# Aerials Of The Icelandic Highlands Drone Photo Workshops

URL: https://jvn.photo/photo-workshops/aerials-icelandic-highlands/
Last updated: 2026-10-14

## Aerials Of The Icelandic Highlands Drone Photo Workshops

**The Icelandic highlands look unlike anywhere else on Earth from the air.** Mineral-streaked ridgelines, glacial rivers that braid and unbraid across black volcanic plains, moss fields that go from saturated green to rust over the course of a few weeks, geothermal valleys that steam at sunrise. Jeroen has been flying drones over the highlands every summer since 2018, and these small-group workshops are built around the areas he keeps going back to.

Each departure is a drone-focused photography workshop capped at three participants, run over 7 days and 8 nights out of Reykjavík. Three people is small enough that the vehicle stays nimble and the route can be redrawn at short notice. The week covers composition, flight planning, reading an Icelandic forecast, RAW processing in Lightroom on the days the wind keeps everyone on the ground, and the slower craft of working out which landscapes are worth flying for in the first place.

The highlands change character every two or three weeks across the summer. Light, vegetation, river volumes and the return of darkness all shift week to week. Early July is green and lit almost around the clock. By August the nights are drawing back in and the light turns more directional, with the first real darkness of the season returning towards the end of the month. Each departure is timed to a different point in that arc.[divider line_type=”No Line” custom_height=”400px”][divider line_type=”No Line” custom_height=”500px”]

## Aerials Of The Icelandic Highlands At A Glance

- **Length:** 7 days and 8 nights, starting and ending in Reykjavík

- **Group size:** a maximum of 3 participants, with Jeroen as the only guide

- **Accommodation:** single rooms in two hotels, one on each side of the Southern Highlands, breakfast every morning

- **Transport:** a modified 4×4 Land Cruiser on oversized tyres with a snorkel, river crossings included

- **Drone permits:** arranged in advance where needed and included for every participant

- **Experience needed:** you already fly your own drone, no aerial photography experience required

- **Season:** July and August, while the highland F-roads are open

## What You’ll Photograph

Glacial river systems south of Sprengisandur, the rhyolite mountains around Landmannalaugar, the black ash and moss plains around Veiðivötn, geothermal valleys in Kerlingarfjöll when conditions allow, and whichever spots happen to respond best to that week’s light. Several of these areas are protected, and where written permission is needed before a drone leaves the ground, it’s arranged in advance and covers every participant. Nobody has to apply for anything themselves. The route is published as a guide, not a fixed itinerary. **If a weather window opens somewhere unexpected, the group goes.**

## Who It’s For

Photographers who already own a drone and can fly it, but who haven’t yet turned that into aerial photography they’re proud of. **No aerial photography experience is needed at all.** What you do need is to be comfortable getting your aircraft up and down confidently, holding it steady in moderate wind, and finding your way around its basic settings without reaching for the manual. You bring the flying. Jeroen teaches the photography.[divider line_type=”No Line” custom_height=”500px”]

## Gear You’ll Bring

Your drone with at least 3 spare batteries, spare propellers, chargers, ND filters if you have them, and a laptop or tablet with Lightroom for the editing sessions on weather days. Anything in the DJI Mavic, Mini or Air range from the last two generations handles the highlands well. The [DJI Mavic 4 Pro](https://jvn.photo/review-dji-mavic-4-pro-after-3-months-of-intense-photography/) and [DJI Air 3S](https://jvn.photo/dji-air-3s-the-best-new-mid-range-drone-for-photography/) are Jeroen’s current picks for highland work. A camera body and a tripod are optional, and a few people bring them. The vehicle carries a power station, so batteries and controllers charge between locations rather than overnight only. If you want a recommendation for your existing kit, message Jeroen before booking.

## Logistics

The workshop starts and ends in Reykjavík. Day one is a welcome dinner at the hotel, day eight is breakfast and departure, and the six days in between run out of two hotels, one on the northern side of the Southern Highlands and one on the south. Single rooms throughout, breakfast every morning, and a goodbye dinner on the last night.

Ground transport is a modified 4×4 Land Cruiser on oversized tyres with a snorkel, which is what makes the F-roads and the river crossings possible. There is very little walking involved. Almost everything on the route is flyable from where the vehicle stops, and on the rare occasion the wind pushes the group closer to a subject on foot, it’s short and on rough but not technical ground.

Not included: flights to Iceland, the transfer from Keflavík, lunch and dinner beyond the two group meals, drinks, and travel insurance. **Travel insurance is required, not optional.**[divider line_type=”No Line” custom_height=”500px”]

### Not Ready To Fly To Iceland Yet?

The Drone Photography Masterclass covers the same craft the workshop is built on, across 55+ video lessons and more than 17 hours. It’s good preparation for the trip, and it stands on its own if Iceland isn’t happening this year. Workshop participants get a discount on it once they’ve booked.

