Last Updated: February 14th, 2020
Vestrahorn is a visually stunning mountain found in the Stokksnes peninsula in South-East Iceland. There has been a surge in visitors to check it out in recent years, and it can really be viewed as a landscape photographers playground. You have most likely already seen at least one photo of this place!
All of the great photos we’ve seen online actually led to us paying Vestrahorn a visit ourselves during our 10 day trip around Iceland. We’re happy to report that it is well worth the time. It is truly a magical place in real life. While we love photos of it, it’s hard to really make a comparison to viewing it in person. But, as photographers, that’s always the goal – to try and recreate that experience.
For landscape photographers, whether total novices or professionals, taking a picture that is worthwhile of this mountain is actually very easy to do. It is that photogenic! Now, there are certainly better compositions out there than others – we have a real love for shots that feature the bushy grass predominately in the foreground. But, you can literally just pick up your camera, aim, and snap a shot that you will love to take home with you.
Given the simplicity of taking a great photo at Vestrahorn, we’re going to focus less on the fundamentals of getting a good landscape shot (if you need that sort of help, check out How to Take Good Landscape Photos), and more on the steps we took to get the shots we did. As such, we’ll be sharing our insider tips for photography at Vestrahorn based on actual experience shooting there. This way – you’ll already know what to expect, and how to setup to take a great shot when you get there! 🙂
Familiarize Yourself with the Location
Vestrahorn is not far off the Ring Road just to the East of Hofn. For most travelers in Iceland, this will be an easy location to fit into an itinerary of the Southern coast.
Upon arriving, you will come into a small parking lot. There is a small fee to explore the area. You can also purchase food and use the restrooms here (if either of those things are a concern for you).
There are two primary directions you can go.
To the right of the road you entered into the area will take you out to the black sand beach and the best perspective to see the mountain in its full glory. Most photographs you have seen of Vestrahorn are taken from this perspective. It is truly breathtaking.
The alternative option would be to take a quick hike (it’s paved) to the viking movie set at the base of Vestrahorn. While some might consider this to be more of a gimmick, we found it to be really cool for the perspective. Not to mention – a great spot to see some Icelandic horses.
If you have the time, we suggest checking out both areas to get a fuller experience.
Understand the Potential for Greatness in a Variety of Photo Niches
Vestrahorn is a landscape photographers dream location.
It’s one of the real hotspots for pretty obvious reasons.
With that said, it’s also a great location for a variety of other types of photography. Wedding photography, couples photography, macro photography, portrait photography, drone photography, the list really goes on. There is something for everyone.
As great as pictures of the mountain are, we also found ourselves enjoying just simple pictures of the black sand (a unique feature to Iceland’s coast) and wavy grass.
Come Prepared for Hiking and Braving the Elements
Compared to most places in Iceland, exploring the Stokknes peninsula is a walk in the park. The main photography area can be reached by car – the most walking you really have to do is a quick walk down onto the beach to find a good shooting spot.
Still, you should keep in mind: this is Iceland after all. We were fortunate to have good weather this day – with a light rain storm passing pretty quickly. In mid-September, it was fairly cold out, but we were dressed for the occasion.
Depending on the time of year, the weather, and your general fitness level – photographing Vestrahorn will either be very easy or a little more difficult. No matter what – it will be worth it, though!
Find the Right Composition
There are a number of great compositions to be found of Vestrahorn. We’re sure if you went there, you could uncover some new ones for yourself. For now, we will cover a couple different perspectives we were able to find and really like.
Remember: your perspective will be influenced by your choice of lens, so if you need some help in that area, consider checking out our 5 Best Iceland Landscape Photography Lenses. For a more comprehensive look into our gear bag, check out our Resources page for more information.
The Viking Village at the Base of the Mountain
This particular photo is one of our favorites from our visit to Vestrahorn. It’s cool because it is a perspective we really have not seen before. What intrigues us a lot about this is how well the viking movie set is used to show the scale of the mountain. When standing in the movie set itself, everything is to normal scale (as you will see in the next photo composition). If you look really closely, you can even see some people in the bottom left corner of the photo – it really solidifies how immense this mountain is.
