Iceland: Westfjords
The northwest corner of Iceland is a dazzling and deeply indented coastline featuring about 30 fjords, each with different surprises awaiting discovery. We’ll visit the best place in Iceland to see puffins, spend 3 nights in a hotel that once housed herring workers, photograph waterfalls, swim in a geothermal swimming pool and wander some of the most magnificent landscapes you’ll ever see.
Workshop Details
September 19-26, 2027
This is a 7-night, 7-day photo tour. Your adventure begins with your afternoon arrival at the tiny Isafjordur airport on September 19, and ends with a farewell dinner in Reykjavik on September 26. You can spend some extra time in the city, or catch a flight home on the 27th.
$TK for singles, $TK for couples. Register below.
Skill level
Open to all who have an understanding of the basic principles of photography and of their cameras.
Group size
10, with 2 instructors — 5:1 ratio
Workshop Leaders
Registration
| • Deposit of $1,495 (singles) or $2,995 (couples) is required to reserve your spot on the tour. |
| • Balance of $6000 (singles) or $10,000 (couples) is due on May 10, 2024. —> Pay balance here. |
| • You may choose the “Pay in Full” ticket if you desire to pay all at once. |
| • Last day for a cancellation request is May 9, 2024. (see cancellation and refund policy) |
| • The tour fee covers lodging, ground transportation during the tour, all breakfasts from September 8 to 14, and five dinners. |
| • The tour fee does not include flights, airport transfers, or some meals. |
The Westfjords Experience
The Westfjords are the northern and westernmost part of Iceland, and also the least populated area of the country. It’s a relatively small area, but driving distances from point A to point B are surprisingly long, as the roads follow the coastline, conforming to the many long fjords that give the area its name.
After our first night in Isafjordur, the only sizable town in the Westfjords, we’ll spend the next 2 days and nights at the far western end of the region to see the Latrabjarg bird cliffs, the largest in Iceland. Atop these cliffs we’ll get ridiculously close to the many puffins that nest in burrows at the edge of the cliffs. We’ll be able to get close enough that you could photograph them with your phone if you wanted to.
We’ll also spend time at the remarkable Rauðisandur Beach, and visit the most unusual museum at Hnjótur, as well as the immense Dynjandi waterfall, one of the most unusual in Iceland (and that’s saying something).
On the fourth day we’ll drive to the eastern part of the Westfjords to a magical place called Djupavik. Until the 1950s the hotel at Djupavik was a boarding house for workers at the massive herring processing plant on the property. Don’t worry, it’s been renovated and converted into a pleasant and comfortable (if slightly offbeat) hotel. We’ll get a tour and explanation of the herring factory, and we’ll have several hours to photograph it at our leisure. It’s hard to imagine, but every group we’ve brought to this location didn’t want to leave. It's truly wonderful and restorative. It doesn’t hurt that just down the road a ways is the geothermally heated Krossneslaug swimming pool and hot pots, right on the edge of the ocean. Oh yeah, we’ll go there.
On the last day, we’ll spend most of the time driving back to Reykjavik, stopping at the Grábrók craters before we tuck in to a spectacular feast at one of the best restaurants in Iceland. We’ll spend the night at what is essentially an art museum masquerading as a hotel (they house Iceland's largest private art collection) before heading home the next day via Keflavik, where you initially arrived in Iceland.
What You Should Know
Participants must have at least basic photo skills, know their cameras well, and be comfortable shooting RAW in manual mode with a DSLR or high-end mirrorless camera. Having some night photography experience will be helpful, but is not necessary.
If you would like to attend this workshop but are unsure whether you have adequate night photography skills, we can offer pre-workshop tutoring to get you ready for your adventure with us. Alternatively or additionally, a few of us have written books that may be productive pre-workshop reads.
What You Will Learn
We hope to push you to step outside your comfort zone—to test the limits of what you and your camera can do.
We’ll be photographing day and night. Subjects include landscape, wildlife and hopefully aurora borealis. If you’ve never seen or photographed auroras before, we will guide you.
TOPICS COVERED WILL INCLUDE:
daytime long exposures with neutral density filters
shooting day and nighttime panoramic landscapes
photographing auroras, should we be lucky enough to experience them
and more …
This tour will have field instruction in specific techniques for those who want it. There will be no classroom instruction, or image reviews, but we will have a Zoom party to share our best images a couple of weeks after we get home. Participants can stay out shooting as long as they, or their camera’s batteries, hold out. While in the field, the instructors will demonstrate their own techniques and will work with participants one-on-one to make sure everyone gets the most out of the tour.
