Amazing Latrabjarg Cliffs, Iceland
An Atlantic puffin rests high up on the Látrabjarg Cliffs in Iceland.
The Látrabjarg Cliffs in Iceland are a wild, windy and stunningly beautiful place for bird photography.
Towering up to 440 meters high and extending for 14 kilometers, the cliffs mark the westernmost point of Iceland and, by extension, Europe.
Latrabjarg is home to literally millions of birds, including the following:
Atlantic puffins
Northern gannets
Guillemots
Razorbills
With such a large variety of birds, in such massive quantities, the opportunities for great bird photography along the Látrabjarg Cliffs during the long summer days is incredible.
Atlantic Puffins
By far the most common bird on the Látrabjarg Cliffs are Atlantic puffins. They’re beautiful to behold and fascinating to study up close.
This photo demonstrates just how close you can get to Atlantic puffins on the cliffs at Latrabjarg.
I made the image with a 70-200mm lens at a focal length of 200 mm. Nonetheless I’d say I was only 3 meters away from the puffin when I made the photo.
I made lots of photos of puffins, some with the birds only about 1 ½ meters away, and they didn’t seem to mind at all.
While clearly aware of my presence they didn’t appear to see me as a threat and continued with their life without paying too much attention to me.
Despite being harvested for meat for centuries Atlantic puffins simply don’t appear to fear people.
Perhaps the amount of visitors to Latrabjarg over the years has simply conditioned them to our presence.
A razorbill at sunset on the Látrabjarg cliffs in Iceland.
Getting Up Nice And Close To A Razorbill
The above photo features a razorbill which I was surprised to see resting high up on the windswept cliffs.
To be able to move in so close without upsetting the birds at Latrabjarg is, perhaps, the most incredible gift a photographer can be given at such a location.
While not cute or humorous like the Atlantic puffin the razorbill is, nonetheless, quite a stately bird.
The white pipping that runs from their eyes down to their beaks really stands out against the blackness of their heads.
Fortunately this particular bird was brightly lit by the sun, not long before sunset, which helped penetrate the otherwise dense blackness of the bird’s darker plumage.
Nonetheless, I still had to employ Lightroom to dig out as much detail as possible in the darker shadow areas.
high Contrast Photography
High Contrast, also referred to as High Dynamic Range, can be defined as a big difference in brightness between important dark and light areas within a subject or scene.
Such situations are, more often than not, the death of most photos. This is why it’s so hard to make decent photos of the following subjects:
Black and white birds
Light tone birds against much darker backgrounds
Dark birds against much brighter backgrounds
In most cases a photo of our friendly Atlantic puffin would result in the bird’s light colored feathers burning out, and rendering with little texture, and their darker plumage recording jet black.
“The brighter the light, the darker the shadows will photograph.”
How Best To Manage High Contrast in Camera
When a bird is backlit against a significantly brighter background a little flash can help by reducing the contrast of the scene.
By illuminating the shadows the light from the flash will reduce the difference in brightness between the darker shadows and brighter highlights.
Likewise, photographing with the sun behind you, or under overcast conditions, also reduces the contrast within the scene.
Responding To The Ambient Light
In this case the light was coming from behind and to the side of the Razorbill, placing much of it into dark shadow.
I waited until the bird turned towards me so that the darker side of their body was lit by the sun and, as a consequence, pushed most of the light colored feathers into the shade.
This simple technique allowed me to dramatically reduce the inherent contrast within the bird and enabled me to produce an image with significant amounts of detail.
It’s not a brilliant photo but, given the circumstances, it’s not a bad result either.
Please remember that photography is about light and cameras are simply tools designed to record images.
You can buy a $500 hammer, but that alone won't make you a builder, let alone an architect.
How To Get To The Látrabjarg Bird Cliffs
Iceland is a long way from almost anywhere but, once there, it’s also quite a journey to get to the Látrabjarg Cliffs.
My tip is to do what I did: include Látrabjarg in your itinerary as you circumnavigate the island along Iceland’s ring road, know as Highway One or Route One.
Old stone ruins, fjord and mountain along Highway One in Iceland.
Driving Around Iceland On The Delightful Route One
While it's possible to drive around Iceland in around a week, my recommendation, for those that have the time and money to do so, is to take your time and extend your adventure to two or three weeks.
This more leisurely approach will allow you to better appreciate so much of what's on offer as you traverse this most spectacular and isolated country.
This image of an old stone dwelling by a fjord, in front of a sheer mountainside was made with the nation's Highway One in the foreground.
It’s just one of many incredible sights awaiting the intrepid visitor to Iceland.
With more opportunities for great photos you’ll produce a larger and more varied portfolio of photographs from your journey around Iceland.
Make Sure You Plan For Poor Weather
Let’s not forget that weather in Iceland can be fickle. The more days you have in the country the better as it's likely you’ll experience your share of wet weather days.
The last thing you'd want to be doing is pushing ahead through heavy rain storms or having to drive past phenomenal locations due to inclement weather.
Enjoy The Drive And Please Be Polite
Highway One is a good road that’s sealed in most places.
However, it’s a narrow road and, on the first day of my journey, I often found myself moving the camper van over to the side of the road to leave enough room for trucks and other camper vans to get past on the other side.
I’ve done quite a lot of driving on country roads, many of them unsealed and rutted, in Australia where this practice is considered both safe and good manners.
Let’s just say that on this particular journey the act was not reciprocated, as it usually is back home, by those coming the other way.
At the very least it would be nice to get a wave from the driver coming the other way.
But cultural practices do vary around our world and, when it came to the camper vans driving towards me, I figured that they must do things differently on the continent.
The good news was that, as there was so little traffic after the first day, this minor inconvenience simply stopped occurring and I was able to enjoy the drive and the incredible scenery Iceland has to offer.
A tiny hamlet, set against stunning mountain scenery, by the coast in Northern Iceland.
Iceland’s Route One Is An Adventure
However, not all points of interest are along Route One. Visiting some will require a detour off the ring road, sometimes inland and up into the Highlands.
Látrabjarg required a considerable detour. And it was an adventure, but nothing arduous or risky.
As long as you’re traveling during daylight hours, and are prepared for some dirt road driving, you should be fine.
I’d certainly recommend a great map if you plan to explore the country by heading off the ring road.
It’s likely that, outside of the capital, you’ll experience issues with your electronic device/s or find internet connection to be poor.
With that in mind you might consider covering your bases by purchasing a large and highly detailed physical map before you leave Reykjavik.
I’ve had the good fortune to have traveled to Iceland on two occasions. Despite the significant increase in tourism that’s occurred since my first trip back in 2011, I still recommend the country to anyone with a love for landscape photography.
The fact that Latrabjarg offers fantastic opportunities for bird photography opens up lots of opportunities for keen avian photographers.
I’m very much looking forward to my next Iceland adventure and I hope it will include another visit to the Latrabjarg Bird Cliffs.
