Iceland is one of the world's premier destinations for bird photography. The country hosts around 10 million Atlantic Puffins each summer, making it the single best place on earth to photograph them. Beyond puffins, Iceland is home to Arctic terns, gyrfalcons, white-tailed eagles, harlequin ducks, and hundreds of other species.
- Puffins arrive in Iceland in late April and depart by mid-August — peak photography season is June and July.
- Látrabjarg cliffs in the Westfjords and Borgarfjörður Eystri are two of the best puffin photography locations.
- Get low to the ground to photograph puffins at eye level — they are remarkably tolerant of patient, quiet photographers.
- Use a telephoto lens (300–500mm) for larger seabirds like gannets and great skuas in flight.
- Our bird GPS map includes the locations of known puffin colonies, tern nesting grounds, and eagle territories.