Viking Village in the Foreground, Vestrahorn in the Background
Like we said earlier, the viking village movie set at the base of Vestrahorn really adds a surprising element for exploration and photos. There is something very medieval about the look of this place, and it translates nicely into a picture.
While it’s not exactly our favorite image from this location, it is a cool alternative perspective. Again, it shows the staggering size of Vestrahorn in the background.
Here is an alternative perspective:
From Inside the Viking Movie Set
There are a lot of interesting features inside the movie set. It’s actually pretty surreal to walk around here in general. In this image, we used a 24mm lens so we could capture a large amount of the location in one single shot. The little path is used as a leading line to draw your eye towards Vestrahorn in the background.
Now, just picture if someone was riding into this little village on a horse in Game of Thrones style. That would be something else!
Use the Icelandic Horses in Your Shot
We go on a lot about how cool it was a bunch of horses came to visit while we were here. We’re honestly not too sure how frequently this type of thing happens, but if you are there and the horses come around – we highly suggest incorporating them in your shots.
You can see more photos and tips in our post How to Get Great Pictures of Icelandic Horses.
Perspective from Base of Vestrahorn
Right outside the opposite end of the viking movie set, you can walk close to the ocean and get a shot like this. It is a fairly simple composition, and not wildly interesting as it’s really lacking a foreground subject. However, if you happen to get lucky and have horses walking around in the area (we did not) – you could see how this could be a really compelling perspective.
https://iceland-photo-tours.com/photographing-vestrahorn-stokksnes
Photograph the Black Sand Beach & Grass
Obviously, your visit to Vestrahorn is not going to be for just getting this type of photo. However, it is a cool compliment to a larger portfolio of images you will be taking. We think it is actually an overlooked perspective in the area – considering how cool the black sand is, and the contrast between it and the lush greenery. In this photo, we use them both as leading lines to the people walking in the background. Simple stuff!
The “Classic” Vestrahorn Shot – Part 1
Easily, the most photogenic perspective of Vestrahorn is this one. What we really love about this shot can be broken down into two simple parts:
- It shows a wide range of the mountain. You could actually use an even wider lens to capture the whole thing in the frame.
- The mirror reflection of the mountain in the water. This specifically makes this photo more compelling to us. It helps to fill in the foreground of the shot, and adds something interesting.
The “Classic” Vestrahorn Shot – Part 2
The one standout view of Vestrahorn comes from the black sand beach, where these mounds of grass are used as really awesome foreground objects. We’ve seen a million shots from here (and we pretty much love them all). If you had to get just one photo from this area, we’d suggest finding a perspective here.
An additional perspective:
The Left Side of the Mountain
Lastly, another view we find to be fairly overlooked are isolated images of the left side of the mountain range. Most photographers seem drawn to the right side – which flows right into the ocean – and understandably so. Still, we find this to be a pretty cool view with the addition of the far distant mountains in the background adding some depth to the shot.
Lighting & Weather Impacts of Photography at Vestrahorn
Photo credit: Guide to Iceland
We would consider the photos we were fortunate to take of Vestrahorn and the surrounding region to be fairly average. It is a beautiful location any day, but the best photographs will occur when there is something interesting happening around the mountain range. Snow, sunrise/sunset light, and the Northern Lights are all examples of things that can really enhance any photo of this location. If your travel schedule is flexible enough, you may be able to plan for one of these things occurring.
In our world, we were on a limited schedule (and also very tired as this was one of our last days in the country), so our visit around the late morning hours came with fairly flat lighting conditions. If we ever visit again, we’ll be sure to try to carve out at least some Golden Hour landscape photo times.
Conclusion
Vestrahorn in Iceland is a photographers dream location.
If you are planning a trip to Iceland yourself, we highly suggest hitting up this location – even if just for a few hours. The photographs you take will end up being stunning. For us, we couldn’t resist blowing one up to use as wall art in our home. It’s pure gold!
If you need more photo tips or Iceland travel advice, we have a wealth of content on all of these things. Some great starting points include: 101 Digital Photography Tips, How to Photograph Icelandic Glaciers, 25 Best Hotels in Iceland, and The Extremes We Go for a Shot – A Landscape Photographer’s Tale.
