Iceland Photography Tips: 7 Sure Ways To Improve Your Photos
Photography tips like using scale and perspective will improve your photos.
Are you dreaming of an Iceland photography adventure? Here’s seven photography tips, learned through many years of research and hard-earned experience, to elevate your snapshots to the next level and enable you to make better photos on your bucket list Iceland trip.
The most useful photography tips to improve the quality and impact of your photos include choice and management of subject, light and perspective; juxtaposing similarities and differences; moving to make better photos; creating an interesting story; and composition through separation and simplicity.
So, without any further adieu, here's seven photography tips that will help you dramatically improve your photography and, as a result, significantly increase your success rate and the amount of keepers you'll be able to bring back from your upcoming travels.
Table of Contents:
1. Improve Your Photos With An Important Subject
As you can see in the above photo, featuring local folk enjoying the sunshine, in front of a beached ship, on a beautiful summer’s day in northern Iceland, humor and the unexpected also grab and sustain viewer attention.
I came across this surreal scene while traveling around Iceland on the famous Highway 1, also called the Ring Road. I quickly turned the camper around, got out and asked permission to make a quick photo.
The light was too harsh for pleasing portrait photos so, rather than asking them to move closer to the camera, I kept my distance and relied on the color and structure of the beached ship, together with the obvious differences in scale between it and the people to compose my photo.
To immediately improve your photos get into the habit of photographing people, landscapes, wildlife and architecture that are interesting to you and your audience.
But subject matter is just the beginning of the process. After all, a rock is a rock, is a rock. Right?
Well, not exactly. You see, an interesting looking rock can also allow you to explore shape, texture, color, surface, hardness, age, stability, time (i.e., via erosion), contrast, shadow, etc through the photos you make.
You see, not only can a rock allow you to create interesting photos underpinned by great composition, you might also have the opportunity to use that rock to explore deeper themes and concepts.
These are just two ways subject matter allows us to move from beyond the snapshot to more creative and more meaningful fine art photography.
Seeking out and controlling light is my most important photography tip.
2. At The Heart Of A Great Photo Is Light
This photo of a large pipe, transferring steam through the landscape alongside the Krafla Víti Crater near Lake Myvatn in the north of Iceland, is an example of how it’s possible to make a great photo of, what many would consider to be, uninteresting, banal or unconventional subject matter.
It’s a challenge I revel in, but I need first to be attracted to that subject or scene, and it’s usually the way that particular subject or scene is illuminated that draws my attention. Together with subject, light really is at the heart of a great photo.
I write a lot about the transforming, transitory and transcendental nature of light.
“Light illuminates and reveals, while shadows shape and conceal.”
Most importantly, light provides a glimpse into the sublime nature that connects all things.
Most of our photography should be as much about light as it is about subject matter, story, theme, etc.
After all, the word photography comes to us from Ancient Greek. Photo means light and graphy means writing, drawing or painting.
I feel it’s encouraging to know that, as you strive to construct beautiful and meaning rich photos, you’re doing so through the process of painting with light.
Scale and perspective employed at the Jokulsarlon Glacier lagoon in Iceland.
3. Play With Scale and Perspective To Make Great Photos
A really useful photography tip is to get up high or get down low, even if that means lying flat on your belly, if that’s what’s needed to provide you with an interesting or dynamic perspective for your photo.
I made this picture of an iceberg, floating downstream on the Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon in Iceland, from an elevated position on the bank of the lagoon.
Doing so allowed me to achieve visual separation between the iceberg, the dark soil on the opposite bank and the distant mountains and sky.
The higher angle of view also allowed me to create a more three dimensional image, with a greater sense of depth between foreground, mid ground and background elements than would have been possible photographing closer to the waterline.
When it comes to portraits, the way people are represented in a photograph (e.g., powerful, equal, vulnerable or cute) has a lot to do with the position of the camera in relation to the subject.
Most people don’t think to change the angle at which their camera is pointed, in relation to the subject. This means, all too often, we're looking down at small subjects and looking up at large (e.g., tall) ones.
Try monumentalizing a small flower by moving in close, getting down on your belly and photographing up so as to make it look larger than life. This simple photography tip will allow you to make a hero of that little flower.
Alternatively, climb a hill or tree, albeit it at your own peril, to flatten perspective and minimize scale in a photo.
Needless to say, please stay safe, don’t go where you're not supposed to be and avoid overly aggressive confrontations with security staff. Doing so will only make things worse for the next person wanting to photograph in that location.
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The key point is to get out of the habit of just walking up to something or someone, pointing your camera and going click.
