This years photo trip brought me back to Iceland. We’ve been here in 2010 for our summer holidays, but this time I´ve joined a guided photo tour.

After meeting up at the Keflavik airport in the late afternoon we drove along the south coast to the Lambastadir guesthouse near Selfoss where we spent the first night. After checking in it was time to start taking fotos. We continued east along Highway No 1 to two of the most iconic waterfalls of Iceland – Seljalandsfoss and Skogafoss.

Day 2 started with another two much known places of Iceland – Geysir and Gullfoss. From there we headed for the gravel roads of the highlands. After a few hours drive we arrived at Kerlingarfjöll – a fantastic geothermal landscape where we spend 2 hours hiking and photographing. The next stop was at the geothermal area of Hveravellir. Besides the bubbling and smelly hotspots I also photographed snowbuntings, a northern wheatear and a golden plover here. We continued to our final destination for today – Myvatn. Here we spend a few nights at the Vogafjos Farm Resort.

After that much driving on day 2 we started around lunch time on day 3. We hade boked a whale watching tour in Husavik. The weather was calm and cloudy – perfect for a boat trip. And a few humpback whales where around as well… these 3 hours went by quickly. After a late lunch we drove along the coast and up the inland until we reached Dettifoss. Here it was quite rainy and windy which made photography quite a challenge. It was wet from above and wet from all the mist coming from the waterfall…

Day 4 we started out at the Hverir geothermal field and in the close by lupinefield. On our way back to Myvatn vi made at quick stop at the cave “Grjotagja“, before we drove to the old volcano of Hverfjall. After a 20 minutes hike up I circled the crater. Weather conditions were changing constantly – fog and sunshine – sometimes I could not see inside the crater, but hade a great view over Myvatn, sometimes I could see to the bottom of the crater, but did not see anything of the surrounding landscape…

Day 5 of our Icelandtrip was waterfall day. We started att Godafoss, which is really pretty, yet quite touristic. After a few hours here we continued further up the inland to Aldeyjarfoss and Hrafnabjargafoss, two less known spots – but really worse a visit. On the way back to Myvatn we’ve been lucky to see som Red-throated Divers.

On day 6 we spend a few hours in the car again to get to Borgarfjördurhöfn to photograph Puffins. It was along ride – but absolutely worth it!

Day 7 we said goodbye to Myvatn and continued on Highway No 1 towards the south coast again. We made som quick stops at Egilstadir and Djupivogur, before we reached Eystrahorn. Here we toke som time out of the car for photographing the beach and mountains beyond. Soon after Eystrahorn we finally saw som Icelandhorses close to the road and found a parking nearby. Vestrahorn was the next stop, but due to heavy clouds we did not enter the photo area and continued straight away to Jökulsarlon and the Diamond Beach. We finally arrived at our last Guesthouse near Kirkjubaerklaustur right before midnight.

Day 8 – our last day of a fantastic week here in Iceland. On the way back to Keflavik we made a quick stop for the black beach at Reynisfjara.