Photography at Búðakirkja: The Complete Guide
- Kevin Read
- Sep 20
- 7 min read
This article is part of the Complete Guide to Photography in Iceland
The Black Church of Budir (Búðakirkja) is one of the great photography locations of Iceland, and at first it’s surprising that such a small church on the Snæfellsnes peninsula has become so well known. However, the open landscape and the church’s distinctive textures and colours make it a fantastic place for photography, and it’s a great opportunity to explore new compositions around a simple subject.
I have photographed Búðakirkja under the northern lights and in the driving rain, with heavy clouds overhead and completely clear skies. There’s always a new angle to discover, and it’s almost the lack of variety that forces you to think about how to frame and capture the church.
This article explores some of the images I’ve made at Búðakirkja and how to get the most from this unusual and isolated location. Iceland has many interesting churches, most of them far less photographed than this one. Búðakirkja does feel special, and it’s worth the effort to fully investigate this spot and develop composition techniques you can use elsewhere.
Contents
Finding Compositions at Búðakirkja
Mapping Links
(Opens in Google Maps)
Map data from OpenStreetMap
1: Búðakirkja
2: Beach
A: Junction with main route
Búðakirkja is surrounded by a low stone wall that encloses the church and graveyard in a long field usually covered in grass. Beyond the wall is an open plain that stretches to the ocean to the east and south, an ancient lava field to the west, and the mountainous centre of the Snæfellsnes peninsula to the north. It’s very flat, and the best thing about photographing Búðakirkja is the wide, open landscape around it.
You can walk around the church in every direction, and it is positioned so that it’s the only building in your frame from most angles. A parking area near the church can be a distraction, but the modern hotel that serves church guests (weddings are held here) is well hidden at the bottom of a hill.
There’s no single spot or fixed composition; the appeal of Búðakirkja lies in exploring it from every angle, moving closer or further back, and experimenting with different focal lengths to frame the church.
Beyond the graveyard, you can wander the nearby landscape, but there are few trails in this area and no particular features to discover. You can walk to the shore from here, and there’s a small sandy beach to the east, but this area looks like much of the peninsula, so the best approach is to focus your attention on the church.
When to Photograph Búðakirkja
You can access Búðakirkja at any time of year, and the church is usually accessible all day and evening, unless it is hosting an event; I’ve never seen an event there myself. The atmosphere changes with the seasons: snow-covered in winter, green in summer, and full of brown and yellow tones in autumn. However, the black church is such a flexible subject that there’s no need to aim for a particular season.
It’s also possible to visit Búðakirkja at any time of day or night, and there are spotlights to illuminate the building after dark. Because you can photograph the church from any angle, you can choose to face the sun or turn away from it, visit at sunrise or sunset, or simply work with whatever light and weather you encounter. It’s an exceptionally flexible photography location, so I don’t recommend one time of day or year over another.
The church faces west, so the sun generally rises in your frame in the mornings and sets behind you in the evenings. However, this only applies if you photograph the church from the front; compositions from other angles let you work with light from any direction.
Best Light and Weather for Búðakirkja
Búðakirkja has become so well known partly because of its flexibility in different conditions and the stark minimalism of a black church set in such open surroundings. However, the weather you prefer at Búðakirkja might depend on your style of photography.
If you often choose a moody and darker atmosphere in your images, Búðakirkja works very well with heavy, textured cloud or wet conditions. The black-and-white finish of the church stands out under an overcast sky, with little colour in the scene to distract from the tones and contrast. This isn’t a common theme in my photography, but I still prefer Búðakirkja on a rainy day.
If you like more dramatic conditions, you can photograph Búðakirkja at sunrise or sunset, adjusting your position and composition to match the best light and colour in the sky. The plain black walls of the church don’t catch the light, so I think there are better locations for a very colourful sunrise or sunset. However, you can pick out amazing detail in the wood if the sun is at the right angle.
At night, this is a fantastic location for northern lights photography, especially for beginners. The open landscape means you can move around the church and create compositions with different portions of the sky, letting you adapt to the aurora wherever it appears. The bright spotlights can make capturing the church more of a technical challenge at night, but you can also use them to balance your exposure and get great detail in the foreground.
