This article is part of the Complete Guide to Photography in Iceland
Eystrahorn is a mountain in southeast Iceland which has become a favourite spot among landscape photographers. Eystrahorn is very easy to access, with a parking area just off Route 1, but it’s far from Reykjavik, making it a far quieter spot than many locations closer to the capital.
Eystrahorn is not as well known as its popular neighbour Vestrahorn, but it is an equally stunning location with a beautiful mountain range towering over a landscape of beaches, rocky shoreline and grassland. There is a huge variety of features in a tiny area and enough opportunity to experiment and explore that you could spend hours here uncovering new compositions.
Contents
Photography Guide
Travel Guide
Photography Guide
Photography Locations at Eystrahorn
Route 1 makes a sharp bend around Eystrahorn at a section of coastline where the landscape forms a sharp peninsula around the mountains. There are potential foregrounds all around this peninsula, and the mountain changes shape as you work your way around it.
This ability to change your angle on the mountain is part of what gives this location such variety - you can make two images from each end of the peninsula, and Eystrahorn would look like two different mountains.
The other element you can adjust is the foreground, and the map above divides the landscape into areas with various options.
Map data from OpenStreetMap
A: The junction with Route 1 for the track leading to the parking area at Eystrahorn.
1. Hvalnes Nature Reserve Beach
On the west edge of the peninsula is a long stretch of black sand beach that forms an enclosed bay around the mountain. If you stand on the sandbank, there is an area of water between you and the mountain, but the shore and breaking waves are behind you.
This is the closest point to the east side of the range of mountains. It’s more difficult to capture a wide vista from this angle because the beach does not make a great foreground. However, this is a great spot to pick out details and patterns in the face of the cliffs above you.
2. End of the Beach
Where the beach meets the peninsula is an area where the waves crash over the rocks. If you find just the right rock and get close to the water, you can capture the waves as a foreground to the mountain.
However, this is not easy to do. The easiest places to stand put the shoreline on your left as you look at the mountain. To include the ocean as a foreground to the mountain, you must climb onto the rocks and get among the waves.
Making an image of the mountain here will depend upon having the right tide and wave conditions, and it will be far more difficult (and dangerous) if the rocks are wet and icy.
3. The Ponds
On top of the peninsula is a marshy area of grass, which can form small ponds and puddles. This area is difficult to walk around, and it’s easy to step accidentally in a wet area that looks like solid ground. However, this is a great area to form compositions with the mountains, and if you find an interesting foreground, you will have space to move around and arrange it with Eystrahorn behind.
I made my favourite image of Eystrahorn here when the ponds became still and reflective during the best light of the day. This peninsula can be very windy, so this was a lucky moment, but it happened at the end of a day of bad conditions for only 20 minutes, so it’s important to reconsider the wind regularly while you explore. If you feel it may have dropped, head to this area in case the water has formed mirrors among the grasses.
4. The Lighthouse
There is a small lighthouse at Eystrahorn, with an unusual orange design. Although it is possible to capture this lighthouse with the mountain in an image, it is a bright (but not very attractive) feature which commands attention and might not add to the scene.
Working the lighthouse into compositions will depend on your style of photography, and it is worth spending some time exploring this part of the landscape.
5. The Rocks
East of the lighthouse is a wide area of rock formations, full of cracks and folds with plants growing in the gaps. This is a beautiful area of the peninsula, and one of my favourite types of landscapes for creating foregrounds.
Using the textures and patterns in the rocks, you can pick your way along this area to find the perfect arrangement to pair with the mountains. I like to look for shapes which reflect the shapes in the peaks to create symmetry in the image, and there are hundreds of options to choose from.
6. The Rocky Shore
The shoreline along the eastern edge of the peninsula is very rocky and is a great place to capture breaking waves and patterns along the coast. It isn’t possible to include this feature with the mountain in an image because it faces in the wrong direction, but it is a long stretch of shore that can be an interesting subject.
While it’s not the most striking rocky beach in Iceland, it’s another nice feature of this amazing location.
Weather and Conditions for Photography at Eystrahorn
Eystrahorn sits on a small peninsula on the southeast coast, and this position makes it a windy location with incredibly variable weather. The mountains that line this portion of the coast make the weather more chaotic, and it’s almost impossible to predict what kind of weather you will get at Eystrahorn. Even hourly forecasts can be barely more than a rough guess.
The best approach to the light and weather at Eystrahorn is to show up and hope for the best. I have been on days that were predicted to be clear, only to be rained out with zero visibility for the entire day. Similarly, some of the most beautiful light I have ever seen was at Eystrahorn on an otherwise miserable day. The landscape here creates such a bespoke micro-climate that the only viable approach is perseverance.
The main challenge here is visibility, especially when the cloud covers the peaks. Many of the best compositions at Eystrahorn depend on being able to see the mountain in full, and it can be hard to get a good photograph at Eystrahorn if the peak is obscured.
The Best Time of Day to Photograph Eystrahorn
Good light can be spectacular at Eystrahorn, and its position on the coast facing south can make it a great location for sunrise and sunset. However, the direction of the sun at the beginning and end of the day varies a lot with the seasons in Iceland, and it's important to check the angles during your visit.
The sun rises and sets behind Eystrahorn in the summer. It starts to light the sides of the mountain by 8 am at the height of summer and reaches the other side around 6 pm, but the sun remains high in the sky for most of a summer's day at Eystrahorn.
By the end of September, the sun rises directly to the right of Eystrahorn and sets on the left as you capture the mountain from the peninsula. This makes Eystrahorn a beautiful sunrise and sunset location between September and March, when you'll catch the first and last light of the day on the face of the mountain.
