the perfect temperature for a bath. In the evening, after hiking Brennisteinsalda or Blahnukur, we will head there to relax and watch the mountains at sunset—an unforgettable experience to end the day.

On the fourth day of our Iceland expedition photo tour, we drive south from Landmannalaugar. You will immediately feel that this is not just a road, but a transition between worlds. The colorful rhyolite mountains are left behind, and a dark highland opens up ahead.

Lava fields stretch to the horizon with no sign of life; only the wind drives clouds over the black earth as our Sequoia rolls over the rocks. The vehicle crosses shallow rivers—cold, clear water hits the running boards, and on a sunny day, rainbow-colored spray splashes across the windows. Every new turn reveals something unexpected: a deep canyon with an emerald river below, a frozen lava tongue, or a valley of such deep emptiness that you just want to stop and stay silent.

We will make a stop at Fjáðrárgljúfur—one of those moments that makes choosing the southern route completely worth it. This 100-meter-deep and 2-kilometer-long canyon appears suddenly, right by the roadside, and the first look down takes your breath away. The Fjáðrá River flows far below between dark basalt walls covered in a solid carpet of moss. Its color is so rich that it seems to be glowing from the inside. The canyon walls bend and twist into incredible shapes, hanging over one another. By the way, this is exactly where they filmed the dragon flight in "Game of Thrones." Standing here, you will understand why: the location feels like it is from another universe, too beautiful to be real.

After the beauty of Fjáðrárgljúfur, our Iceland expedition faces the final stretch of the road to Laki. The track gets rougher and we move slower, but Iceland’s most magnificent lava field stretches on both sides. Ahead of us are 565 square kilometers of magma that froze in 1783. Today, it is covered in velvety moss of every shade of green—from light lime to almost black emerald. This combination makes you feel as if the earth died here and was then reborn.

The Laki craters themselves—130 vents lined up along a tectonic fissure—look like a wound on the planet’s body that hasn’t fully healed. After climbing the main cone, we will look down into the dark vent, and then turn around to see the entire chain of craters stretching far out to the horizon, where the Vatnajökull glacier gleams white in the haze. At this moment, you realize you are standing in one of the most powerful and empty places on Earth.

We begin the fifth day of our Iceland tour with Svartifoss. In the early morning, the trail in Skaftafell is almost empty, and the air is cold and clear. After a short hike, the waterfall appears around the bend. Your first impression will feel more like architecture than nature: perfectly formed hexagonal basalt columns frame the falling water like an organ in a Gothic cathedral. The dark stone is wet and shiny, and the mist is lit by the morning light—indeed, these very columns inspired the architects of the Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavik.

Next, we head east and arrive at Jökulsárlón about an hour before sunset. The lagoon welcomes us with silence and cold. Icebergs, each the size of a house, drift slowly and silently. In the sunset light, they change color almost every minute: starting as white with blue shadows, then turning pink, then orange, and finally almost red. All of this reflects in the dark water while the sky over the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier burns with every shade from lemon to purple. On the rocks by the shore, seals lie completely indifferent to the sunset and to us.

We will spend the night nearby. At sunrise, while most tourists are still asleep, we will cross the bridge to Diamond Beach. This is a completely different world compared to the evening: the black volcanic sand is covered with dozens of ice blocks washed ashore by the tide overnight. Some are as clear as optical glass, refracting the light into rainbow flashes; others are milky white with blue veins; and some are deep indigo, compressed so tightly that no air is left inside.

This ice is thousands of years old, melting as it lies on the black sand. Every wave brings new pieces and takes away old ones, so the view will look entirely different just an hour later. To capture your perfect shot, you need to move quickly, change angles, and lie right on the sand—this sunrise at Diamond Beach will stay with us forever.

On the sixth day of our expedition across southern Iceland, we arrive at Stokksnes in the dark—the gates of the Viking Café open early. We need to catch the sunrise right by the water, so we will walk across the black sand toward the mountain.

