With no part of the islands more than five miles from the sea, Shetland's varied landscape is dominated by its 900 miles of coastline. Each parish has a share of this variety, photographs showing scenery from sheltered inlets and beaches, to rugged cliffs and stacks. Hundreds of small streams and lochs are found, and islands of all sizes. This collection is drawn from all parishes and aims to give a flavour of the diversity. Early photographs mostly cover the places easiest accessible for bulky cameras, but from the late 19th century more isolated places were featured. Although photography in remote areas is easy today, the most popular scenic views were already popular by the 1920s.

A wider appreciation of the landscape can be found by searching by parish.