And, please, don’t say smile or cheese automatically when making a portrait.
Some portraits are more powerful when obvious expressions and poses are discarded in the process of making more authentic and engaging pictures.
Whether you’re a working professional photographer or an enthusiast, variations in perspective and scale are important ways by which you can elevate the standard of your photography and, in doing so, separate the photos you make from the rest of the pack.
Similarities and differences in concentric patterns, surrounding floating ice, Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon.
4. Similarities And Differences | Collision And Cohesion
The next time you see a mountain, monument or building you want to photograph try to think of how you can better explore your response to that place or object through juxtaposition.
Put simply, create a more interesting image by exploring interesting similarities and differences within the subject or scene you’re photographing.
As a case in point, let’s take a look at this image of a chunk of floating ice, surrounding by concentric patterns on the surface of the water, on the magnificent Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon in Iceland.
Perhaps the most obvious example of similarities in this image is the color blue, with variations of that color appearing in the water, the chunk of floating ice in the centre of the image and the icebergs behind it.
When it comes to examining areas of difference in this photo, take a look at the subtle warmth from the sky and how it reflects onto the surface of the water.
As well as unifying elements in the front, middle and back of the image, the addition of the warm colored light provides color contrast and an important element of visual separation with what would, otherwise, be a sombre and monochromatic image.
Consider, in addition, contrasting notions of solidness and fluidity as you compare the ice with the water.
The inclusion of a visually interesting subject matter in the foreground may help create the feeling or concept you're trying to communicate in a photo.
For example, a mountain will look particularly large when a person is placed at the base of the mountain. This simple technique adds a sense of scale to the photograph and, thereby, helps us tell the story we want to tell.
Of course you can also reverse this simple photography tip for great impact.
Let’s say you’re trekking (e.g., hiking, tramping) amongst the awesome grandeur of the Himalayas. Trying making an environmental portrait of one of your companions by employing a wide-angle lens and positioning them, away from the centre of the frame, but very close to the camera.
With the addition of good lighting and low to medium dynamic range (i.e., contrast) this technique will result in a striking portrait that places emphasis on your subject, despite the grandeur of the surrounding environment.
Want a grant from an arts council? Make sure you include the word juxtaposition in your proposal. I kid you not! Back in the days it would impress folks. These days, I suspect, it’s expected.
A neat variation on the theme, commonly employed by landscape photographers, is to include something small in the foreground in contrast to a large subject (e.g., mountain or sand dune) in the background.
Your foreground subject needs to be interesting and recognizable, so look for something that’s colorful, well lit and, ideally, that incorporates the compositional elements of shape and texture.
Let’s say you choose bright yellow flowers as your foreground subject matter. Get down low and move in close to the flowers to make them appear larger than life.
By getting down low, moving in close and employing a wide-angle lens the flowers will look far larger than they do in real life, and, as a consequence, the mountain will look much smaller and further away than it would if photographed with a normal or telephoto focal length lens.
Farm buildings, amidst a beautiful landscape and stormy sky, in Southern Iceland.
5. You Need To Move To Make Better Photos
Of my 7 photography tips to improve your photos, perhaps the simplest to comprehend and the easiest to apply is to move more when making pictures.
Have no doubt, photography is a physical endeavor. The more active you are in working to find interesting angles or better lighting the better your photographs are likely to be.
Take a look at this dramatic scene featuring farm buildings, set amidst a beautiful landscape, with a storm brewing in Southern Iceland. I wanted to portray how the buildings seemed bedded down, into the landscape, as a way to protect them against the onslaught of severe weather.
With inclement weather imminent, I decided the picture was very much about the farm buildings, nestled into the surrounding landscape, juxtaposed against the power of the coming storm.
I decided to emphasize the potential menace the storm promised by insuring the sky filled up about two thirds of the composition. To do that I decided to walk up a slight incline, which allowed me to place the farm buildings at the bottom of the composition.
Doing so meant I didn’t have to tilt my camera downwards, which would have caused vertical lines in the buildings to render crooked.
As you can see, rendering the image into black and white, also contributed to the dramatic mode of the photo.
It’s important to remember that moving changes the relationship between foreground and background elements within the frame and, in conjunction with different focal lengths, allows you to explore perspective in unique ways.
If things aren’t going well, move. That might mean moving forwards, backwards, to the left or to the right. It might mean walking around an inanimate subject to achieve more appropriate lighting, or moving to get your camera positioned at a higher or lower angle, in relation to the subject.
To be more specific, move the subject and/or move yourself. It’s something I do, very frequently, and it really works.