During the first few minutes, everything will be gray and quiet. Only the Atlantic Ocean sounds nearby, and the silhouette of Vestrahorn is barely visible in the dark like a giant shadow. Then, the sky behind the mountain will begin to brighten—first, a narrow strip of cold green appears over the horizon, then it warms up to lemon, and finally to orange. At this moment, the magic happens: if there is no wind and the tide has left water in the pools between the dunes, Vestrahorn reflects perfectly in them. The sharp, dark peaks, the sky, the clouds—everything is doubled. Standing between two mountains, the real one and the reflection, you lose track of where the earth ends and the sky begins.

The first light will touch the gabbro rocks and make them more than just black. It will fill the cracks with purple and brown shades, creating depth, while silver highlights appear on the wet stone. In this light, the silhouette of Brunnhorn on the right becomes that famous "Batman" shape—sharp, crisp, and perfect.

Here, we will shoot with a wide-angle lens from the water, and then move into the dunes. Tufts of bright green grass on the black sand in the morning backlight create a texture that is impossible to invent. We find it here, at the edge of the Atlantic, in one of the quietest and most surreal places in Iceland.

Kirkjubæjarklaustur is not just a hard-to-pronounce name, but an important point on our Iceland tour itinerary. It is the gateway to one of the most cinematic shooting areas in the entire south of the country.

A drone here opens up incredible views: glacial rivers spread out in wide braided patterns from the edge of the Vatnajökull glacier across the black Skeidarársandur plain—the largest sandur plain in the world. From above, it looks like a living abstract painting: dozens of river branches twist, separate, and meet again, with the whole system shining in the sun like silver on black velvet.

The best time for a drone is early morning, when fog still lies in the lowlands between the river branches and the sun hits at a sharp angle. Shadows from the banks trace the relief of each riverbed, and the water in the channels changes color from cloudy gray to turquoise depending on the depth and speed of the flow. From above, all this geological chaos turns into a perfect composition of dark earth and silver threads of water.

If you don’t have a drone, don’t worry: there is also incredible landscape photography to be done from the ground. On the plain near the road, you can set up a tripod and capture how a glacial river changes its course right before your eyes among small craters—slowly and inevitably, as if the earth here has not yet fully decided what shape to take.

On the first evening, we head to Reynisfjara. We arrive an hour before sunset when the side light begins to work in our favor—at this time, the black beach looks alive and detailed, with every single wave clearly visible. After the sun dips below the horizon, the sky over Reynisdrangar holds its color for about twenty more minutes—turning purple, then indigo, and finally dark blue. In this twilight, the silhouettes of the basalt sea stacks look like a backdrop for a Nordic epic. We shoot on tri-pods with long exposures before returning to the campsite.

On the ninth day of our Iceland tour, we wake up before dawn and drive to the Dyrhólaey peninsula. We hike up to the lighthouse at the top of the 120-meter cliff while it is still dark, set up our tripods, and wait… As the first light begins to rise over the horizon, everything gradually appears in the frame: the Dyrhólaey arch over the Atlantic waves; the black beach of Reynisfjara stretching to the east; the basalt sea stacks in the pinkish sea; and the Eyjafjallajökull glacier to the north wrapped in morning mist. We take our time shooting here because the light changes every few minutes, creating entirely new scenes. If we are lucky, the natural beauty will be topped off by puffins circling right above our heads, completely indifferent to us and the sunrise.

After Dyrhólaey, we drive to Kvernufoss—a waterfall that few people know about, though it is just as spectacular as Skógafoss. The walk takes about twenty minutes through the canyon of the Skógá River. The further you go, the narrower the canyon walls become, until we finally reach a semi-circular amphitheater of dark basalt where the waterfall drops into a hidden basin. There is a hidden path behind it, much like at Seljalandsfoss, but with no crowds around. There is only water, stone, moss, and acoustics that allow you to hear the waterfall along with your own breathing.

