Michael Blanchette Photography

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Michael Blanchette Photography

Photographer | Traveler | New Englander |

08/19/2026

𝑭𝙡𝒂𝙩 𝙏𝒐𝙥 𝙍𝒆𝙛𝒍𝙚𝒄𝙩𝒊𝙤𝒏

Mount Kirkjufell, located on the north coast of the Snaefellsnes Peninsula, ranks among the most photographed mountains in Iceland. But not from this angle. Known as “Church Mountain” because of its cone shape, it looks like a flat top from this less-photographed side.

I took this drone photo at sunrise from the west side of the mountain. It was a colorful sunrise with little wind, so the mountain cast a nice reflection in the bay, framed by the vibrant greens of summer. The little house with the green roof down on the right is very familiar. Friends and I rented that house for a pleasant winter stay on the peninsula two years ago. From there, we enjoyed great aurora displays.

It was around 3:30am when I took this photo, so there wasn’t a soul around — an uncommon occurrence around this popular hot spot in Snaefellsnes. The quietude of that early morning made the experience even more memorable — right before I rushed back to bed.

08/17/2026

𝙏𝒉𝙚 𝙐𝒏𝙥𝒂𝙞𝒏𝙩𝒆𝙙 𝘽𝒂𝙧𝒏

One more photo related to the Perseids Meteor Shower. Thursday night looked promising so I headed up to one of my favorite farms in New Hampshire. The highest number of meteors would have been on Wednesday night although the Perseids continue to fall in lesser quantities through the end of August.

I shot a colorful patch of Oxeye Sunflowers in front of an unpainted barn as foreground, and then waited till dark for the Milky Way. And then waited some more for the Perseids meteors.

A long exposure in the dark of night would have blurred the sunflowers, so I took the foreground photo earlier during twilight for sharper results. But my quest for meteors was aborted once clouds moved in to obliterate the sky around 11:30pm. Nevertheless, I did manage to get a few meteor trails before the fun ended.

08/14/2026

𝑭𝙖𝒍𝙡𝒆𝙣 𝙖𝒕 𝑺𝙚𝒂

Last Tuesday night was clear along the upper coast of Maine so I rushed up north to capture the Milky Way near the peak of the Perseids meteor shower. There were some clouds earlier in the evening but by 11pm, conditions were close to perfect, including high tide , a bright Milky Way, and plenty of airglow. Airglow is a natural green emission of light from Earth’s upper atmosphere caused by gasses and molecules in the air.

I took short exposures for the sky, a five-minute exposure for the water and coast, and then waited patiently for the meteor show. Although the Perseids originate in the northern sky, the best viewing perspective is to the south where the meteors leave longer trails as they travel further from their point of origin.

08/07/2026

𝑬𝙭𝒐𝙩𝒊𝙘 𝘽𝒊𝙧𝒅

You may be sitting there scratching your head over this one. In a nutshell, it’s an elaborate pattern that resembles some kind of bird at the bottom of a river in Iceland. Iceland is known for its vibrant, colorful river patterns and this is my favorite from the latest trip.

The patterns usually come from glacial meltwater mixing with volcanic ash, fine sediment known as “glacial flour”, and geothermal minerals. Mix all those elements together and you end up with weird yet colorful patterns that can be photographed from a flying machine — a drone in my case.

Our photographer guide knew all the best places for river patterns. That’s one of the big advantages of traveling with a seasoned photographer since these locations are seldom published or well-known. I called this one, “Exotic Bird”, only because it reminded me of a fancy feathered creature, possibly a prehistoric one. A vivid imagination is key for interpreting photos like this.

08/06/2026

𝑽𝙖𝒍𝙡𝒆𝙮 𝙤𝒇 𝑻𝙚𝒂𝙧𝒔

Deep in the central Highlands of Iceland is a vibrant moss-covered canyon referred to as the “Valley of Tears” due to its countless cascading waterfalls. An ice-blue river runs through the canyon, fed by the numerous waterfalls that drop straight into the canyon below.

The combination of dark lava rock, green-yellow moss, turquoise water and white waterfalls creates a color feast for the eyes, especially on overcast days without harsh light and shadows. I included a patch of arctic willow plants in the foreground for a bit of color contrast.

