Photographing The Faroe Islands

Nestled between Scotland, Norway and Iceland, the Faroe Islands has its own unique distinct personality, but it also shares some qualities in terms of its epic landscapes and raw, natural beauty.

As we arrived onto the Faroe Islands it felt like we were discovering some long lost paradise. Our plane was half empty as we came in to land on the single runway which stood surrounded by grasslands and mountains. The passport control was literally a hundred metres from the plane, and there was a distinct lack of people here, which was a welcome change from the crowded cities we’re used to!

The landscapes and scenery in the Faroes are like something straight out of middle-earth and there is just so much to see in such a compact set of islands!

One of the best things about the Faroe Islands is the ability to be able to drive from one side of the islands to the other in around 45 minutes. I think Vagar was my favourite island, but then again it’s hard to have a favourite when at every turn you feel like stopping the car to get out and soak up the jaw-dropping scenery!

Gasadalur Sunset

Gasadalur quickly became one of our favourite places for sunset on the island, the small village nestled by mountains at the coasts edge felt like it was cut off from the rest of the world. When we first arrived mist and low cloud blanketed the area, however this quickly broke up revealing a dramatic sunset, with scenery straight out of a Lord Of The Rings film!

The waterfall at Gasaladur is constantly changing and makes for some interesting photography. It’s a great place to watch the birds dive in and around the falls as they catch their supper. On the other side of the cliff you’ll also find a popular nesting spot for Puffins so make sure to keep your eyes peeled.

Hvithamar Mountain viewpoint is another great place to take in the scenery of the Faroes, it’s a relatively easy hike up to the top and the views are incredible.

The viewpoint sits above the town of Klaksvik and from here you can see dramatic views of Kalsoy and Kunoy. You will need a wide angle lens and a polarizing filter to capture a great image of the landscapes here. One of the things I love about the Faroes is that you always seem to get these dark contrasting skies with nice dappled light on the landscapes.

The weather and light is constantly changing in the Faroes, they say you can experience four seasons in one day and that isn’t far from the truth!

We stood and watched as stormy weather built up over the island of Mykines which created quite a dramatic scene as light broke through on one side of the island and it was raining on the other. We managed to escape the savage weather just in time before heading back to our digs for a fresh fish supper and a bottle of wine.

Kalsoy

Kalsoy is just a short ferry ride away from the mainland, and it offers some amazing hikes and scenery, to put simply it’s one of the best day trips on the Faroe Islands. It’s also well known for it’s iconic Kallur Lighthouse and more recently it’s filming location for the bond film “No Time To Die”.

Many people were hiking towards the lighthouse, however we decided to position ourselves to the right of the cliffs first and capture this image below, which shows a hiker crossing a narrow ridge in front of some sea cliffs.

These cliffs are very high and steep with sheer drops either side so be extra cautious when the ground is wet and there’s high winds!

Some moody skies and low hanging clouds over the island of Koltur as seen from Suduroy.

I would recommend spending at least a night on the island of Suduroy, we only had a daytrip there which felt rushed and the ferry ride is two hours each way. There are some great hikes and viewpoints around the island making it a worthy trip.

The Northern tip of Kalsoy is also a great place to fly a drone and capture an aerial view of the island. We were lucky to have some low-lying clouds and mist during our morning there making for some dramatic scenes.

Many of the traditional Faroese houses have turf roofs. This offers thermal insulation and protection from the rain, and keeps things more natural and ecological. They also make for some interesting pictures, as we stopped here on a misty morning to photograph these huts below.

It’s not uncommon to see birds nesting or even sheep grazing on top of these houses.

There was some stormy weather on the evening which broke the next morning leaving calm seas and a gentle mist. I took this photo of some cliffs off the coast of Vagar as the sea mist dissolved and began to reveal more of the landscape around us.

I love the contrast between the stormy coastal weather seen in the picture above and the calming tranquility of the image below.

Trollkonufingur

Trollkonufingur which translates to “troll woman’s finger” is a unique geological feature which protrudes 313 meters high and can be seen for miles. Legend has it that a giant witch arrived to Vagar and was turned to stone, falling backwards into the ocean and leaving only her finger sticking out the water.

Whilst hiking on Vagar I found a different perspective of Trollkonufingur using a telephoto lens. I love how the small houses underneath give scale to this god-like landscape.

On a trip across the Faroes you will encounter many sheep, they are literally everywhere, outside the hotels, on the roads, and in peoples front gardens, they are just part of the scenery itself. Take extra care on the roads here, there was a few times we had to slam the brakes on from stray sheep wondering into our path.

The island is also home and nesting grounds to many species of birds such as Storm Petrels, Black Guillemots and Puffins. We were fortunate enough to see many Puffins casually as we drove around the Islands, just as well as we had initially planned to visit Mykines Island to see them but our ferry was cancelled due to bad weather.

A drone shot from Hvithamar Viewpoint.

Some more Puffin pictures, it was raining pretty hard when I took some of these images but if you look closely you can see droplets of rain on their heads. I recommend a focal length of 100-400mm, but these birds will also allow you to get relatively close to them.

On a rainy day there wasn’t much left to do but enjoy some nice food and take in the scenery. I did manage to take this image though of a cliff face with some low clinging clouds. It’s not hard to capture the sheer size and scale of the cliffs on the Faroes but you constantly wonder how they came to be, as it really is an otherworldly place!

Some more shots of the rugged cliffs along the coast, there’s a few times we had that distinct sense of vertigo exploring the rugged coastal paths and hiking routes. Standing on top of them like in the picture on the right is the only way to give scale to just how incredible these formations are!

Here you can see 2 different perspectives of Mykines taken from Boer, as stormy weather had begun to break, leaving us with some pretty dramatic conditions.

Tindholmur

A drone shot of Tindholmur, an islet on the westside of the Faroe Islands.

Tindholmur is a great focal point for photography from the island of Vagar and with some exploration there are probably loads of compositions to be found of this eye-catching islet. The highest point of the islet is 262 meters and each of it’s 5 peaks have different names.

During a large portion of our trip this Tindholmur was completely covered by cloud and mist, fortunately this cleared giving us an epic view of its crazy shape.

Puffins

Puffins can be seen across the Faroe Islands during the months of April to September as they return to nest and breed. June and July are possibly the best times to see and photograph the Puffins as they are the most active feeding their chick (each Puffin pair only have one chick).

We had planned a day trip to Mykines to visit the puffin colony there, unfortunately the ferry was cancelled due to bad weather and rough ocean swells. We were lucky enough however to have Puffins land literally meters from us in other parts of the islands.

Cliffs

We travelled to the Faroe Islands in early May and I think we caught the landscapes at a transitionary period. In places the grass had started to grow and the fields were becoming green again, in others it was still dry and orange in colour.

There’s many seabirds such as Razorbills, Fulmars and Kittiwakes that breed on the sea cliffs in the Faroes. It’s easy to capture images with these birds flying into the frame, which gives scale to the dramatic landscapes.