From Kvernufoss, we head down to Skógafoss. The morning light here is soft and hits from the side, creating a stable, double rainbow at the base of the falls. A polarizing filter makes its colors look almost unbelievably rich. Standing near the base, you will feel the air pressure from the cascading water. The mist covers the filter instantly, so we wipe the lens quickly and shoot in between the gusts of wind.

If the river water level allows, we will move on to Þórsmörk after the waterfalls. The road there is an adventure in itself, featuring several deep river crossings, canyons, and black scree slopes. As a reward, a fairytale valley will open up before us: a green oasis surrounded by glaciers and black mountains, with a birch forest along the riverbanks. You will feel completely disconnected from civilization—here we are alone, right next to the glacier, making it the best spot for afternoon shots before heading back.

We begin the evening at Gljúfrabúi. We walk up to a cleft in the rock, step ankle-deep into the cold stream, and squeeze inside. We find ourselves in a hidden amphitheater where the waterfall drops from the ceiling into a small grotto. The evening light enters from above as a thin golden beam, the moss on the walls glows emerald, and the acoustics of the enclosed space echo the roar of the water. Inside this spot, we shoot with a wide-angle lens looking up, capturing both the waterfall and the crack of sky above it. This is one of the most secret shots on the entire coast.

Next, we move to Seljalandsfoss. During the golden hour, the sun hits at a sharp angle and turns the mist into a glowing haze. First, we work from the outside—using a wide-angle lens to capture the whole waterfall, the valley, and the glacier against the golden background. Then, we follow the trail behind the waterfall. The water drops right in front of us like a solid wall, revealing the valley in the sunset light. The waterfall becomes a living frame for the golden landscape. This shot from the inside—standing in the mist and looking through the falling water at the burning sky—is something you cannot get anywhere else on earth. On this bright note, we end another part of our Iceland photo expedition.

We have a 3.5-hour drive to Keflavik ahead of us, but we are in no hurry. Therefore, all participants should book afternoon or evening flights. This is a crucial decision that turns our departure day into a complete final chapter of our southern Iceland expedition.

The Reykjanes Peninsula shows us a different side of the country—not the green land with waterfalls that we left behind, but a bare, windswept, and tectonically active landscape. Here, the earth’s crust is thin with magma pulsing beneath, and you can truly feel it: the smell of sulfur in the air, steam rising from cracks, and black lava fields without a single tree stretching all the way to the horizon.

Our first stop is the Gunnuhver geothermal area, where wooden boardwalks lead us directly over bubbling mud pools and hissing steam vents. Yellow sulfur crystallizes on the stones along the edges. We will use a wide-angle lens to capture the steam in the backlight and a telephoto lens to catch the details of mineral deposits—all against the backdrop of the Atlantic Ocean crashing just a few meters away.

The second stop is the Bridge Between Continents, a small footbridge over a fissure where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates are pulling apart. Here, you can literally stand with one foot in Europe and the other in America. The shot will be simple but powerful: a person on the bridge, the fissure cutting deep into the ground, and two continents stretching out on either side.

If a volcano is active on the peninsula during these days, we will head toward it without hesitation. Since 2021, Reykjanes has been erupting regularly, and seeing it would be the ultimate gift for our journey. The lava flows slowly, and safe viewing zones are clearly marked. Photographing this glowing, orange lava moving across a black field offers the kind of shots that happen once in a lifetime.

Our Iceland expedition will begin with a meeting at Keflavik Airport. You can arrive at any time, as we will spend the first night in Reykjavik. Reykjavik is the northernmost capital city in the world. It wonderfully combines the cozyness of a small Scandinavian town with the spirit of a modern creative capital. Here, colorful wooden houses with bright roofs stand next to avant-garde architecture, and old streets mix naturally with street art and unusual art installations.