Getting to and around Búðakirkja
Búðakirkja is extremely easy to visit, sitting on a short spur road less than 3 km from the main route around the Snæfellsnes peninsula. There’s a hotel nearby that holds weddings and events at Búðakirkja, but there are no restrictions or tickets required for a private visit. The road is usually clear in winter and accessible all year.
There are two parking areas - one by the hotel and one next to the church. The hotel is a very short walk away, but if no events are happening it’s best to park beside the church and leave the hotel spaces for guests.
The wall around the church runs for about 250 metres, and you can walk all the way around it in a few minutes. There are some trails leading east towards the beach or west towards the lava field, but you won’t need to move far from the church for the best photography opportunities.
As in many ancient Icelandic landscapes, the moss and foliage are fragile, but you don’t need to leave the established paths to find every angle you might want at Búðakirkja. The only thing to keep in mind is closing the gate as you move around.
Photography advice for Búðakirkja
Búðakirkja is a great location for creative photography, with one main subject to explore in detail and enough supporting subjects to provide variety. My favourite approach is to use a full range of focal lengths, from ultra-wide to long telephoto, and experiment with compositions from a range of positions around the church. There’s no hiking involved at this location, so you won’t need to compromise on what you bring. If you visit on a bright day, I recommend leaving your tripod packed away at first to fully explore the location for different compositions before settling on a final spot.
How long you need to spend at Búðakirkja will depend on what you want to get out of the experience. You can circle the church and capture images from most positions nearby in less than thirty minutes, so you can stop at Búðakirkja even for a brief visit. If you are in the mood to practice your photography and experiment with ideas, it’s possible to spend several hours here considering the location in depth.
If you are staying on the Snæfellsnes peninsula, Búðakirkja is a fantastic location for repeat visits, when you might spot new opportunities in different light and weather. It’s close to the main road and simple to park, and I always use this location as something of an anchor for visits to Snæfellsnes, so it’s easy to drop by when the light changes.
Photography Locations near Budir
The Snæfellsnes peninsula is a great location for photography and a very popular area for visitors to Iceland. Much of the landscape is familiar and over-photographed, yet large areas of the peninsula remain overlooked.
Many visitors come to see the distinctive mountain Kirkjufell with its foreground of flowing waterfalls. This spot is just a thirty-minute drive from Búðir on the opposite (north) coast of the peninsula. Many photographers prioritise these two places on short visits before heading to the south coast.
However, Snæfellsnes is full of waterfalls, beaches, and mountains, making it an excellent place to look for more unusual scenes. The cliffs at Lóndrangar feature striking rock formations and a striking mid-20th-century design lighthouse. You can capture another stunning church at Ingjaldshólskirkja, which looks striking when surrounded by summer wildflowers. The beach at Ytri-Tunga is sometimes covered in seals and incredibly easy to find and access.
If you prefer a slower pace and more depth to your photography trips, I recommend spending several days on the Snæfellsnes peninsula, returning to Búðakirkja in different weather while spending most of your time exploring the wider landscape for new ideas.
Summary
The black church at Búðir is my favourite place to practice atmospheric photography in Iceland, and I’m always drawn back whenever I travel through this part of the country. Its wide-open landscape gives great flexibility, while its limited palette of colours and shapes makes it an ideal subject for minimalist and geometric compositions.
Búðakirkja is a famous location, and every possible angle and position around the church must have been captured after years of study by photographers and other visitors. However, searching for fresh viewpoints and experimenting with different focal lengths is great practice, making it a beautiful place to work on your composition skills.
It’s easy to reach and looks beautiful in any weather, making it ideal for repeat visits and for discovering variety in changing light. If you’re staying on Snæfellsnes, Búðakirkja makes a perfect anchor point, giving you the freedom to revisit whenever the light or weather changes and the chance to create new images each time.
About the Author
I’m Kevin Read, a photographer and travel writer dedicated to helping others discover new places and improve their photography. I create photography-focused guidebooks and publish a free monthly magazine called In The Frame.
Comments