How To Photograph Ice Cave - Composition Tips

Vatnajökull is Europe's largest glacier and national park, covering 13% of Iceland.  The Ice Cave Tour operated by Local Guide is designed for photographers only, because you'll probably be bored to be thrown into a cave for 2-3 hours and discover whatever you want by yourself.  I was one of the eight photographers in my group.

Since March is typically the end of season for the ice cave tour, water was dripping at the cave entrance, and we had to take an inflatable raft to get in, maximum two people at a time.  The wind was so strong outside the cave (all you could see was grey sky, snow and glacier) - even all eight of us sat in the van, we could still feel the van swaying from left and right.

Ice Cave Photography Vatnajökull Iceland

All these challenges were dwarfed by that in the cave - either other people got into my way or I would get into their way.  After a while, I decided to simply relax and enjoy this unique experience and not think too much about the outcome of my photos.  Ultimately, the experience is all that matters.

I have included two photos taken in the cave.  The first one doesn't have a foreground and therefore you can't feel how big the ice cave is.  The second one I included a person as the foreground, therefore giving scale and perspective.  It's one of the composition tricks in landscape photography.

Ice Cave Photography Vatnajökull Iceland

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