A photographer in Reykjavik will find a huge variety of subjects: the famous Hallgrimskirkja church with its futuristic silhouette, the Harpa Concert Hall with the play of light on its glass facets, fishing ports with boats and seagulls, and narrow streets where every door and sign looks like it was made for a photo.

Capturing the city at sunrise and sunset is especially beautiful: the first rays of the sun color the Faxafloi Bay and reflect in the glass of the Harpa building, while the warm light makes the colorful houses look even brighter. In the evening, if the weather is good, the Northern Lights may light up over Reykjavik, turning the capital into a scene from a Nordic fairy tale.

Reykjavik is the perfect start to an Iceland photo tour: it sets the mood, inspires, and shows how harmoniously nature and people can live together in one space.
This will be an acclimation day, but we will still go for a walk and explore the city.

What will we see in Reykjavik?

• Hallgrimskirkja — a huge Lutheran church shaped like a frozen basalt column, visible from anywhere in the city. It offers a panoramic view of the whole Reykjavik and the mountains.
• Laugavegur — the main street with cafes and shops featuring Icelandic design, woolen products, and souvenirs.
• The Old Harbour (Grandi) — a district of former fish warehouses that now hosts museums, street food spots, and the Omnom chocolate factory.
• The Sun Voyager (Sólfar) — a steel boat sculpture by the water, which we will photograph at sunset.

At the end of the first day of our Iceland expedition, we will have dinner at Höfnin. This is a family restaurant located in a 1930s building with a view of the harbor and Mount Esja. Here, we will enjoy modern Icelandic cuisine: seafood soup, plokkfiskur (fish stew), lamb, lobster with risotto, and licorice ice cream for dessert.

We begin our northern Iceland expedition in the morning, driving toward the Snæfellsnes Peninsula via Hraunfossar. The first point on our itinerary is a waterfall that is impossible to invent; it exists contrary to all logic.

The water does not flow from above or out of a canyon, but rather emerges from beneath the Hallmundarhraun lava field. Along the entire length of the riverbank, thousands of thin streams seep through the porous basalt rock and drop into the Hvítá River in countless threads. A wide-angle lens alone cannot handle this; you will need a panoramic shot to fit the entire cascade.

Next, the road leads us north and west. The peninsula will reveal itself gradually: first farms and birch groves, then denser lava fields, until the Snæfellsjökull glacier begins to appear on the left. This ice-capped volcanic cone is the exact spot where Jules Verne sent his characters to the center of the Earth. The place truly looks like an entrance to another dimension, especially when the clouds tear around the peak and reveal it for just a few seconds. We will shoot almost non-stop here because the glacier appears and disappears unpredictably.

By sunset, we arrive at Kirkjufellsfoss—and you will immediately understand why this spot became a symbol of Iceland. Three thin waterfalls drop in parallel against the backdrop of the conical Mount Kirkjufell, which stands by the water like a perfect natural monument. In the sunset light, this entire composition—the mountain, the waterfalls, and the reflection in the river—turns into a shot you will want to capture from every angle of the shore. Here, we set the tripods low, right near the water. A long exposure turns the waterfalls into milky streams while the mountain remains sharp and dark against a burning sky. This is one of those sunsets that leaves you silent for a long time.

We will spend the night nearby and wake up before dawn at Arnarstapi. We will walk along the coastal trail by the basalt cliffs, which the Atlantic has carved for thousands of years into arches, grottoes, and columns of fantastic shapes. In the dawn twilight, everything looks like a backdrop for an Icelandic saga: black cliffs over a gray sea, waves crashing into white foam, and puffins and gannets circling in the pinkish sky, completely indifferent to us and our lenses.

We will use a telephoto lens to capture the birds flying against the cliffs, and then move down to the water’s edge with a wide-angle lens, right to the brink of the basalt platforms where the waves hit the stone. Here, at the edge of the peninsula and the foot of the volcano looking out into the Atlantic, our northern Iceland expedition truly begins!

