Puffins of Iceland’s Grímsey Island Photography Holiday

Grímsey Island is widely regarded as one of the best places in Iceland to photograph puffins & one of the very best places in the world to photograph Atlantic Puffins in flight. The island's soaring cliffs provide ideal nesting conditions for thousands of puffins, while our position allows for clean backgrounds & unobstructed flight photography opportunities under the midnight sun.

You can photograph puffins returning to clifftop nests with beakfuls of sand eels, birds taking flight from the headlands, & puffins swimming in the waters below the black basalt cliffs. The 22 hours of daylight each day provide exceptional opportunities for capturing these behaviours, including the unique experience of photographing puffins under the midnight sun.

This is a dedicated puffin photography holiday with 5 full days based on Grímsey Island for photography. The 22 hours of daylight available each day provide exceptional flexibility to photograph wherever, whenever & whatever you choose, maximising opportunities to capture puffins & other seabirds.

Grímsey Island's position provides unparalleled opportunities to photograph puffins under the midnight sun, creating unique lighting conditions unavailable elsewhere. The extended daylight hours allow for creative photography sessions throughout both traditional day & night periods, with no time constraints limiting your photographic opportunities.

Our trip is specifically timed to coincide with the Atlantic Puffin nesting cycle when birds are actively returning to clifftop burrows with fish for their chicks. This timing ensures maximum activity & the best opportunities to photograph puffins with beakfuls of sand eels, plus optimal conditions for flight photography.

Grímsey Island is considered one of the very best places in the world to photograph Atlantic Puffins in flight, with our guests consistently demonstrating the location's suitability for perfect 'in-flight' images. The clifftop positions provide optimal angles & clean backgrounds for capturing puffins as they take flight from the headlands.

Species regularly photographed include Atlantic Puffin, Arctic Tern, Arctic Skua, Black-legged Kittiwake, Razorbill, Common Guillemot, Black Guillemot, Common Eider, Common Raven & Common Redshank. The island hosts thousands of seabirds nesting on the dramatic basalt cliffs, with seals & whales occasionally visible in surrounding waters. As with all wildlife photography, sightings can never be guaranteed.

The 7-photographer limit ensures everyone has sufficient space along the clifftop photography positions, receives personalised guidance from Robin Lowry & enjoys a more relaxed photographic experience. The small group size maximises flexibility for positioning & timing during the extended daylight hours.

You'll stay in a Grímsey Island guesthouse for 5 nights, with the property taken in its entirety for our group. The accommodation is ideally located close to the bird cliffs & provides clean, simple facilities on a full board basis. Single occupancy accommodation is included as standard.

We recommend flights from Akureyri to reach Grímsey Island, though these are not included in the trip package. A reliable backup option is the ferry service from Dalvik, 40 miles further up the coast from Akureyri, should flight circumstances change due to weather or availability.

Bring a camera suitable for bird photography, telephoto lenses for capturing puffins in flight & on cliffs, spare batteries & memory cards. The 22 hours of daylight mean extended shooting opportunities, so additional power sources are beneficial. Detailed equipment recommendations will be provided before departure.

No advanced skills are required. Robin Lowry provides experienced guidance suitable for photographers of all levels during the clifftop photography sessions. The flexible itinerary allows time to develop techniques for both flight photography & capturing birds with fish in their beaks.