In environments where studio or off camera strobe (i.e., flash) lighting is being employed, you have a third element to consider moving: the light.
What story does this dirt road, winding through mountain scenery, tell?
6. An Interesting Story Will Engage Your Audience
I had a lot of fun making this image of a dirt road, winding through mountains in rural Iceland. I remember having to climb up a hillside and walking along a rocky outcrop to get into a position to make this photo.
I like to take responsibility for everything within my frame, a little bit like a good painter would determine exactly what elements from the world around them needed to be included and excluded from the finished painting.
Of course, unlike painters, once the composition is finalised photographers have to deal with what’s in front of their lens.
One thing I’m always careful about, particularly when using a tripod, is the corners of my frame. Can you see how I’ve composed the image so that the road runs into the picture at the bottom left corner and, from there, continues through the image until it leaves the frame on the right hand side of the photo.
Placing lines in or near a corner of the frame adds what’s known as visual tension to an image. It a subtle way to add a little drama to a photo.
Another way that simple photography tip elevates the importance the dirt road has on this picture is in how it makes us think about the road, as a metaphor for the journey.
Winding through beautiful mountain scenery in Iceland, does the road not suggest the excitement of the journey ahead. Needless to say, the notion of the journey becomes even stronger when you take the road as a metaphor for life and what awaits us around the next bend, and over the next hill.
These days folks talk a lot about the need to introduce story telling into their photography. But, with all due respect to Goldilocks, we are not, necessarily, talking about a series of images that tell a story through a linear progression.
For example, he got up, he showered and combed his hair, ate some breakfast, ran to catch the bus, etc.
By the way, since the notion of juxtaposition and storytelling have become so dominant in this particular post, check out the song A Day In The Life by the Beatles.
You’ll notice how Lennon and McCartney brilliantly weave a series of unconnected narratives, linear and otherwise, into the rich soundscape of that most amazing song that, I hope, we all know and love.
When making your own photos, look for some visual element that will help you tell the story of a place.
Consider how you can use a river, a road or a train line, not just a compositional device, but as a way to provide context and explore meaning in a photo.
Likewise, consider how boulders, that are slowly falling off the face of a mountainside, are destined to become pebbles at the bottom of a stream, far below.
Photos don’t always need to be about the here and now. They can also be time machines, enabling us to look back in history and encouraging us to think about the future.
We are always looking for the perfect photo, but one thing many great communicators do is to tell a story through a short series of quite different images.
In doing so you begin to work in a way that’s closer to the way a photojournalist might, which is a lot of fun.
This approach, which we can describe as a photo essay, provides more information and encourages a closer look, from photographer and viewer alike, at what makes a particular place or person different and unique.
It’s quite possible that you’ll end up with a range of images that can stand-alone from each other and be shared or displayed in a variety of different ways.
But you’ll also end up with a series of photos that, when placed together in a well edited and cohesive series, tell a story that’s far richer and visually more interesting than a single image is likely to be.
Here’s one last point to note. When it comes to traditional forms of publishing, and with the exception of a cover photo, you’ll usually be paid more for a series of images than you will for a single image.
Colorful wildflowers growing alongside volcanic rock at Thingvellir in Southern Iceland.
People, animals and scenery can all tell a story, and the interaction between these elements helps define the culture and topography of a place. That’s also worth remembering, when it comes to telling a story through the photos you make.
As well as trying to photograph your response to the larger scene, look for individual elements within that environment to photograph. There’s no doubt that variety in what and how you photograph can be a great help in telling a more comprehensive story and building a more comprehensive portfolio of photos.
“Sometimes the best way to photograph a forest is through an image of a stand of trees, or perhaps a study of a single leaf.”
By exploring some of the details that make up the greater landscape you’ll discover opportunities for great imagery you may otherwise have overlooked.
Take a look at this image of colourful wildflowers, growing alongside volcanic rock, at Thingvellir in Southern Iceland. Photographing nature, up close and personal, reveals so much beauty and variety that’s, otherwise, lost to us without such careful and considered inspection.
Firstly, I love the juxtaposition between the fresh, organic and free growing flowers and the solid, seemingly immovable, rocks.
I also love the richness of color in this image, and the contrast of color between the purple/blue hues of the flowers and the mineral stained, orange colors present in the rocks.
Let’s now take a look at one really critical similarity in this photo. Can you see how the image is divided between illuminated and shaded areas? Notice how the light is reflecting off some of the flowers, and the green leaves that support them, while also reflecting off areas of the volcanic rock.
The fact that light is reaching these, otherwise, disparate areas of rock and flower in the image is crucial to the success of this photo as it unites opposites and, in doing so, provides a sense of cohesion and harmony to the photo.
