If I Were Going...: 2026 Stevens Family Calendar -- August

I have already sprinkled photos (used and unused) from Iceland throughout the calendar.

Upper left: cover; Lower left and center: intro section; Upper right: considered and rejected for June; Lower right: used for February

For August, I (somewhat) broke my “them, not place” rule and used photos exclusively from our trip to Iceland in September 2025.

We didn't use this cloudy shot from Grundarfjörður; Photo: Scott Stevens

I will give some brief overviews of what these shots (and the ones I didn’t use) are about. But, you can read about our Iceland journey in a series that starts here and continues down Iceland’s south coast, to Greenland and then back to Iceland’s Snæfellsnes Peninsula.

Oh, and this won’t be the end of it. Iceland photos dominate the fall-themed November pages of the calendar. It’s a pretty place and we took lots of photos. What do you expect?

We didn't have room for these; Photos: Scott Stevens

The main page is anchored at the upper left by a photo of cliffs and the famous Elephant Rock in Heimaey, Vestmannaeyjar.

When we took the shot, we were not even aware we were looking at an almost perfect elephant face. Had I pre-blogged, like I often do, I would have known. As it was, I found out later.

We used the right shot and not those on the left; you can see the face in the middle left shot; Lower left and right: Scott Stevens

The upper right was also taken in Vestmannaeyjar, this time at the Puffin lookout at Stórhöfði. This Atlantic Puffin with its mouth full of fish made the final cut. I showed you a few similar shots that we didn’t used back in June, grouped with some other Atlantic Puffins from Iceland and a Horned and a Tufted Puffin from Alaska.

I just love Puffins! The one on the right was the winner

Below the Puffin is a narrow shot of close and far sea stacks taken from the black-sand beach at Dyrhólaey on the south coast.

The gray weather complemented the scene

Here are some other shots from nearby Vík of the same distant stacks that we did not use.

Closer

Farther

Moving back over to the left, there’s a narrow shot of Svöðufoss, a waterfall surging down a cleft in the mountains near Ólafsvík on the Snæfellsnes Peninsula. If you look closely, you can see taller mountains and Snæfellsjökull (the glacier in the center of the Peninsula) behind the falls.

The full picture; Photo: Scott Stevens

We had a lovely hike out to Svöðufoss, so, of course, we had photos we couldn’t use. This one almost made the cut.

This one almost made the cut

And, so did this with a much more dramatic foreground; Photo: Scott Stevens

Below Svöðufoss is a portrait of a couple of Icelandic horses in front of a different glacier, Vatnajökull.

We used the wide shot on the left; rejecting the similar one on the upper right
and the extreme close-up on the lower right

We always end up with lots of Icelandic Horse photos and we just can’t use them all.

The large photo on the lower right is Brúarfoss, taken on a rainy day. Somehow, on all our past trips to Iceland, we had missed this one, so it was quite a revelation, especially with the turquoise water of the stream leading away from the falls. Unlike many of the falls on the south coast, Brúarfoss is flat and wide rather than tall.

It was hard to choose the best angle; We used the one on the right

Brúarfoss shows up again as the final photo on the calendar page ...

This wide angle gives a different perspective

Calendar Page

A lot of the same themes – and some new ones -- show up on the calendar page.

The first photo on top row is a shot of the golden basalt cliffs that form the island of Súgandisey in Stykkishólmur Harbor ...

We used the one on the left, leaving behind the ones on the right

Here’s a shot Stykkishólmur Harbor we considered, but ultimately did not use ...

The calm belied some pretty stiff wind that day

I already showed you the waterfall, Brúarfoss, on the bottom row of the calendar page. The top row features two more south coast waterfalls ...

Írárfoss is in the second slot and Skógafoss (with a rainbow across its face) is in the fourth slot; Right: Scott Stevens

Waterfalls are one of Iceland’s main features and we had lots of photos to consider. We just couldn’t use them all. Here are some we didn't ...

A slightly different angle of Skógafoss with its rainbow; Photo: Scott Stevens

A wider angle

Nearby Seljalandsfoss with its own rainbow

A couple of other views of Seljalandsfoss

Wider angles of Írárfoss on the sides; Bjarnarfoss in the middle; Left: Scott Stevens

Kirkjufell; Photo: Scott Stevens

Gullfoss and Raudfeldsgja Gorge (which has a waterfull hidden inside the gorge)

Sandwiched between those two falls (fosses in Icelandic), is a photo take from the ferry as we traveled from the mainland to Vestmannaeyjar off the south coast. The wide, scooped out island is Elliðaey Island, completely uninhabited except for a hunting lodge cradled in the valley.

I had never seen anything quite like it

Vestmannaeyjar provided many vistas that were in contention for this page. Take a look …

Cliffs; Photo: Scott Stevens

Multiple shots of Heimaey harbor

Stórhöfði

The final shot on the top row is a Northern Fulmar resting on a cliff above the ocean in Stórhöfði.

The lush green turf and the brilliant blue water are unmatchable

The first photo on the bottom row is Brimketill, or the Devil’s Pool, on the coast of the Reykjanes Peninsula. We looked at quite a few coastal shots, especially ones with sea stacks and/or pounding surf before we settled on this shot.