Last Updated: February 14th, 2020
If it’s your first time going to Iceland with a camera equipped, you’ll be happy to know that taking pictures of Icelandic horses is very easy to do. In our experience, they are some of the most photogenic photo subjects we’ve ever come across. In Iceland, they are very common, and you will come across them time and time again as you travel around this beautiful country.
In this post, we’re going to walk you through getting great pictures of Icelandic horses. We’ll show you some of the technical side of things, as Icelandic horse photos are very similar to taking a portrait of a person. Then, we’ll share some of our personal tips for some locations where you can find Icelandic horses in real life and photograph them yourself.
First – let’s just show off some beautiful pictures of Icelandic horses
We know not everyone visiting this page is necessarily going to want our in depth tutorial for capturing great pictures of Icelandic horses themselves, and that’s cool! We wanted to kick things off by simply showing off some photos we’ve taken when we visited Iceland. Enjoy!
How to get Icelandic horse photos like these?
So, if you’re aspiring to become Icelandic horse photographer, we can help you achieve that! 🙂
Whether you’re a seasoned pro photographer or just starting out, the great thing about the horses of Iceland is they are calm and lovely animals. There are few other living subjects for photography that are so easy to capture. We’ve tried photographing our cats at home – they just don’t have it most of the time. But Icelandic horses? They are up for it – and with some style at that.
We cover a lot of great technical photography processes in our post 101 Digital Photography Tips that can serve as an excellent starter guide for taking great photos. We suggest you start by checking that out!
Getting into Icelandic horse photography specifically, there are a few key things we recommend from our experiences:
1). Get comfortable with the horses and let them get comfortable with you.
One of the biggest mistakes any photographer can make when approaching just about any living thing is getting the camera out too quickly. It’s why we start our couples photography sessions out by just talking and getting to know people – you want to create a sense of trust.
The good news is – Icelandic horses were bred to be around humans. In fact, they are dependent on them as a species and none of them live in the wild. The vast majority are owned by Icelandic farmers and are kept behind fences. This is actually one of the things that really surprised us when visiting Iceland as photos don’t tend to show fencing all that much.
Our approach with the Icelandic horses was the same as you’d approach any other docile animal like a cat or dog. Put your hand out and let it smell you. Gently pet it. They will adjust pretty quickly for the most part.
We can add here – these horses also have personalities all their own. We met one that was particularly goofy and kept making funny faces. We met another that liked Jes more, while this same horse didn’t seem to like Chris all that much. A lot of this had to do with nervousness going into meeting these animals – Jes was very relaxed at first, while Chris was more reserved and anxious, and the animals can pick up on this.
2). Stop and observe.
Getting great photographs often will come down to knowing how to predict behavior. These horses are pretty calm much of the time from what we’ve seen. Sometimes, they literally just stand there and accept you taking pictures without a problem. Others may be a little more shy and walk away or do something else.
There was one particular instance where we encountered a number of Icelandic horses going out to feed on some grass. This made for some great candid shots but wasn’t really ideal for actual close up portraits as, you know, it’s feeding time.
The other thing slowing your roll can do is help you actually relax and think about the shots you’re going to take. The first time we came across some of these animals, we stopped the car on the side of the road and could not wait to see them. They have that powerful of a lure. But, it will impact your photos, so learning to chill is crucial to get great and consistent shots.
3). Shoot in whatever camera mode you are most at ease with.
We always recommend that people learn how to shoot in manual mode, but if it’s not something you’re comfortable with or ready for, any auto camera mode can really be used to take great photos in Iceland. In particular, shooting in aperture priority mode can be an excellent option for portrait photos, so you can select a low f-stop (like f/2.8) to create separation from the background, while your camera does the rest.
If you want to know more about camera gear we recommend, check out The Best Photography Gear for an Iceland Adventure!
4). Think about what you want from the shot – landscape or portrait?
We’re going to imagine that most people going to photograph these Icelandic horses are going to want to get a nice close up shot. We did it ourselves, and love those. Getting to capture the personalities and real beauty of these animals at the forefront is really awesome. This portrait approach is really an understandable go to.
Yet, taking some photos of a group of horses together, or a horse in the context of a larger landscape can make for some really excellent shots too. Don’t forget these wider shots!
5). The most magical shots are the most unexpected.
We have some great memories from Iceland that involve things happening we didn’t expect. While they weren’t planned things, quickly bringing our camera up to our faces made it easy to capture the magic as it was happening before our eyes.
A lot of times – the “magic” really just comes down to something like a change in the lighting (like a stray cloud coming by on an otherwise bright and sunny day) or a change in the weather (Icelandic horses + snowflakes anyone??).
BUT – you can always do some prep work to help make magic happen. One of the easiest things you can control is going out during Golden Hour (when the light is the softest) to photograph these animals. Add in the colors of a sunset or sunrise, and your photos will almost immediately look stunning just because of this.
Where to find Icelandic horses?
Okay, if you’re planning a trip to Iceland and are wondering where to see Icelandic horses in person, let us tell you – they are everywhere!
Within minutes of driving away from the airport, we started to see herds of horses popping up on the side of the road. Traveling in Iceland is really well designed with visitors desire to stop off and see the sights in mind – so pulling of in a designated stop off area (which are frequent around the country) is a great way to safely say “hello” to our horsy friends.
Out of all the places we came across Icelandic horses, there were two that really stuck out in our mind.
1). Road side near Hvítserkur Sea Stack
In North-West Iceland, there is a pretty cool little attraction off the beaten path called Hvítserkur. It’s this large rock formation that is just sitting out on the black sand coast. It can make for some seriously cool landscape photos, especially if you happen to go there during sunset or when the Northern Lights are out in full bloom.
Driving towards Hvítserkur, once you get off of the main road (the 1), you will encounter a large herd of Icelandic horses along the side of the road behind a fence. We believe this was farmland as is extremely common, but this was probably one of the largest groups of horses we saw. Not to mention, there were less tourists around, so it made for more one-on-one time with them!
2). At Vestrahorn on the Skaftafell Peninsula
Okay – so aside from our running into Aaron Paul (from Breaking Bad) story (we’ll only tell it if you ask!), our experience at the little viking movie set beneath the stunning mountain Vestrahorn in South-West Iceland left us speechless. Few other experiences in our lives can really compare to this one.
So we’re mindlessly exploring this little movie set. It’s a quick little hike from the parking lot, and a cool distraction. Being one of our last days in Iceland, we were quite tired as you could imagine. After a few minutes of aimlessly wandering around, we start to hear the light gallops coming towards us. A group of Icelandic horses came right into this little viking village!
Needless to say, it was our best encounter with them on our trip. We took photos, interacted with them, and just plain watched them do their thing for at least an hour. It was seriously awesome – and sold us on going back to Iceland again in the future.
So – if you’ve been considering a trip to Iceland now, it’s just possible our stories and pictures of Icelandic horses have sold you, too! Let us know what you think in the comments below!
You can also check out other great Iceland travel tips on some of our other posts like: 25 Best Hotels in Iceland and How to Photograph Icelandic Glaciers.