Northern Lights Photography at Eystrahorn
Eystrahorn can look incredible under the northern lights, but it's a difficult location, and nearby Vestrahorn is a better option if you are new to photographing the aurora.
The angle on Eystrahorn is very steep, so images of the mountain capture a high portion of the sky. When the aurora is weak, it appears closer to the horizon, and can be hidden by the peaks at this location.
Click below for a longer guide to aurora photography in Iceland, including recommended locations for photographing the aurora.
Equipment and Lenses for Photographing Eystrahorn
There is so much variety at Eystrahorn that you’ll find a use for every lens you have, and the peninsula also looks beautiful from the air if you have a drone.
The terrain surrounding Eystrahorn is very close to the mountain, so the most useful lens on location is a wide-angle. From some positions, it's only possible to capture the full scale of the peak with a very wide focal length.
There are no facilities near Eystrahorn, so you might want to come prepared with warm drinks and food if you plan to spend a long time. This isn't a remote area - the large town of Hofn is only 40 minutes away - but the journey there and back for supplies would use up a lot of your time on location.
Travel Guide
Getting to Eystrahorn
Eystrahorn is almost as far from the capital as you can get in this small country - 6.5 hours (more in winter) of driving along the south coast, almost to the other end of the island.
However, it’s close to Hofn (45 minutes) and only 1h45m to the glacier lagoon Jokulsarlon, one of the major visitor destinations on the south coast. The closest notable point is the photography bucket-list destination of Vestrahorn, barely 40 minutes away.
Eystrahorn is extremely easy to reach from Route 1, with a parking area just a few hundred metres down a gravel track off the main road. The road is easy to drive in a normal vehicle, though the turn-off is on a sharp bend and easy to miss.
It’s not obvious from the main road that this location would be any more photographically interesting than the rest of this part of the coast, and the first time I visited Iceland, I drove past without even considering a stop. The exact location of the junction is here.
There are no barriers or entrance fees at Eystrahorn, and no visitor facilities. A gravel parking area next to the lighthouse is the only feature on location.
Where to Stay at Eystrahorn
There are a few scattered guest houses to the north of Eystrahorn, but the nearest town with a wider variety of options in this direction is Reydarfjordur, 2h30m away. If you plan to visit the east fjords of Iceland, it is possible to visit Eystrahorn from this area, though it is a long drive.
A much closer option is the small town of Hofn, about 45 minutes to the south and with a range of accommodation and restaurants to choose from, including some budget options. If you are on a photography-focused trip around Iceland, you would likely want to pair Eystrahorn and Vestrahorn as two incredible locations just a short drive apart. Hofn is a convenient place to stay, from which you can reach both.
There is a cafe with accommodation at Vestrahorn, which is incredibly convenient for photographing Vestrahorn, and an easy drive from Eystrahorn. This has the advantage of free tickets for the barrier at Vestrahorn and one of the shortest drives to Eystrahorn if you want to maximise your time shooting at both locations.
How Long to Spend Photographing Eystrahorn
The area where you can roam and form compositions with Eystrhorn is fairly small, packed onto a peninsula very close to the peaks. On my first visit, I was surprised by the small area after reading so much about the incredible photography at Eystrahorn. However, it is a deceptively rich landscape, and it is easy to get lost in composition for several hours, capturing a variety of features.
Most visitors touring Iceland stop into Eystrahorn for a couple of photographs and a brief wander along the shore, barely staying for an hour. If you are an enthusiastic landscape photographer, you will be entertained here for at least 3-4 hours if the conditions are good.
The geography in this part of the landscape makes the weather at Eystrahorn incredibly changeable, and more time here will give you a much better chance of some good light and insurance against bad weather obscuring the peaks.
While you might not want to spend entire days on location at Eystrahorn, investing more time here waiting for conditions to change will make a big difference to your chance of getting a great image. I have spent a lot of time at Eystrhorn reading a book in the car, but this location is incredible in good light, and persevering is worth the effort.
Nearby Photography Locations
Eystrahorn is a beautiful spot, but it won’t be the only place you’ll want to photograph in this area. The best approach on a dedicated photography trip to Iceland is to stay around Vestrahorn and treat Eystrahorn as one of your priority locations. Here’s a quick summary of other nearby spots.
Vestrahorn is the big photography attraction in this area, a world-renowned photography spot. It has many of the same characteristics as Eystrahorn - an isolated peak surrounded by variety in the foreground - but scaled up into a photography location where you could spend several days.
As Vestrahorn has become more popular, many photographers have started to enjoy the relative quiet of Eystrahorn, and have good reasons to prefer the smaller location. However, Vestrahorn is hardly crowded and is an essential stop in this part of the country.
Check out my full guide to photography at Vestrahorn here.
Jokulsarlon is a glacier lagoon on the south coast of Iceland, and a very popular visitor destination. It’s a 1h45m drive from Eystrahorn, so you could combine locations into a single portion of your trip, staying somewhere between them (likely Hofn). Jokulsarlon is a spectacular photography location, with a glacier lagoon and black sand beach covered in chunks of ice of various sizes. There is limited accommodation nearby, and most visitors travel from Vik, which is further west.
Hofn is a pretty town close to Vestrahorn, with a pretty harbour and views of mountains across the bay. It isn’t a majorphotography destination, but it could work as a hub for explorations of Vestrahorn and Eystrahorn, and it’s worth exploring the town if you have some spare time.
Hoffellsjokull is another glacier with a lagoon that often contains fragments of ice. This location is not nearly as popular as Jokulsarlon, but it is much quieter and easier to reach from points around Hofn.
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