Landscape Photography and a Solar Eclipse

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Saturday, 8 August 2026 - A rainy visit to Brúarfoss, where the brilliant blue water and cascading stream made for beautiful photographs. After a long drive to Kerlingarfjöll, we explored Hveradalir, photographing steaming hot springs, colorful hills and distant glaciers before catching the setting sun on our way back.

Today would be a travel day with an early (0930 hrs) start and a very long and bumpy road to our next hotel. The Highland Base Kerlingarfjöll was a luxury hotel at the end of a long 2-hour drive on a rough gravel/dirt road.

iceland2026 — We started the day with a beautiful waterfall, Brúarfoss. It was still a rainy wet day, but the blue water still made an impression.

iceland2026 — I enjoyed using the telephoto to get close to where the water first fell into the falls.

Here I am taking pictures just off the bridge over the stream.

iceland2026 — The cascade waterfall was so pretty.

iceland2026 — Moss and vegetation mixed with the many water channels make for stunning images.

iceland2026 — We were lucky in that there was cloud cover so we could shoot at long exposure times to get silky water.

iceland2026 — My favourite vantage was on the right of the bridge (where the video was shot) as you could get most of the water flow to the bridge.

We drove a short way to Geysir to see the Strokkur Geyser, which I saw several days ago when I first arrived. Today was not a great day for photographing as the gray skies did not show off the geyser's water spout. That and it was cold.

iceland2026 — The beginning of an afternoon of travel.

iceland2026 — Three sheep, I was now obsessed with why we saw a majority of sheep in groups of three. A quick internet question informed that two little lambs were born in the spring, and they stay with their mother through the summer. So, groups of three everywhere.

iceland2026 — In the evening we ventured out to explore the Kerligafjöll area. This horseshoe bend in the Hveradalavegur River was our first stop.

iceland2026 — The small river wound its way through the volcanic hills.

iceland2026 — We had a good view of Hofsjökull, Icelands third-largest glacier in the distance.

iceland2026 — The next viewpoint for the scenic Hveradalavegur river.

iceland2026 — At the end of the road is Hveradalir geothermal area, translated as the “Valley of Hot Springs”.

iceland2026 — The glaciers can be seen at the edge of the valley mixing the hot and cold in a single picture.

iceland2026 — Steam rising from many hot springs and vents mix with the vibrant colors of the mineral-stained hills.

iceland2026 — There is a hike into the valley which I did not attempt.

iceland2026 — Beautiful scenes of steam and snow.

iceland2026 — Our guide quickly went into the valley and climbed a much photographed hill to pose for us.

iceland2026 — The clouds descended into the valley.

iceland2026 — A very photogenic landscape.

iceland2026 — Here I am during a pause in the action. It was very cold, 27 degrees, and I was all bundled up with seven layers on top. Very warm.

iceland2026 — The river running through the valley collecting the hot spring runoff.

iceland2026 — Snowy hills with steam venting as far as you can see.

iceland2026 — Beautiful colors from all the geological activity.

iceland2026 — Our guide had not seen the valley with so much steam and wanted our leader to take his picture on the famous hill. Here he is on his second trip into the valley.

iceland2026 — Such an interesting landscape.

iceland2026 — On the way back to the hotel we pulled over to take pictures of the setting sun.

We would return to the hotel early (for us) at 2230 hrs (10:30 pm). The room was great and the bed was a real king as opposed to previous "kings" which were two twins pushed together. The food - lamb fillet for dinner - was wonderful. It would be a great place to stay for several days.

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