08/05/2026

𝑻𝙝𝒚𝙢𝒆 𝒂𝙩 𝙀𝒚𝙨𝒕𝙧𝒂𝙝𝒐𝙧𝒏

While photographing along the southeast coast of Iceland, we spent an evening on the Hvalnes Peninsula. The star of that peninsula is Eystrahorn, a mountain I had never visited or photographed until now. Eystrahorn is not well known like other mountains in Iceland but of similar scale and beauty as Vestrahorn.

One person in our group found several patches of wildflowers below the mountain range, so we were soon on our knees photographing our own little patch of flowers, with Eystrahorn in the background. I think the purple flowers are in the thyme family, with a few buttercups sprinkled in the mix.

08/04/2026

𝘾𝒓𝙖𝒕𝙚𝒓𝙨 𝙞𝒏 𝒂 𝑹𝙤𝒘

Part of the photogenic appeal of Iceland has to do with fast-changing weather patterns that give rise to dramatic moods. Anyone who comes to Iceland expecting the usual sunrise and sunset photography quickly comes to realize that this place is much more about light, atmosphere and contrast.

We were out in the Highlands when we encountered shifting light on a scene that involved a line of volcano craters with vivid red rims (caused by iron-rich minerals in the rock). The best way to capture these types of scenes is usually by air, so I flew my drone and waited until the sun had reached a gap in the clouds.

I took the photo when the craters became momentarily enveloped in soft light, while the landscape and mountains in the background remained in deep shadow. These were large craters — the road in the lower portion of the frame helps to provide a sense of scale.

08/03/2026

𝙎𝒗𝙤𝒐𝙪𝒇𝙤𝒔𝙨 𝙎𝒖𝙣𝒔𝙚𝒕

Before joining our little group and heading out to the Highlands, I spent a few days alone on the Snaefellsnes peninsula to shoot locations I had missed on previous trips. The western side of Iceland is among the most photogenic regions on the island in my opinion.

One of the places I had yet to photograph was the Svodufoss Waterfall, considered a hot spot on the peninsula. The waterfall is framed by basalt columns, with the glacier-capped volcano of Snaefellsjokull in the background. This waterfall runs well all year because it is fed by meltwater from the glacier. If you have ever read or seen the movie, “Journey to the Center of the Earth” by Jules Verne, this is the volcano where they find the entrance to a passage leading to the center of the Earth.

It was sunset when I took this photo (11:30pm) with nobody around. It was strange to be alone at such an iconic spot but at that hour, most reasonable people are in bed. As the sun neared the horizon, it cast golden light upon the basalt rocks that surround the waterfall. A beautiful waterfall in a memorable location.

08/01/2026

𝘽𝒍𝙖𝒄𝙠 𝙎𝒂𝙣𝒅 𝑺𝙪𝒏𝙧𝒊𝙨𝒆

Although our emphasis was on the Icelandic Highlands, we did pop out for a few days of photography along the southeast coast. This is Vestrahorn, a striking mountain with jagged peaks surrounded by black sand beaches along the Stokksnes Peninsula.

I took the photo from a drone at 3:30am (early sunrise here in summer), with no other visitors in sight aside from our little group. A bit of fog hugged the base of the mountain as the calm Atlantic Ocean washed over the volcanic sand formed by volcanic rock ground down by the ocean over thousands of years.

07/31/2026

𝘾𝒓𝙖𝒕𝙚𝒓 𝑩𝙡𝒖𝙚𝒔

I’m back from another photo trip to the Icelandic Highlands. I was there last year and loved it so much that I went back again, this time with Thor of Thor Photography, who I highly recommend. In the Highlands, you need not only a brave and seasoned driver with a rugged off-road vehicle, but somebody with deep knowledge of the terrain and photogenic destinations across the wild landscape.

To most of us, the Highlands look like an alien world with a wide variety of breathtaking subjects that include some 130 volcanoes, turquoise crater lakes, glaciers, braided rivers, more waterfalls than you can count, and lots of sheep who spend their summers grazing until they return to their farms in early autumn.

This photo of a huge explosion crater with its turquoise-blue crater lake (it erupted in 871) was taken at sunset. In the summer, the mountains are often topped with a coat of yellow moss, like the mountain directly behind the crater. To give the scene a sense of scale, I left our white vehicle in the image — you can see it on the lower right side of the frame. More photos to come.

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