Its not too often that we fall in love, but sometimes, something just moves you and you can’t help but fall. That’s what happened in Iceland earlier this month, Ryan and I fell in love….. with Iceland. The land of fire and ice, a waterfall around every corner, so many sheep that they out number the human population 2:1 and mountains for miles. It is the only place (I can think of) in the world where you can chill in a natural hot spring, stand at the base of a glacier, hike to the top of a mountain and peer out into the ocean and look inside a volcano all in one day. We did all that!
10 days driving around Iceland, staying at bed and breakfasts and experiencing the culture and landscapes. We were traveling with Greg & Lisa (who you will see very soon again on our blog) for their destination honeymoon sessions. We had 2 cars, hotels and bed and breakfasts booked all over the country. We chose the best locations to visit together for photos, and the rest of the time we had to just explore.
Here are some portraits Ryan and I took of one another along with a a bunch of our travel landscapes and cityscapes.
This is us at the Glacial Lagoon called Jökulsárlón. These icebergs break off of the glacier Vatnajökul. It is the most magical place I have ever seen. Just driving up to it took my breath away. It is one of those moments I will remember for the rest of my life.
Icelandic Horses and sheep roam free for half the year. We often saw them hiking up mountains.
Búðir is a small hamlet surrounded by lava fields. The first time I saw a photo of this church over a year ago I knew I had to shoot a wedding, or a couple there one day. The colours of the mountains and volcanoes around it are so intense, and even though they skies are overcast, the clouds are always a blue grey colour.
I love this photo below, this whole park was really interesting, it is called Dimmuborgir. Dimm meaning “dark” and borgir meaning “cities”. It is said to be the home of many trolls. We didn’t see any. But there were tons of rock formations to climb around in.
This is Ryan standing right outside of Krafla volcano. It erupted in 1989. The smoke you see is not it erupting now, that is just gas escaping from the ground, it seems to be happening everywhere in Iceland. Ryan hiked all the way through a lava field to get there.
Sometimes we would just be driving through a beautiful mountain range and all of a sudden we turn a corner and it looks like we are on another planet! Lava fields they are everywhere. The older they are the less black rock you can see. The one in this portrait of us seems to be pretty old because moss has grown on all the rocks. These volcanic rocks are really sharp and pointy so walking on them is pretty dangerous. In this pic we are standing in front of the highway with our camera rigged to the car with a clamp.
These next few are taken in Akureyri, the capital of Northern Iceland.
I love these 2 pics, first the one on the right because the red light is shaped like a heart. All red lights in Akureyri are. Then the left photo. I am really proud of Ryan and I for learning so many Icelandic words and city names, but that top word is just crazy! Can you imagine saying “Meet me at Uppysingamiðistoði” ? (Oh and the funny “d” is pronounced like a “th” sounding like “the” in English) Good Luck!
Now these next photos are straight out of the camera, I only edited fly away hairs on my face and bags from Ryan’s tired eyes. The sky really did look like that. It was that blue.
My feet in Reykjavik & at Vik the black sand beach.
Here we are at the base camp of Vatnajökul Glacier. Its covered in ash because it is right beside the now famous volcano Eyjafjallajökull (which I still cannot pronounce). They had sherpa’s for hire to take you up the glacier. We were so close to the volcano, but because it was so deep in the mountains and underneath a glacier there are no remnants of the explosion except for this ash.
This is a panorama taken from the top of a rock fortress in West Iceland near Grundarfjörður. (Pronounced Groon-dar-fee-your-thur)
Finally the capital of Iceland, Reykjavik. I love this city, its about as big as Barrie, with only 200,000 people, and more places to buy Pylsurs than anywhere else I’ve ever been to. Pylsurs are an all beef gourmet hotdog with no filler. Tastes awesome, although their idea of mustard is a bit different. It is the most popular restaurant in Reykjavik.
This church on the right towers above Reykjavik and is quite stunning at night. Its called Hallgrímskirkja. Kirkja means church.
Anywhere and everywhere you go in Iceland you can find someone who can sell you a traditional Icelandic wool sweater. Seriously you can get them at gas stations, book stores, coffee shops, hotels and any major tourist attraction. They are expensive, but they are all made in Iceland and mostly by hand. The last photo below is us wearing our cool new threads. People of all ages wear these traditional sweaters. We also treated ourselves to some fun North 66 hats. North 66 is like our The North Face company but better.
This photo was taken on our last night, we wanted a night time shot of us over looking Reykjavik. The sky that night was unbelievable, the colours, once again were amazing. We walked up to one of the highest points in the city and started taking photos of the night sky. Since the sun stays up until almost midnight, the sun sets take a lot longer. People started gathering from side streets up the hill where we were to watch the sun set. It was a pretty amazing night. Our trip was so surreal, Ryan and I just look at these photos and we can’t even believe we took them, or believe the things we have seen. Seeing this much beauty is almost overwhelming, but I am definitely not complaining. I am just thankful that I have been able to experience it.
Erika & Ryan
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