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Western Region

The Western Region of Iceland is a stunning area that boasts some of the most breathtaking landscapes in the country. From towering mountains to cascading waterfalls, this region is a photographer's paradise. One of the most popular photography locations in the Western Region is the Snæfellsnes Peninsula, which is known for its dramatic coastline, black sand beaches, and the iconic Snæfellsjökull glacier. Other notable locations include the Hraunfossar and Barnafoss waterfalls, the Kirkjufell mountain, and the picturesque town of Stykkishólmur.

Portals to another world
Kirkjufellsfoss
by Pete Rowbottom

It seems like ages since I last uploaded an image to Flickr, mainly due to being away taking pictures, which is no bad thing ! and the considerable amount of time sorting them out and processing them when I've got back, which is taking forever but it's a labour of love....

First one up here from the recent trip to Iceland, where we had some absolutely outrageous weather, that even the Icelandic people described as 'crazy'.

Rather than post a big vista up first I've really gotten into taking very intimate landscape images lately, concentrationg oin small sections of wider landscapes, this one was begging to be shot at Kirkjufell, the normally wild, raging waterfalls tamed by the snow and ice. The water can still be seen flowing beind what I think look like portals or doorways, creating a great contrast to the white snow all around, not somethign I've seen before and it really captured my imagination.

With there being a load of critical detail in the scene I didn't want to crop the image so this is actually made up 36 images, (I know...) 3 shots bracketed for exposure, then repeated 12 times moving left to right. Each 3 images then edited into one image and saved, until all 12 were done and ready to be stitched togther into a 12 shot panorama. Worth a click and having a zoom around.

I wouldn't normally go to this level of trouble but this was shot at 92mm as you couldn't really get a lot closer safely. Had I shot it with a wide angle I would probably have lost around 50% of the final image in cropping it. A pain to process ? - yes, but I get a nice huge file full of detail.

Should print nice and big this one !!

More images from this trip can be found on my website here

Red and Purple
Ingjaldshólskirkja
by PZ Sunrays

We waited a long time for sunrise, but it did not come. On the way back to the campsite, we saw red and purple from distance. It was Reyniskirkja Church and lupins flower field that caught our eyes.

The image was created by focus stacking.

Djupalonssandur beach - Iceland - Travel photography
Djúpalónssandur / Shipwreck Beach
by Giuseppe Milo

Check out my gallery at www.pixael.com/en/pictures if you want to see more pictures.

You can follow me on https://www.facebook.com/giuseppemilophoto https://twitter.com/pixael_com https://instagram.com/pixael/

Búðirkirkja
Búðakirkja from side
by MURALI NARAYANAN

Búðir is a small hamlet in Búðahraun lava fields in Staðarsveit, on the westernmost tip of the Snaefellsnes peninsula. This stark looking church faces the Snæfellsjökull glacier.

Ruins
Dagverðará - abandoned farm
by Kari Siren

2 shots stitched together

Iceland 2016 Djúpalónssandur Lava beach
Djúpalónssandur / Shipwreck Beach
by Christian Barret

Escapade de 10 jours en Islande mars 2016

Djúpalónssandur
Djúpalónssandur / Shipwreck Beach
by Roan Lavery

Waves crashing over rocks at Djúpalónssandur

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Iceland 2016 Djúpalónssandur Lava beach
Djúpulón
by Christian Barret

Escapade de 10 jours en Islande mars 2016

Rock Formations in Hellnar
Rock Formations in Hellnar
by MURALI NARAYANAN

There are fascinating rock formations along the coast of Snæfellsnes Peninsula. Very few tourists seem to visit this area even though the coastline is awesome. This was shot in the small village of Hellnar.

On the road to Kirkjufell
Road to Kirkjufell
by Fer_SG

Just a shot from inside the car while driving to Kirkjufell with the mobile.

Excuses for the bad quality, although it looks weird, its final appearance caught me at some level. So I like it!

It has been hard to process both shots, to make the panorama and to achieve certain level of contrast, details, and texture.

Iceland 2016
Iceland
by Christian Barret

Escapade de 10 jours en Islande mars 2016

Iceland 2015 Raudfeldsgja canyon
Raudfeldsgja canyon
by Christian Barret

Roadtrip in Iceland summer 2015 - Roadtrip en Islande été 2015

Kirkjufellfoss
Kirkjufellsfoss - lower stage
by MURALI NARAYANAN

After having visited 30+ waterfalls, the Kirkjufellfoss in Grundarfjörður is my favorite. Not as huge as the Skogafoss in South Iceland, this is beautiful with Kirkjufell in the background. I need to visit this spot again to shoot the Aurora Borealis!!!

Kirkjufellfoss
Kirkjufellsfoss
by Juan Carlos Ruiz San Millán

Another shot of our recent photo trip to Iceland. This is the place known as Kirkjufell in the area of Grundarfjordur, west Iceland.

