Photo spot in Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon
The first bend on the rim path
Five minutes up from the car park, where the canyon turns and the mossy pinnacles stack into the S-curve everyone recognises.
About The first bend on the rim path
Get directionsThe rim path climbs gently from the car park and, at the first proper bend, delivers the picture: pinnacles of palagonite wrapped in moss, folding into one another down the length of the gorge, with the river a thin bright line a hundred metres below.
It is close enough to reach in five minutes and high enough to feel like an achievement, which makes it the natural first stop of a session — and, before nine in the morning, a place you can have to yourselves. Put the couple on the path with the canyon falling away behind them and shoot slightly telephoto to stack the pinnacles; a wider lens turns the same view into a green valley and loses the drama.
The path is earth and gravel and gets slippery when wet, which in Iceland means often. Stay behind the ropes: the edges here are undercut, and the moss that makes the pictures takes decades to recover from a footprint. Bright overcast is the ideal light — full sun drops half the gorge into shadow this deep.
Best time to shoot
Before 9am for solitude; bright overcast for even light
Tips
Shoot slightly telephoto to stack the pinnacles — wide loses the drama. Stay behind the ropes; the edges are undercut.
Other spots in Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon
The end platform
The wooden platform at the top of the path, looking back down the whole two kilometres of canyon with the river winding through it.
The canyon mouth and the riverbed
Where the Fjaðrá braids over gravel below the car park — the same walls seen from the bottom, with water at your feet and nobody above you.
Ready to book?
Our concierge team will hand-pick 2-3 photographers who know The first bend on the rim path — free of charge.