From Arnarstapi, we set our course north. After all the volcanic and glacial splendor of the Snæfellsnes Peninsula, the road along Húnaflói Bay introduces us to a different side of Iceland: soft and green, almost traditionally Scandinavian. Rolling hills, farms with Icelandic horses, and a massive bay stretch around us, exposing kilometers of mudflats at low tide—a perfect environment for seals.

Hvammstangi is a small fishing village on the shores of Húnaflói Bay. The area is considered the seal capital of Iceland, and that is no exaggeration: it hosts one of the largest harbor seal colonies in the country. Photographing them is a unique experience that requires patience, quiet, and a telephoto lens up to 400 mm.
Young seals play near the water’s edge, while adults doze on the rocks in positions of pure bliss. If you lie down on the shore and wait, sooner or later one of the animals will swim very close to study you with the same curious seriousness with which you are watching it.

The next day, we wake up before dawn and drive to Hvítserkur—a 15-meter-high basalt rock standing just off the coast in Húnaflói Bay. Over thousands of years, nature has carved it into a unique silhouette. A mammoth or a dragon drinking water? The answer depends on the angle and your imagination!

While it is still dark, we walk down a steep path to the shore, set up our tripods by the water, and wait. The horizon behind the rock slowly brightens, first showing a faint gray strip, then green, then lemon, until Hvítserkur emerges from the darkness. It becomes sharp and dark against the lightening sky, its reflection trembling in the water. Then, the rock changes completely, revealing its secret: white spots appear on the dark basalt—thousands of seabirds nesting in the cracks and on the ledges.

On the fourth day of our Iceland tour, Mývatn welcomes us with the smell of sulfur and absolute silence. The lake lies surrounded by volcanic craters, lava fields, and geothermal zones. Two days here pass like a single moment because everywhere you look, there is a shot waiting to be captured.

First, we head to Hverir: a geothermal field on the slopes of Mount Námafjall and one of the most alien-looking places in Iceland. Here, the earth is literally boiling: mud pools bubble with a thick sulfur mass, fumaroles hiss with high-pressure steam, and the entire surface is painted in amazing colors—yellow, orange, red, and white. We will use a wide-angle lens to shoot the steam in the backlight and a telephoto lens to catch the details of the boiling mud as bubbles pop and spray in slow motion. This is the kind of shot you cannot get anywhere else on the planet.

We will photograph the Skútustaðagígar pseudocraters near the southern shore of the lake during the day—dozens of cones scattered along the banks and in the water. In the morning fog, they look like a fantasy movie set: the low light touches each cone, the shadows stretch long, and the lake behind them turns into a perfect mirror.

The Dimmuborgir lava field—the "Dark Castles"—is a place where lava froze into such bizarre columns, arches, and towers that Icelanders consider it the gateway to the underworld. By the way, one of the famous scenes from "Game of Thrones" was filmed here. Fans of the show walking through the narrow paths between the basalt pillars at twilight will feel like characters from the saga.

Grjótagjá is a hot geothermal spring inside a small lava cave with turquoise water. This is where the scene with Jon Snow and Ygritte was filmed. The cave ceilings hang low, the water glows in the semi-darkness, and a shot from the inside looking out toward the blue sky will be one of the most atmospheric in our Iceland photo expedition.

In the evening, we will visit the Mývatn Nature Baths—the northern version of the Blue Lagoon. These geothermal pools sit at the edge of a lava field, featuring milky-blue water rich in minerals and steam rising into the cold air. Overhead, if we are lucky, the Northern Lights will turn on or an endless starry sky will open up.

The next morning, we wake up before dawn and drive to Dettifoss—the most powerful waterfall in Europe. The Jökulsá á Fjöllum River carries the waters of the melting Vatnajökull glacier and drops them into a canyon from a height of 44 meters. You can physically feel the power of this drop: the ground vibrates under your feet, and the roar can be heard a kilometer away. The mist rises in a cloud to the height of the waterfall and turns into a rainbow haze over the dark canyon in the morning light. We photograph this beauty from the western bank, which offers the clearest view without the mist.

