Reynisfjara Archives

What to do when you’re at an iconic beach location in Iceland and it’s a windy, rainy day? Find a cave!

In August of 2022, we were shooting on Reynisfjara Beach near Vik and the weather was just not cooperating with us, as the rain was coming at us from all directions. At this beach there is a magnificent cave, where I found this…

On the basaltic rock columns that protrude seemingly out of nowhere, I found that numerous plants find a way to hold on to the sheer rock and find enough purchase to grow. The contrast between the vivid plant colors and the black basalt makes for a wonderful subject.

The hexagonal columns at this location are the result of lava flows that cooled and contracted, cracking in the distinctive hexagonal pattern that can be seen at a number of locations.

One of the possibly underrated stops during our Icelandic photo tour, was at the Reynisfjara black beach near Vik; it was a relatively short stop, as we were leaving Vik with our major attraction being the Strokkur geyser and the massive Gullfoss waterfall. Additionally, it was a drizzly, rainy morning and heavily overcast skies.

You might think that this is not a recipe for great photography; of course, it could be an opportunity to take some different shots from the usual beach pictures…

The basalt columns at Reynisfjara are magnificent to behold and I’ve found that examining the structure provided by these magnificent columns presents an interesting mix of points of view. Seeing how they line up in front of the lens and the patterns they generate is one of my favorite ways to explore this type of wall.

There’s much more than just the patterns and textures, as Nature conquers every possible opportune spot…

This plant found just enough soil to hold onto the basalt column and present some pretty little flowers. Of course, there are also plenty of mosses, which one expects. These plants with their paper thin white flowers really stood out.