What happens when you find yourself on the iconic black sands of Iceland at 2:00 am with no flash? I found out this past June when I made the conscious decision to leave behind my camera flash in Idaho when packing for a serendipitous vow renewal in Iceland. In this article, I’ll share my low light, no flash photo tips in case you find yourself in such a circumstance — intentionally or otherwise!

In January 2020, I put out a model call in the middle of off-season because I was just itching to create something. I live about 90 minutes from Palouse Falls, a 200’ waterfall about four miles up the confluence of the Snake River in Eastern Washington. The falls in the summer are stunning, popping up out of what feels like nowhere surrounded by endless shades of dry grasses and farmland. In the winter, those cascading waters turn into a frozen marvel.

[Read: Waterfall Wedding and Portrait Photography Tips]

It was this that inspired me to design a creative shoot that felt like Iceland — a place I had yet to explore but was dying to see. I put out a model call on a few Facebook groups, and just one couple messaged me back, Jenna and Rob. On a drizzly, wet February morning, I met the couple out at the falls for our Iceland-inspired creative shoot. I’ll admit that the end result did not look like we were in Iceland. However, I am a big believer that you put the work out there that you want to be making, even if it isn’t “perfect,” and if it’s meant to be, the right people and opportunities will come around.

I stayed in touch with Jenna and Rob over the next few years, and in December 2023, Jenna reached out, letting me know that she and Rob would be celebrating their 10th anniversary in July of 2024. They were planning a vow renewal and wanted to hire me to be their photographer. It would be in a small mountain town in Idaho, which is home to the Sawtooth Mountains, a personal favorite place of mine. It was an easy yes.

Over the next few months, we stayed in contact as we planned their vow renewal in the Sawtooth Mountains. However, when we met for coffee in April to go over the final plans, Jenna informed me that she had an opportunity to go to Iceland in June, and she was wondered if I was game to switch from Idaho to Iceland. It wasn’t lost on me how serendipitous it was to have met over a creative shoot inspired by Iceland and four years later to be documenting their vow renewal in Iceland. Again, it was an easy yes.

In six weeks, we planned, booked, and coordinated their vow renewal, which would be at peak summer season, meaning the sun wouldn’t fully set in Iceland while we were there. I flew into Reykjavík where Jenna and Rob picked me up and we were off. We spent the next day together for about twenty hours total, going along the Southern Rim from the town of Vik down close to Diamond Beach and then back to our Airbnb rentals. We stopped along the way at various points we had scouted on Google Earth, paper maps, and simply by driving by. We explored Viking churches, black sand beaches, endless lupine fields, glaciers, and grand massive waterfalls that made Palouse Falls back home look like a sprinkler. Over the next 20 hours, I documented everything I possibly could.

The entire trip was four days total, from the day I landed to the day I flew out back home to Idaho, and it felt like a whirlwind. We explored as much as we could, even before and after their vow renewal, taking in the experiences that Iceland had in store for us. As the light never ended, our 24-hour day at times didn’t feel real as we watched kids bike down the road and locals hanging out in their yards at 1:00 am. When we got to one of our last stops of the day, we were at one of the iconic black sand beaches around 2:00 am, and although the sun hadn’t fully set, it was still pretty dark.

Throughout the day, I had been bouncing back and forth between my film cameras, an Olympus OM10 35mm and Polaroid I-2 Instant, along with my Nikon D850 and Nikon Z7. Having left my flash back in Idaho, I was determined to embrace the moodiness of it all. By the time we got to the black sand beach, I stopped using my film cameras and focused on using both of my Nikons, playing with different settings and pushing the gear to see what it was capable of doing. Not many couples can say they got photos on the black sands of Iceland at 2:00 am, and I wanted to make sure that part of the story came across in the images. Looking back, those are some of my favorite pictures as they show how late in the night we were out.

I very seldom use a flash because I love how I can enrich the storyline of a couple’s gallery by simply opting to use natural light. Because I am utilizing natural light, I am always on the lookout for where it is coming from. Where is the sun rising or setting? Are there other light sources like street lamps or twinkly lights that I can pull from?

As the sun never fully set in Iceland when we were on the black sand beach, I angled my clients to face the sun, where it had gotten to its lowest point. I also made sure to adjust my camera settings for the brightest point of the sky, which was a hazy pink and purple sunrise just at the edge of the horizon. At times, this meant some of my shots looked almost black, and it’s where trusting my gear came into play. I knew that going into post, I would be able to pull out shadows a lot easier versus blowing out the sunrise sky and trying to pull those sherbet colors back in. I also knew that I would be embracing grain and that not every shot was going to work. That’s part of working with limited light sources. But by taking several shots on two different cameras, both with slightly different settings, going slow, and being methodical about where my couple was versus where the light source was coming from, I was able to create some stunning shots that embrace the limited light.

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Looking back, I don’t regret not taking my flash along. Artificial light in a natural setting feels jarring to me and my client’s natural storyline. I want the lighting of the photos to tell as much of the story as possible, and if I had used flash while in Iceland, I would have erased this whole aspect of my clients’ experience.

If you are curious about playing with all-natural lighting in lower-lighting situations, my biggest advice would be to go out and shoot in lower-light situations without a flash. Play with different lenses and camera bodies, dance around with different settings, discover how much grain happens, and see how far you can push your ISO until it’s too far. Gaining this foundation will help you know how far you can push your gear and where to take some risks. Also, don’t be afraid to plan a series of creative shoots to practice lower-light situations. You never know what connections or serendipitous events may occur or where you might end up because of a model call.

Heather Woolery is a Northwest-based photojournalist known for her earthy, nostalgic approach to documenting weddings and elopements around the world with both digital and analog film. She is currently creating a series of digital guides for engaged couples launching in early 2025. Follow her on Instagram, YouTube, Patreon, and Pinterest.