Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss

Seljalandsfoss as seen behind the falls

Skógafoss dark and moody

In Iceland "foss" means waterfall. And you see foss everywhere, because in Iceland waterfalls are everywhere. And they are all amazing.

Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss are two very large and very well known waterfalls along Iceland's southern coast. They are only 30 minutes away from each other and situated near Þórsmörk Valley (which is deserving of it's own dedicated post soon). We stopped at Seljalandsfoss at the end of the day after exploring Þórsmörk. Seljalandsfoss is unique in that you can walk behind the cascading water along a rock wall. There is about 6-10 feet from the wall to the edge.

Lindsey and I really lucked out. We had very good weather as the evening progressed. And the view of the setting sun was perfect from behind the falls. We took in the experience and then headed to our hotel for the night. We'd see Skógafoss the following day.

The first thing you notice about Skógafoss is how huge it is. From the road. From the parking lot. Right next to the cascade. It's huge. There is a standard shot that everyone gets at Skógafoss. It's a solo shot of a person with the wall of water behind them. And it just reinforces how huge the waterfall is.

Skógafoss is a really fun waterfall to photograph. The stream that follows the falls is kind a dinker. It's very shallow, so if the flow isn't running too fast you can wade in and get some photographs with the stream in the foreground. The most difficult aspect is the sheer number of visitors the falls get. You need time and patience to wait your turn to get close to the falls. But once you do, there is so much to see and explore.

We spent more time than we should have at Skógafoss. It's hard not to. So many photographs to try and take. We set ourselves back by about 45 minutes to start the day and played catch up at all our stops until we got to our hotel. But ultimately it was worth it. I'll never forget my time at Skógafoss. And any extra time spent there was well worth it.

Kirkjufell on Iceland's Snæfellsnes Peninsula

Kirkjufell on Iceland’s Snæfellsnes Peninsula

Kirkjufell (Church Mountain) is on the north shore of Iceland's Snæfellsnes Peninsula and is probably one of the top 5 most photographed places in the country. If you search photos of Iceland, you'll immediately see it and the two nearby waterfalls.

For a photographer in Iceland, this is one of those bucket list locations. I'm not proud to say that I had a lot of anxiety in photographing this location. I've never felt like a very talented landscape photographer. I never felt like that side of my work ever really connected with people, in the same way that my performance work had. But I also felt like I knew the techniques. And I've seen this photo taken by so many other photographers that I felt like, if I could nail the techniques then I'd have at least an image I could hold up for comparison. And at least find some validation that I could make something at an equal level.

That's also a pretty unfair thing to put upon one's self. So many factors come into play. The weather for one could literally be anything. The day before this was gale force winds and snowy. The day after was icy rain. But this day we actually got to see a sunset, and we got some color in the skies.

Personally I have no shame attached to photographing popular spots. I think walking in another photographer's shoes and seeing the scene the way they did can be incredibly helpful. And ultimately I'm proud to have gotten this shot, even if it is the same.

Selfie at Kirkjufell

That’s my camera and tripod holding my space amongst the other photographers

Þingvellir National Park

Öxarárfoss with the sky replaced in photoshop.

Þingvellir National Park in Iceland is one of the main attractions on what is called "The Golden Circle", which includes Gullfoss and Geysir. Þingvellir is in a rift valley where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet, and push each other up. You can walk directly where these two plates meet in what resembles a small canyon.

Here is where we took a small hike to Öxarárfoss waterfall. In my photo, I've tried a new photoshop technique for doing a sky replacement. So what you see in that photo is fake. The sky more closely resembled the photo of the couple walking the path. The weather was rainy that day and we very nearly cancelled our plans to head to Geysir and Gullfoss on account of icy roads. But after a lunch of potato chips and candy, things started to clear just enough that we continued the journey.

Þingvellir, sometimes spelled Thingvellir, is also known as the "Fields of Parliament" as it's where the early viking inhabitants held the Althing. It is regarded as the oldest parliament in the world having started in 930.

It can be an incredibly difficult spot to photograph without the capability to do aerial photography. Looking over the large gash in the earth must be amazing. But even without the view, standing there feels primal. And ancient.

Walking in the rift of Þingvellir National Park

Rain falls on mossy rock in Þingvellir National Park