Photo spot in Landmannalaugar
The warm stream
The hot spring that gives the place its name — a shallow, steaming stream at the edge of the lava where a session traditionally ends.
About The warm stream
Get directionsLandmannalaugar means the people's pools: where a hot spring meets a cold stream at the edge of Laugahraun, the water reaches bathing temperature and people have been getting into it for centuries. A boardwalk leads out from the huts to the shallow bathing stretch.
As a photograph it is steam, warm light and shoulders in water with a mountain behind — the human end to a landscape day. It works best in the evening, when the low sun catches the steam and the crowd thins. This is a public bathing spot, so a session here is quick, discreet and considerate of other people in the water rather than a staged set-up.
Plan for it properly: swimwear under layers, a towel, and somewhere to change (there are basic facilities at the huts, but they are basic). The stream bed is stony and slippery in places and the temperature varies from hot to cold within a few metres. Wet clothes plus highland wind is genuinely cold afterwards, so leave a dry set in the car and finish the shoot here rather than starting with it.
Best time to shoot
Evening, when low sun catches the steam and the pool empties
Tips
Finish the session here, never start it — wet clothes and highland wind don't mix. Swimwear, towel and a dry set left in the car.
Recent work in Landmannalaugar
Portfolio shots by photographers covering this area
Photographers who shoot at The warm stream
Hand-picked professionals working in Landmannalaugar
Real reviews from Landmannalaugar photoshoots
Marly G.
I have done a few photoshoots with Smári and always have had a great experience. He is a great photographer and has such a good eye for great locations for the kind of photoshoot I had in mind. I am always surprised at how good the photos…
Johann K.
Photographer
Gísli F.
I am a part of a choir in Iceland, and we played a part in a JCS (Jesus Christ Superstar) production at Harpa in Reykjavík, Iceland. I asked my friend Johann Smári to attend the dress rehearsal and feel free to take some photos. The…
Johann K.
Photographer
Other spots in Landmannalaugar
The flats by the huts
Level ground at the valley floor with the banded rhyolite mountains filling the horizon — the full highland amphitheatre with no climbing at all.
The edge of the Laugahraun lava field
Ten minutes' walk to a wall of jagged black obsidian-flecked lava, with the ochre slopes rising straight behind it.
The lower shoulder of Bláhnúkur
Half an hour of steady climbing for the view down over the valley, the lava field and the whole colour range of the mountains.
Ready to book?
Our concierge team will hand-pick 2-3 photographers who know The warm stream — free of charge.
