Semi-related tip: On our first trip to Iceland, we managed to find a private tour guide who drove us around in his jeep for the same price as we would have paid for the Golden Circle tour on a big bus (and he took us to all the same places). It was a lot more relaxed and customized which was great for taking pictures. We didn't have to worry about keeping up with a tour group, but we also weren't blindly trying to explore on our own and he had a lot of cool stories and information about the places we went to.
In one spot of the Golden Circle Tour, the tour bus would stop, you'd walk down a long pathway to explore, but then if you were on the tour, you'd have to walk back UP the same way you just walked to get back to the bus. Instead, our guide dropped us off at the top and let us walk down at our own pace while he drove around and met us at the bottom. Little things like that made it a really good experience.
We found this guy after we'd already arrived, so even on short notice, we were able to find him and make plans. If it's within your budget and this kind of experience appeals to you, you might want to consider the flexibility of a private tour.
