Laufskálavarða
Laufskálavarða is a ancient lava ridge along Iceland's Ring Road, covered in hundreds of hand-stacked cairns built by travelers seeking good luck before crossing the vast Mýrdalssandur glacial plain. The combination of mossy black lava, stacked stone towers of varying heights, and the open landscape beyond makes it a genuinely unusual and photogenic stop. Walk along the ridge to find compositions where the cairns stack up in layers, using a wide angle to emphasize the density of stones against the sky or the distant white mass of Mýrdalsjökull glacier. Overcast days soften the contrast and bring out the greens of the moss beautifully, while low morning or evening light casts long shadows that give the cairns more dimension. The site sits right off the road with easy parking, and a 24mm to 35mm lens works well for capturing the scale and texture of the ridge. (Mýrdalshreppur, Southern Region, Iceland)