Rocks reflected in a beautiful pond in rural Iceland.
7. Separation And Simplicity: The Heart Of Great Composition
One thing that makes a photo great is when the main subject seems to jump off the print, page or screen it’s viewed on. The best way to achieve this is through separation and simplicity.
When you really take the time to scrutinize why certain photos are more powerful than others you’ll discover, in most cases, that the separation between the subject and the background, or between important foreground, mid ground and background elements within an image, makes all the difference in the world.
I made this particular photo of a beautiful, still pool of water at the end of an all-night summer’s landscape photography session, spent photographing waterfalls, in the north of Iceland.
It’s actually quite a small and intimate scene, which I’ve done my best to draw attention to through the inclusion of very different foreground, mid ground and background elements in the composition.
The contrast between the cool blue hue of the water and the warm light illuminating the rocks and earth provides great visual separation in the image.
It’s also nice to see the more subtle separation between the actual rocks and their darker and, ever so slightly, less sharply defined reflection on the surface of the water.
Finally, notice how the vertical nature of the rocks, and their reflection, adds a sense of height to the image, further impacting on the visual power of this tiny slice of nature my traveling companion, also a photographer, walked straight past.
So, as we’ve discussed, visual separation can be achieved through differences in relative contrast (e.g., tone or color), subject matter and sharpness within the image.
Likewise, being aware of your background plays an important role in the process of constructing a great image. For example, a black dog photographed against a black background will usually lose impact and could be lost or become hard to define.
However, that same dog photographed against a much lighter background will lift the dog out from the background and seem to push it forward.
Dark tones advance, while light tones recede.
Similarly, photographing a red rose against an orange colored background, of a similar brightness to the rose, will result in a fairly flat, visually compressed image.
If you’re looking for a more visually arresting image you’d be wise to place that same red flower against a background at the opposite end of the color wheel.
For example, place the red rose against a cyan or blue wall.
Juxtaposing opposites is the name of the game.
As well as the examples mentioned above, consider how contrasting subjects can also introduce visual separation into an image. Examples of contrasting subjects include the following:
Bride and groom
Loved and reviled
Young and old
Rich and poor
Short and tall
Atlantic Puffin, with a mouth full of fish, Iceland.
Achieving Visual Separation Through A Shallow Depth Of Field
Perhaps the most obvious form of visual separation for photographers is achieved through the use of a shallow depth of field. As far as photography tips are concerned, the use of a shallow depth of field, when appropriate, will really skyrocket the visual impact of many of your photos.
By critically focusing on your primary subject and employing a shallow depth of field you’ll be able, under the right conditions, to produce particularly striking results. Factors to consider when looking to produce a very shallow depth of field include the following:
Use of a fast/wide maximum lens aperture (e.g., f/2.8).
Where appropriate, a medium to telephoto lens focal length.
Employing a camera-to-subject distance that's considerable less than the distance between the subject and background.
Shallow depth of field is one of the techniques that separates a professional portrait photographer, or an enthusiast that makes professional looking portraits, from a typical snap shooter.
Remember to be aware of your surroundings and adjust your composition; lens and camera settings; and the camera to subject distance to make the most of your subject and, where appropriate, their relationship with their surrounding environment.
Bonus Photography Tip: Timing and the Decisive Moment
As a special, bonus photography tip, it’s important to pay attention to timing when making photos.
Timing can be as critical to the success of a photo as interesting subject matter, great composition and sound technique. I’ve written a comprehensive post on the critical importance timing can have on the production of truly great photos.
It’s called Brilliant Candid Photos: How To Make Great Candid Portraits and includes photos from Australia, Thailand, India and Bali.
Conclusion: Photography Tips To Improve Your Photos
All of the images in this post were made during an extensive trip I undertook to Iceland, during which time I traveled all the way around the island and also explored some of the interior Highlands region.
Iceland is a spectacular country, a mecca for landscape photography. I’ve had the good fortune to travel there on two occasions, once leading a photography tour group.
While Iceland now receives far more visitors than it did during my first trip back in 2011, I'm very excited about returning to Iceland and hope to be able to do so in the not too distant future.
Perhaps we’ll meet one day, in a private photography class or at an incredible landscape location in Iceland. Either way, I really hope the photography tips I’ve provided in this post, and the images that illustrate those tips, will help you along your own creative journey in photography.
If you like what you’ve read, and you appreciate the effort and expense I put into making my photos and writing these comprehensive posts, please feel free to like this post and to share it widely and wildly.