Our locations have generous room to explore, so everyone will be able to spread out and not get in one another’s way. Each participant will have the opportunity to work one-on-one with Matt and Lance in the field.
We do not tell our attendees what to photograph, and we won’t line you up in a row to all shoot the same thing (unless it’s helpful to get some people on track). Instead, we encourage you to use what you have learned to create your own unique images, and to let us guide you through the process should you desire.
We do not teach you to do what we do, but rather how to develop your own night vision.
Night & Light Conditions
Logistics & General Info
Travel
You will fly to Keflavik International Airport (KEF) and transfer via Flybus to Reykjavik Domestic Airport (RKV), where you will take an easy 40-minute flight to Isafjordur in the Westfjords. This means an overnight flight from North America on September 19 and the afternoon flight to Isafjordur on September 20.
At the end of the tour we will arrive in Reykjavik and spend the night of September 26 there, and you’ll fly home from KEF on September 27.
We’ll provide more detailed information when you register.
Flights:
round-trip flight (September 19 and 27) between your home airport and Keflavik (KEF)
a separate, one-way afternoon flight (September 20) from (RKV to IFJ) on Iceland Air
Lodging & Food
Lodging
All lodging is included in the price of the tour.
We’ll be staying in four different hotels during our stay in Iceland.
If you wish to arrive early or stay late, we can make suggestions for Reykjavik, or book extra nights in Isafjordur.
Food
Breakfast is included each day during the tour.
Also included are a welcome dinner in Isafjordur, three dinners at Djupavik and a farewell dinner in Reykjavik on the last night.
Lunch and two dinners are not included.
Weather
Temperatures should be between 40 and 55 F, with the possibility of wind, rain or brilliant sunshine. It’s best to be prepared for anything. We will send you a list of recommended attire upon registration.
Recommended Attire
We will send you a list of recommended attire upon registration.
Exertion Level
The exertion level of this workshop is Easy to Moderate. (See more about our classifications.)
No vigorous activity will be required during the workshop, but please consider your physical abilities prior to registering. There will not be any strenuous hiking involved, but there are plenty of walking options for those who want a little exercise or a different perspective. Most sites are within a 5- to 10-minute walk from the tour van. Accessing the puffin cliffs requires about a 15-minute uphill walk.
Note: To ensure the safety of individuals and the group, the workshop leaders may use their discretion to limit an attendee from engaging in a vigorous activity on-site should that person's physical health or ability be in question. If you are unsure about your ability to meet the physical demands of this workshop, we will be happy to discuss your concerns one-on-one before you register. You are also, of course, welcome to attend a workshop and sit out any physical activity that makes you uncomfortable. In such cases, we can provide you with ideas for alternative shoot locations for that time.
Considerations
Please read our FAQs section for more information about skill and gear requirements, and other information that pertains to all our workshops.
If you have questions, please contact us—we're happy to talk it over with you.
I’m Smitten …
“The culture is interesting, the food is great and the photographic opportunities are endless––no matter when or where you go.”
People often ask me what’s my favorite place to travel to and photograph. The world is so full of interesting and beautiful places, and I’m fortunate to have traveled extensively to all sorts of amazing locations. There are many places that I return to again and again for various reasons––the Eastern Sierra, Ireland, Scotland. But no place draws me back like Iceland.
It has so much to offer that I can’t imagine ever getting tired of going there. It’s approachable, but incredibly diverse. The landscape is varied and dynamic. It’s accessible, but definitely a different country. The culture is interesting, the food is great and the photographic opportunities are endless––no matter when or where you go.
When people ask me what’s my favorite place to go in Iceland, even with so many places to choose from, I never hesitate to say the Westfjords. There are places with bigger waterfalls, more glaciers, more volcanoes–but bigger and more isn’t always what the doctor ordered. Sometimes less is more. Fewer tourists, less traffic, less consumerism, but more time and space to absorb the astounding natural beauty in all directions.
When people ask me what’s my favorite part of the Westfjords, I don’t have to think twice. it’s Djupavik. It’s the quiet part of the quiet part of Iceland. A remote area on the eastern side of the Westfjords, it’s a place to relax, unwind and recharge your internal batteries. It’s an opportunity to remember and to reconnect to the essence of life. To let go of everything and just Be. There. In that moment.
It’s a very special place, but it’s also difficult to say where that energy comes from. The landscape is beautiful, but there is something that runs deeper, and almost everyone who visits falls for its charm. Will you?