Next, we move down the canyon to Selfoss—smaller than Dettifoss but wider. Here, the water falls in several parallel streams across the entire width of the river, looking like a living sculpture in the morning light. Shooting with a long exposure blurs the streams into silk while the rocks remain sharp.

After the waterfalls, we head to Húsavík for whale watching. This town on the shores of Skjálfandi Bay is called the whale capital of Europe. Humpback whales feed here from May to October, and heading out into the bay on a traditional wooden boat is a distinct chapter of our expedition. We shoot from the deck using a telephoto lens: right before diving deep, a whale lifts its tail above the water at the last moment. Sometimes humpbacks breach completely out of the water. If that happens nearby, your camera shutter clicks automatically before your brain even has time to think.

We return to Mývatn by evening, look at the lake in the sunset light, and realize that these two days were an expedition within an expedition. Volcanoes, whales, waterfalls, caves, and hot water under the open sky—an incredible number of locations, events, and impressions all within a 100-kilometer radius.

Meanwhile, our vehicle stands on the lakeshore, ready to take us further east to Askja—where Iceland becomes completely wild.

On the sixth day of our Iceland tour, we drive out of Mývatn, and right past the turn, the Ódáðahraun lava desert awaits us. This is 4,500 square kilometers of black frozen magma with no signs of life.

Our off-road vehicle moves through it slowly and confidently, rolling over sharp basalt ridges. After a few glacial river crossings and two and a half hours of driving, the edge of the Askja caldera opens up: 50 kilometers in diameter, it is one of the largest in the world, with Lake Öskjuvatn at the bottom sitting in the morning haze.

We spend the night right by the caldera because Askja in the morning belongs only to those who stayed. In the early morning, the air here is absolutely still and cold, and the lake lies like a mirror. Reaching depths of up to 220 meters, its water is dark and heavy, but the reflection of the dawn sky is so clear that the horizon disappears—it is impossible to tell where the water ends and the air begins. When the first light hits the ochre edges of the caldera, the shadows highlight the terrain, revealing the full scale of the volcanic depression.

Later, we hike down to the Víti crater, which holds a thermal turquoise lake. In the summer, the water temperature here rises to 30 degrees. In the morning light, the milky-turquoise water is framed by a ring of black basalt. This is one of the strongest color contrasts of our entire Iceland expedition, and a shot from above the crater’s edge perfectly closes the northern chapter of our journey.

We return from Askja using the same route—through the Ódáðahraun lava desert. However, the road back feels different: our off-road vehicle rolls over the same basalt ridges and crosses the same rivers, but this black desert already feels like an old friend.

Now, we set our course west along the northern coast. Here, the landscape changes dramatically: after the volcanic desert, northern Iceland welcomes us with green valleys, wide rivers, and farms by the water. In the afternoon, we will arrive in Varmahlíð—a small village in the Skagafjörður valley, surrounded by the exact views that make it worth visiting with a drone.

The Skagafjörður valley is one of the most picturesque river systems in northern Iceland, where glacial rivers split into dozens of branches across a wide plain. From above, it looks like a piece of graphic art: silver braids of water against the green and brown background of the valley, islands between the channels, and sandbanks that gleam like gold in the low evening light.

It is best to launch the drone at dawn while fog still lies in the lowlands between the river branches. From above, the entire system looks like a single living organism: a glacier somewhere past the horizon feeds dozens of streams, and they come together and separate across the valley in a completely free pattern, never trapped by riverbanks. This freedom of water flows is one of the most beautiful things you can shoot from the air in northern Iceland.

On the eighth day of our Iceland tour, the immersive journey into the highlands begins from the very first kilometers. At first, the valley sees us off with green slopes, but then the vegetation thins out and disappears, leaving nothing but an endless emptiness around us, with the wind driving clouds so low they almost touch the ground.

