Black sand, basalt and the North Atlantic. Four days on Iceland’s south coast with Hrafn Einarsson, each one set on a new moon.
The days
Each day has one subject and we stay with it. Times are for Feb 4–7, 2027, in GMT, Iceland’s time all year.
Day 1 · Thu Feb 4
The black beach under Reynisfjall: the basalt columns, the cave, the Reynisdrangar stacks out in the surf. We start with the sea talk on the sand, then spend the morning on one subject at a time.
GMT · UTC+0
Day 2 · Fri Feb 5
Sunrise on the cliff above the arch, the whole coast laid out west to east. After lunch the long walk: four kilometers each way over flat black sand to the wreck of a 1973 navy plane, alone on the plain at last light.
GMT · UTC+0
Day 3 · Sat Feb 6
Three waterfalls in one day, all within 60 kilometers of Vík. Skógafoss is 60 meters high and 25 wide, and at sunrise in February you may have it to yourselves. The path behind Seljalandsfoss is closed when it ices, so we photograph it from the front and walk into the gorge at Gljúfrabúi instead.
GMT · UTC+0
Day 4 · Sun Feb 7
The long day. We leave in the dark for the glacier lagoon, 190 kilometers east across the lava and the outwash plains, for sunrise among the icebergs. Then the beach across the road, where the ice the sea gives back lies on black sand.
GMT · UTC+0
Every clear night · Feb 4–7
Every workshop sits on a new moon, so the nights are as dark as they get. If the sky clears, I knock on your door. Aurora is never promised; a clear sky over the stacks is worth going out for either way.
GMT · UTC+0
Reynisfjara · the rule
Reynisfjara’s waves don’t come in a rhythm you can learn. Most run a few meters up the sand. Then one, with no warning, runs far past all the others, fast and deep, and pulls back hard into a sea of about 5°C. These are sneaker waves, and several visitors have died on this beach since 2007. I grew up here; my father was called out to this beach by the rescue team more times than I can count.
The light
In Vík it is --:-- GMT now.
Feb 4–7
7 h 34 minNew moon Feb 6
Mar 4–7
10 h 31 minNew moon Mar 8
Oct 28–31
8 h 35 minNew moon Oct 29
Nov 25–28
5 h 50 minNew moon Nov 28
Sunrise and sunset in Vík on each workshop’s first day, on a 24-hour GMT clock. In winter the sun never climbs high here, so the light at noon is the light other places get at four.
Dates · 2027
Feb 4–7Thu to Sun · New moon Feb 6
2 left
$2,900
BookMar 4–7Thu to Sun · New moon Mar 8
3 left
$2,900
BookOct 28–31Thu to Sun · New moon Oct 29
6 left
$2,900
BookNov 25–28Thu to Sun · New moon Nov 28
5 left
$2,900
BookOne dayAny day, November to March, outside workshop weeks
Private, up to 3 photographers, 4 to 8 hours
$480
BookEach workshop: five nights in Vík in your own room, breakfast and dinner, all driving, the ride from Reykjavík and back, one print. $600 holds a place.
Your guide
I was born in Vík in 1980, between the black beach and the glacier. I didn’t think it was beautiful until I left.
In April 2010 Eyjafjallajökull erupted forty kilometers west of home. I came back from Reykjavík to help on my uncle’s farm and spent a week photographing the gray ash lying on the snow with my mother’s old film camera. One frame from that week, a white fence post in a gray field, is still on the kitchen wall at the guesthouse. That was the start.
I worked for years as a photographer in Reykjavík, then came home in 2016 and started Basalt with one van and six seats. I’m on Vík’s rescue team, like my father was. It makes me careful on this coast, and it means I know it in every weather.
Hrafn
Work
All from the four days, all in winter, all within 190 km of Vík. Times GMT.
Before you come
Past groups
“I’d never stood on a beach in winter. Hrafn stopped us high on the sand and told us why. Best morning of my year.”
Mei L. Singapore · Feb 2026“I came with a phone and a cheap tripod. The wreck at last light is on my wall now, printed big.”
Daniel R. Chicago · Mar 2026“Twenty years shooting weddings. Four days of shooting only what I wanted. The gray days were the best ones.”
Ana P. Lisbon · Oct 2025Where
Iceland’s southernmost village, 187 km east of Reykjavík on Route 1. We meet at the church on the hill above the village.
Questions
Iceland’s time, GMT (UTC+0). Iceland keeps it all year, with no summer time. In February, New York is five hours behind Vík and Berlin one hour ahead.
Five nights in a guesthouse in Vík in a room of your own (Wednesday to Monday), breakfast and dinner every day, all driving in our seven-seat 4×4, the ride from Reykjavík and back, and one print of your best frame. Not your flights, lunches or travel insurance.
The van has seven seats: six of you and me. Six people fit on a cliff path, around one waterfall, and in one conversation about a picture.
Maybe. Every workshop is on a new moon, in the dark months, and we go out on every clear night. But it takes a clear sky and an active sun on the same night, and no one can promise both.
In a hard storm the road administration closes Route 1. Then we stay in Vík and photograph the village, the church and its own black beach, and move the day we lost if the weather lets us.
No. I drive, on studded tires, and I know where the wind comes off the mountains. You keep your eyes on the coast.
$600 holds your place. The rest is due 60 days before the workshop. Cancel before then and the deposit comes back less $100. Inside 60 days, we refund if your place is filled.
Yes, they take one of the six seats at the same price. Most partners end up with a camera by day two.
Book
$600 holds your place; the rest is due 60 days before. Hrafn texts you back the same day, from Vík, in GMT.
2 left
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