**[Browse The Masterclass →](https://jvn.photo/drone-photography-masterclass/?utm_source=workshop&utm_medium=callout&utm_campaign=workshops2026&utm_content=aerials-master)**[image_with_animation image_url=”1137778″ image_size=”full” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”None” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default” img_link=”https://jvn.photo/drone-photography-masterclass/?utm_source=workshop&utm_medium=callout&utm_campaign=workshops2026&utm_content=aerials-master”][divider line_type=”No Line” custom_height=”500px”]

## Frequently Asked Questions

### How Many People Are On The Workshop?

Three participants, maximum, with Jeroen as the only guide. Nobody else. It’s the smallest group he runs anywhere, and it’s the reason the plan can change on the morning of a shoot rather than a week in advance.

### What Is Included In The Workshop?

7 nights of single-room accommodation, breakfast every morning, the welcome and goodbye dinners, all transport in the highlands, the drone permits needed for the protected areas on the route, use of a power station for charging batteries and controllers, and Jeroen’s tuition throughout the week. Flights to Iceland, the Keflavík transfer, most lunches and dinners, drinks and travel insurance are not included, and travel insurance is required rather than optional. Everything specific to a given week sits on that departure’s own page.

### Where Does The Workshop Start And End?

Reykjavík, both ends. Day one is a meet and a welcome dinner at the hotel in the evening, so plan to fly in that day at the latest. Day eight is breakfast at the hotel and then you’re free to go. The transfer between Keflavík airport and Reykjavík isn’t included and is straightforward to arrange separately.

### How Experienced Do I Need To Be To Join?

You need to own a drone and be able to fly it. That means taking off and landing confidently, holding the aircraft steady in moderate wind, and knowing your way around its basic settings. Beyond that, no aerial photography experience is expected. The whole point of the week is the photographic and compositional craft, and Jeroen teaches that workflow end to end.

### Which Drone Should I Bring?

Anything in the DJI Mavic, Mini or Air range from the last two generations will handle the highlands. The [DJI Mavic 4 Pro](https://jvn.photo/review-dji-mavic-4-pro-after-3-months-of-intense-photography/) and [DJI Air 3S](https://jvn.photo/dji-air-3s-the-best-new-mid-range-drone-for-photography/) are Jeroen’s current picks. Bring at least 3 spare batteries, spare propellers and your chargers.

### What Time Of Day Does The Group Fly?

It depends on the forecast, so the days don’t run to a fixed timetable. In July the light stays usable for most of the night, so evening and early-morning sessions are the norm and the middle of the day is often the quiet part. By late August the days are shorter and the sessions tighten around a real sunrise and sunset. Jeroen sets the rough timing each evening for the day ahead, once the forecast is in.

### What If The Weather Does Not Cooperate?

Iceland’s weather is part of the deal, and the highlands are more exposed than the coast. The route stays flexible all week, and if a window opens somewhere unexpected the group moves. A highland workshop has never had to be cancelled outright, though entire itineraries have been rewritten at short notice when the forecast made that the right call. On the rare day that is genuinely unflyable, the time goes into Lightroom at the hotel instead.

### How Physical Is The Workshop?

Easy. There’s very little walking. Almost every location on the route can be flown from where the vehicle stops, and the rare exception is a short walk on rough but not technical ground. The demanding part is the hours rather than the distance, since some mornings and evenings run late. If you have any concerns about fitness or mobility, message Jeroen before booking and it can be talked through.

### Do I Need A Drone Licence Or Permit To Fly In The Icelandic Highlands?

There are two separate things here. The first is your own registration. Iceland follows the European drone rules, so you need to be registered as a drone operator and have that with you. That part is yours to sort before you arrive, and the [full guide to Iceland’s drone rules](https://jvn.photo/drone-flying-in-iceland-all-you-need-to-know-in-2026/) walks through it. The second is location permits. Several of the highland areas on this route are protected, and where written permission is required it’s arranged in advance and covers every participant. Nobody has to apply for anything individually.

### Is There A Chance Of Seeing The Northern Lights?

It depends which week. In July there is no real darkness at all, so no. By the August departure the nights have started to come back, and on a clear and active night the aurora can show, though it stays marginal that early in the month. Treat it as a bonus rather than a reason to book. If the aurora is what you are after, the [winter workshops](https://jvn.photo/photo-workshops/winter/) are built around it.

### When Do The Icelandic Highlands Open For The Season?

The highland F-roads that reach Landmannalaugar, Veiðivötn and Sprengisandur are shut by snow and meltwater for most of the year, and they usually open in stages through June. That short window is why every departure sits in July and August. It’s also why the route stays flexible: after a late spring some roads are still closed well into the summer, and the week gets built around whatever is actually passable.

## Aerial Photography Of The Icelandic Highlands

## Reviews From Previous Workshop Participants