The F35 is one of the few F-roads without deep river crossings. All the rivers are bridged, allowing you to just look out the window: the highlands change texture from black lava to rusty volcanic sand. Sometimes a blue lake appears by the road, with a color so rich it looks painted.

A couple of hours later, the Kerlingarfjöll mountains emerge ahead—rusty, red, ochre, and white. They rise from the highlands like a Martian landscape, a sort of Icelandic Yellowstone.

Here, we set up camp and head into the mountains—we only have one night, so we do not waste a single hour. We hike up the valley along geothermal streams with impossible water colors—turquoise, yellow, and orange. The Hveravellir hot springs burst right out of the slopes, with steam rising in tall columns.

At dawn, we will climb onto the ridge. When the first light touches the rusty peaks, they will glow bright orange. At the same time, the valley below will still be in the shadows. This contrast between the burning peaks and the dark valley lasts for about ten minutes—and believe me, those ten minutes make the drive across the entire highlands completely worth it.

We descend from the highlands of Kerlingarfjöll and arrive at Gullfoss by noon. In the middle of the day, when the sun is high, the rainbows at Gullfoss are stable and double, sometimes even triple. The full power of the Hvítá River’s two-tiered drop into the canyon can be experienced here at its maximum.

We stand at the edge of the viewing platform as the mist flies onto the lenses. A polarizing filter makes the rainbow look almost unbelievably rich. We shoot for a long time: the clouds change the light every few minutes, and each time the view is different.

Our next point is Geysir. Here, we set up camp at a campsite just a few minutes' walk from the geothermal field. In the evening, without the tourists, we experience the place differently: the smell of sulfur, the quiet bubbling of the springs, and the steam rising over the field in the sunset light—everything that gets lost in the crowds during the day.

We wake up before dawn and head out to the field in complete silence—and this is a totally different Geysir. There is not a single person around, just us and Strokkur, which faithfully shoots up every five to ten minutes in the absolute quiet.

We position our tripods facing the sun. The backlight turns the column of water into a glowing pillar, the surrounding spray burns like gold, and the steam spreads across the field in a side ray of light. In this light, the entire geothermal zone looks primitive and powerful. We shoot a sequence: the moment before the eruption—when a dome of water swells on the surface of the spring—then the actual 20 to 30-meter blast, and finally the water falling back down in a cloud of steam.

After the shoot, we drive to Brúarfoss—one of Iceland’s most unusual waterfalls, which most people simply do not know about. The water here is an incredible blue color—not light blue or turquoise, but a deep, intense blue. This is because the waterfall is fed by glacial sources running through lava layers, which filter the water to a crystal clarity.

The walk to Brúarfoss takes about twenty minutes along a trail by the river. When the waterfall opens up—small, almost intimate, and framed by dark basalt—the deep blue of the water in the morning light looks unreal, as if someone colored it specifically for the camera. This will be our final shot before our Iceland expedition sets its course for Keflavik.

We have a two-hour drive to Keflavik ahead of us, but we are in no hurry. Therefore, all participants should book afternoon or evening flights. This is a crucial decision that turns our departure day into a complete final chapter of our northern Iceland expedition.

On the way to Reykjavik, we will turn off toward Þingvellir. This national park lies right on the boundary between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. The rift between them, Almannagjá, is a fissure in the earth’s crust where you can walk along the canyon floor between two continents. By the way, this is exactly where Icelanders established the world’s first parliament, the Althing, in the year 930. This place is both a geological wonder and the cradle of democracy.

If you shoot with a wide-angle lens along the rift, the perspective recedes into the distance as the walls close in, creating a powerful feeling that the earth here continues to pull apart.

Another stop on our final route is Lake Þingvallavatn. It is the largest lake in Iceland. The water here is crystal clear all the way to the bottom, with a visibility of up to 80 meters. On this scenic note, we will complete our Iceland photo tour and head to Keflavik with unforgettable impressions and spectacular shots.