The western Westfjords as a Photography Location

Gardar BA 64 is an old whaling ship, which was rammed ashore in the Skápadalur valley in Patreksfjörður when it was deemed unfit for duty back in 1981. It’s fairly easy to find, yet as with everything in the Westfjords there’s a long way between everything.

If you come from Dynjandi you have to drive 31 km back towards Reykjavik and turn right down road 62. After 48km you come to road 612. Gardar is located another 3 km down that road on your right hand.

The old rusty beached ship is in itself an interesting photography object with a lot of atmosphere and mood. It can also work as a foreground to some aurora photography. You can even climb on to the ship and explore it from the inside. As a photography location it doesn’t require any special equipment. In regard to the light the sun sets directly behind it in early May, which is the only time of year you can get the ship with a sunset, since the location is mainly surrounded with mountains.

Relatively close to Gardar down road 614 you’ll find Rauðisandur beach, which is known for its red sand and even further out road 612 you’ll pass a small town called Breidavik with a small isolated church, which is also a beautiful photography object.

Furthest out of road 612 you’ll arrive at Látrabjarg which is definitely worth a visit. Látrabjarg is known for its vertical and tall cliffs. There's a nice little trail you can follow along the edge, which comes highly recommended. If you visit this location on a summer night there's this special eerie feeling around it.

During the summer season there’s huge colony of Puffins at Látrabjarg too, which attracts the arctic foxes.

Check out these tours for the Westfjords. 8-day self drive, Arctic Foxes & Midnight Sun, 3 day tour with hiking.

I hope you enjoyed this article! If you want to see even more from my side, I have extensive video guides for a lot of locations in Iceland. Check out the video below and you can follow me on instagram or Facebook. If you want to buy any of my pictures as beautiful high-quality prints check out my Society6 page.

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