Close your eyes. Dare to dream of majestic mountains and turquoise waters that drift over black volcanic sands. Silhouettes of mighty sea stacks that reach out of the waves. Hear the rush of pulsing waterfalls that stream from the cliffs. Feel the damp fog against your face, moving mystically across the lush, green valleys before you. Listen to the peace. Breathe the sea air into your lungs. Open your eyes and watch the changing light cast shadows over peaks and dance across fjords from daybreak until dusk with all the promise of northern lights. The most dramatic natural landscapes in the middle of the sea.
Welcome to the Faroe Islands.
Some countries linger under the skin, haunting your memory long after you’ve left them. But few places on earth stir the soul like the Faroe Islands. And few can compete with its natural canvas of unrivalled beauty. Remote, raw and remarkable, the Faroe Islands are an archipelago of 18 extinct volcanic islands on the edge of the world between Iceland, Scotland and Norway. Rocks. Thrown into the Atlantic Ocean as a timeless tribute to myth and legend.
Photography’s best kept secret and your playground for 7 days
Known as the land of optical illusions, the Faroe Islands simply hypnotise your lens. The lure of the landscape is breathtaking. So, we’ll stop to savour every moment. Shooting at a relaxed pace that the camera deserves. Discovering terrain that’s unexplored and unspoiled. Idyllic. So hauntingly beautiful you’d think you’d imagined it. Except you’ll have the photos to prove it.
Come with me on an adventure like no other. To a place where you can touch time, capture it and pause it. On a new voyage of discovery through your viewfinder to a photographer’s paradise on the Northern Peninsular.
How are these tours different?
Since 2012, I have been fortunate to explore the Faroe Islands before I ran my first course – so that I could offer my clients a unique experience. Just like in Scotland, I know where and when the light meets the land and how to capture every angle and aspect of the landscape. I’m obviously used to unpredictable weather and I know how to read it. I’m more experienced with the terrain and climate in the Faroe Islands than any other photography company. I know the lay of the land and respect nature’s warnings – when it’s howling in the North, we head to the South. I wanted my courses to honour the unrivalled beauty of the islands and offer a unique photography adventure.” James Kelly
The Real Faroe Islands
Our workshops are tailored to you. We know what we’d expect from a photography tour and have based our package around that. We won’t transport you to a well-known beauty spot, overcrowded by other photographers waiting for the perfect shot. We’ll give you the chance to tread your own path. We’ll introduce you to the real Faroe Islands. To unrivalled vistas and views, few others have seen, from private land where we have exclusive permission to explore.
To take the perfect shot you have to see the picture first. To experience an environment with all of your being. To see the image with your eyes closed and capture a moment through your senses as well as your lens.
A workshop with James Kelly is as close to a native tour as you can find. One that’s unrivalled as a fusion of art and adventure. One that promises a once in a lifetime opportunity to discover the real Faroe Islands far from the tourist track. You’ll experience adventures in photography that not only shape each shot but that inspire your creative style for the future.
Heimablidni: you’ll hear us say this a lot.
It means to dine at a local’s house – an opportunity unique to our tours. You’ll experience true Faroe Island culture through cuisine and a family atmosphere. Our visit to the island of Suðuroy will give you the opportunity to visit James’ Faroese family. We’ll share a meal together and you’ll get the chance to ask questions about the Faroe Islands.
All tours will be conducted in English so you won’t be expected to speak Faroese, but we guarantee you’ll come away with a few phrases to use when you return again.
Intimate and independent
Our guests feel like family. This is why our tours are capped to an intimate number of four photographers per trip for your benefit. So often we shoot so quickly it’s easy to feel like you’ve not experienced the moment fully, or that you were even there. Our Faroe Islands tour offers a slower pace, giving you the time to appreciate the moment without being rushed or feeling part of a herd on holiday. We want you to feel the story behind every picture, to see the shot through personal experience long before you take it. And we want you to remember every click.
Whether as a group of four friends or four solo shooters travelling independently, strangers soon feel like old friends after a few hours on our tours.
If you have any questions, please get in touch by email hello(@)jameskelly.co or call me on +44 (0) 7999 120617
