Iceland is so hot right now (lololol). Everyone is visiting and for good reason. There is something about it that makes me feel so happy. Something in the air, water, lava, moss, hotdogs, whatever…That just makes me realize that all the worries, fears, fomos, etc that I have on a daily basis do not actually matter one bit. Being there gives me a hard reset.
I wanted to give Velda & William more than beautiful landscape photographs with a teeny tiny “them” in the middle of each image. I wanted to give them a session just like any normal session with me, but it happened to take place in this insane place. I wanted to make it more about them than about the scenery.
When I met Velda & William in the pitch blackness of a normal 9am Monday morning in Grundarfjörður, (a small town on the Snæfellsnes peninsula) we sat down with a map to plan our route. Will kept saying “No expectations. We have no expectations, let’s just go”. Keep in mind it goes from overcast to full on gale wind blizzard without notice. The sun wasn’t even close to making an appearance yet. We left their hotel and set off to Kirkjufell, the famous mountain in town. It was blizzarding. We then drove down to Búðir (the long way, because the normal road that connects was closed due to weather) where the little black church is located. We ran into some Australian surfers in the parking lot who had just returned back from the waves. We scooted off the peninsula and headed to Þingvellir National Park when it started snow-globe snowing. It was an absolutely beautiful way to see Iceland. We then drove back to Reykjavik, had dinner together and planned our early morning departure to South Iceland. The next day we drove for 14 hours. From Reykjavik, to Jökulsárlón (where the sun actually came out for 1 minute) and back. We stopped everywhere. We got stuck, we got blown over, through hail, snow, wind, rain we laughed our asses off the entire time.
When we started the 5 hours drive back to Reykjavik, I was sad to be leaving them. They had been following me on the road through all this craziness and it was a comfort knowing they were back there. We had a wave/high beam flash as we drove through Vik, where we left them to continue their journey in the South. Abby and I continued back to Reykjavik catch our flight home the next day.
I am thankful every single day that this is the job that I get to do. For the last couple of years of my business, the people who have found their way to my work have been 1000% my people. I know my style and approach is not for everyone, but for the few that find me, it seems to be exactly what they’re looking for, and they have been the exact people that I want to work with. I could not be more thankful for that.
Thanks Will & Vel. We had a blast, I hope you enjoy the photos! xoxo
