Iceland - Exploring Vesturland

Iceland Day 4 - July 11th 2021

On the fourth day of our Iceland trip, we decided to explore the western region of Iceland.

During our drive, we stopped in a town called Stykkishólmur. Besides eating a delicious cinnamon roll topped with chocolate (because a cinnamon roll alone isn't sweet enough I guess) we explored the harbor area and the cliffs.

I especially fell in love with a little red lighthouse on top of the cliffs. Through the glass of the lighthouse, I spotted some tools and other utensils, which were great for some detail shots.

One of the best things during our Iceland trip were these random beautiful  discoveries. The co-driver constantly had photo spotting duty. This way we spotted this beautiful little church. I love how Fuji Pro 400H captured the beauty of this church and landscape in such a natural way with nice earthy colors.

But also the car rides themselves were always an experience in Iceland. I mean, look at those beautiful and scenic roads!

I took all of these photos while our car was safely parked in an appropriated parking spot. Stopping your car in the middle or the side of the road for taking photos is a big no-go. Always look out for a safe parking spot! The site safetravel.is provides a lot of valuable information. E.g. https://safetravel.is/top-12-tips-for-driving-in-iceland.

In the evening, we drove back to our hotel. At the Hraunsnef Country Hotel, we both had a fantastic dinner! They serve products from their own farm for dinner, which is pretty awesome! After the dinner, the weather was still super nice, so we decided to use the golden hour to take some nice shots! At around 9:30 pm, we arrived at this barn along a river. I absolutely loved this scenery! I took some medium format shots on Kodak Portra 400 and some 35 mm shots on Fuji Superia X-TRA 400.

Even tough the light was still lovely, we decided to head back to our hotel at around 11 pm. On our way back, we found some more nice spots to capture the beautiful Icelandic landscape.

And of course, I had to take a couple of shots of this gas station!  Love how the sky and colors look in this shot. With those super long days, you basically have unlimited time for shooting!

Pro Tip: less sleep = more photos

After we arrived at our hotel around midnight, we relaxed a bit in the hot tub. Just how cool is it to be able to relax in a hot tub with daylight after midnight! Iceland rocks!