Iceland

Tentative dates: 3-15 July. Approximately 14 days.
Limited number of participants, 3-4 max.

Participants arrive at Keflavik Airport just outside Iceland's capitol city, Reykjavik, on flights from the U.S. Depending flight schedules, we will most likely overnight in Reykjavik, spending what is left of the day taking advantage of local photo ops and stopping for snacks and other necessities for the trip.

We will begin our journey following the southeast coast on Route 1, better known, "Ring Road." For our first stop, we will temporarily leave the main highway to visit one of Iceland's impressive waterfalls, Gullfóss (Golden Falls). From the Hvitá River, huge volumes of water tumble over two cascades before descending with a sheer wall of spray into a narrow gorge below. Access is easy with multiple trails leading to overlooks presenting a variety of photographic opportunities. This is only one of many waterfalls that we will encounter during our trip. Nearby we will visit Strokkur Geyser and the surrounding colorful thermal pools and springs. The geyser is one of the most reliable, erupting to a height of 15-30 meters every 7 to 8 minutes.

After this short detour, we will return to Route 1 and continue along Iceland's southern coast, stopping for scenic shots and wildlife. Most likely we will overnight near Hella. Throughout Iceland you can see evidence of past and present volcanic activity, conical mountains, crater lakes, bubbling mud pots, geysers, and hot springs. Lava as it cooled and eroded left behind basalt columns, jagged cliffs, rock pillars, black sand beaches, and strange amorphous formations. To my surprise, farms are nestled in fertile valleys between the mountains and coast. From many farm houses one can watch water cascading down emerald green cliffs and marvel at the fog as it sweeps in from the sea and envelops the view. Here and in many other areas throughout Iceland, Icelandic horses are a common sight grazing in the fields.

At the Eastern most point in Iceland, we will stop to explore the cape at Dýrhólaey in hopes of photographing eiders, arctic terns, puffins, and assorted shorebirds such as redshanks, whimbrels, snipes, oystercatchers, and godwits. Both here and near the town of Vik other photographic opportunities include black sand beaches, sea stacks, arches, and other outcroppings formed as the sea eroded the surrounding lava cliffs.

Further along Ring road, we will have our first glimpse of some of Iceland's remarkable glaciers, flowing from the 8500 sq km Vatnajokull icecap, largest icecap outside the poles. We will overnight at Hotel Skaftafell, beautifully situated in a bowl surrounded by snow-capped mountains. Nearby, we will visit the face of Skaftafellsjökull glacier and explore the photo opportunities presented by this massive sheet of ice and its jagged surface. From here we will continue to Jökulsárlón Lagoon filled with glacial melt water and icebergs caved from the face of Breiđamerkurjkull glacier. Their marvelous shapes, textures, patterns, and color offer terrific photo opportunities from the shore and water in one of the lagoon's tour boats.

We will overnight nearby and eventually follow the road inland, driving through a beautiful mountain pass with snow capped peaks and fields of lupine. We will overnight in Egilsstađir.

The next morning, our journey will take us past cinder cones and desert-like terrain to Lake Mýavtn, a very active thermal area with bubbling mud pots, volcanic caters, and hot springs. The area around the lake is protected as sensitive wildlife habitat due to the large number of birds which breed locally. Attracted to the warm water and abundant food supply, more than 100,000 birds can be found on the lake at one time. Here we will stop to photograph the grebes, phalaropes, swans, red-throated divers, red shovelers, Barrow's goldeneye, teal, and other waterfowl found locally.

From our lakeshore hotel, we will drive approximately 45 minutes north to the small harbor town of Húsavik. We will board a whale watching boat with the hope of photographing humpback whales waving their flukes, diving, tail slapping, and potentially breaching or engaging in other activities. We will return to our hotel that evening and the next day head towards the town of Akureyri, stopping to photograph Gođafoss Falls and interesting sites. We will continue to the town of Stykkishólmur on the Snæfellsnes peninsula, where we will overnight and then catch the ferry the next morning for West Fjord.

Once we land, we will drive to the Lattrabjarg cliffs, home to millions of breeding birds such as razor-billed auks, puffin, guillemots, and fulmars. In addition to the birds, the sea cliffs, ponds, and villages will provide us with numerous photo opportunities.

After two nights at Lattrabjarg , we will return by ferry to explore Snæfellsnes Penninsula, the location of the Snæfellsjokull Volcano and ice cap of Jules Verne fame. Here we will find many photo subjects, the volcano, quaint harbors, rugged coastline, mountains, and marine life. We will overnight on the peninsula and spend the next morning in search of more photo subjects before returning to Reykjavik and our flights home.

OSPREY Photo Workshops & Tours

Iceland

Land of Fire & Ice