In this case I used an ND64 filter to make a long exposure shot (2 minutes) and obtain a blur effect of the clouds. GND 2 stops Hitech filter to reduce the sky luminosity.

Budakirkja - Budir, Iceland - Travel photography
Búðakirkja from side
by Giuseppe Milo

Check out my gallery at www.pixael.com/en/pictures if you want to see more pictures.

You can follow me on https://www.facebook.com/giuseppemilophoto https://twitter.com/pixael_com https://instagram.com/pixael/

Lower Side of Kirkjufellfoss
Kirkjufellsfoss - lower stage
by PZ Sunrays

While most of people focused on the upper part of Kirkjufellfoss to include the iconic Mount Kirkjufell, some photographers targeted the lower part of the waterfall, which rendered a different prospective.

Iceland 2016 Hraunfossar
Hraunsfossar in Autumn
by Christian Barret

Escapade de 10 jours en Islande mars 2016

"The Black Church" Budir Iceland
Búðakirkja
by Dominic Nessi

On the south coast of Iceland's Snæfellsnes peninsula, there's a village with only a hotel and a tiny black church called the Búðakirkja. ... The church is a listed building owned by the National Museum of Iceland, but it is in the care of the Búðir parish.

Hellnar church - Iceland - Travel photography
Hellnar church
by Giuseppe Milo

Check out my gallery at www.pixael.com/en/pictures if you want to see more pictures.

You can follow me on https://www.facebook.com/giuseppemilophoto https://twitter.com/pixael_com https://instagram.com/pixael/

Búðakirkja
Búðakirkja
by Mitchell Hollander

That black church you definitely haven’t seen before!

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Iceland 2016 Lighthouse Akranes
Lighthouse Akranes
by Christian Barret

Escapade de 10 jours en Islande mars 2016

Last Light
Londrangar
by Jiri Hajek

Setting Sun illuminating Lóndrangar cliffs.

It was very windy, fortunately the cliffs on the right blocked most of the wind from West and so having a sharp long exposure wasn't impossible. While I don't like over-smoothed water, 40 seconds seemed to create the best patterns here.

Photo tips: Very wide angle lens are useful here in order to capture the nice cove below, which makes a nice leading curve to the cliffs in the distance.

Getting there: About 200m easy walk from parking right to the coast.

Kerling
Djúpalónssandur / Shipwreck Beach
by Jiri Hajek

This turned-to-stone troll Kerling is the most photogenic rock on this beach. Other rocks and waves provide interesting foreground for photography. Be careful though, waves can be very dangerous here, which is actually the case for many places on Iceland.

Photo tips: You'll need rather wider lens here. I think that a moody weather with some waves really suits this place, but nice sunrise, or probably even better sunset, would also be great times for photography here.

Getting there: It's just a short and easy walk from Djúpalónssandur Parking, which is easily accessible from the main road (574) circling the westernmost part of the Snæfellsnes peninsula.

Hraunfossar Waterfall
Hraunsfossar
by MURALI NARAYANAN

Hraunfossar is a series of waterfalls formed by rivulets streaming out of the Hallmundarhraun lava field.

Revelation
Gatklettur
by Pete Rowbottom

A quite big title to live up to, but to me, this moment here truly was one of those, perched in one spot for about an hour just watching this whole scenario unfold before my eyes really felt very surreal, almost like I wasn't even there.

I've uploaded one before from this morning that was an extremely long exposure, somewhere in the region of about 7 or 8 minutes, I shot that after taking this one, and that time it took for the image to be created just allowed me to stand here take all this in without having to worry about the camera all the time, I could just stand there occasionally checking my watch (and that my ears were still there as they were that cold) and just watch what mother nature had decided to dish up this day, truly a hairs on the back of the neck standing up revelation moment....

Anyway this is a lot shorter exposure to capture the detail in the beautiful tidal rush as it passes through the intricate and snow laden basalt archway.

Brrrrrrrrrr!!!!

Lots more images on my personal website here - regularly updated

Skalasnagi Lighthouse Near Hellissandur
Svortuloft lighthouse
by MURALI NARAYANAN

Almost all lighthouses we saw in Iceland were painted in Yellow-Orange color and the Skalasnagi Lighthouse Near Hellissandur in the western tip of Snæfellsnes peninsula is no exception. It is surrounded by a huge lava field and fabulous rock formations.

Iceland 2015 Hellnar church
Hellnar church
by Christian Barret

Roadtrip in Iceland summer 2015 - Roadtrip en Islande été 2015

Iceland 2016 Hraunfossar
Hraunsfossar in Autumn
by Christian Barret

Escapade de 10 jours en Islande mars 2016

Iceland 2015 Arnarstapi
Arnarstapi
by Christian Barret

Roadtrip in Iceland summer 2015 - Roadtrip en Islande été 2015

Spring mountains
Spring mountains
by Kari Siren

2 shots combined

Iceland 2016 White road
White road
by Christian Barret

Escapade de 10 jours en Islande mars 2016