It was a hot summer’s evening. Someone was teething…between the smores and the mud(and the jelly bellies) we all got quite messy. It wasn’t ideal, but love is always present. And, it was really the best light of the year. Such a beautiful night with Gabe and his family.
You all should really go to his blog and see the wonderful anniversary photographs he took of Bob and I. Such a gift. I hope he feels the same way about these.
~ Dana
This is the road to Lake Myvatn…from the north. While we were driving there, we spotted this house perched(literally) a top an old lava flow and we took the road that lead to it to see what the heck it was. Well, it was a house that had been abandoned and converted into a sort of camping spot for travellers. There was a small, very rustic kitchen and some less than clean bunks that you could stay in. On the table, there were some books for travellers, as well as, a guest book. The guest book listed people who had stumbled upon this house since the late 90′s. There were paths that allowed us to climb around a bit on the lava flow, but this was difficult because the rock itself is extremely rough. Our kids were fascinated and it is one of our favorite moments from all of Iceland…odd, I know…it might even be a very popular place to visit we have no idea how many people know about it(the last person who had signed the book had been there only a couple of days earlier), it felt like a very special find to us. Something we stumbled upon…the kids still mention the hour or so we spent exploring there. Bob likes to point out that had this abandoned house been in Canada–this close to the most major road in the country(in full view)–it would have been trashed. Spray painted. Abused. This house is actually pretty well taken care of…Icelanders are proud of their country and take great care of it(at least that’s what we think). And, as a guest there, you feel the need to take care of it, too. This house is a testament to that.
The next few images of the ‘orange mountain’ are as we came into Lake Myvatn from the north. The area is called Namafjall Hverir and is a high temperature geothermal area with many fumaroles and mudpots. And…a high stench of sulfur. Almost unbearable at times. But, when the orange mountain first came into our sight we were struck by how unusual it was…plopped there amongst otherwise fairly normal looking landscape(normal for Iceland). There is an underground bakery near by(just a bunch of covered holes where the underground heat is hot enough to bake bread) and the restaurants in town all serve the dense bread that they make there. It is INCREDIBLE. If you like dense scandinavian bread which I do.
This is Icelandic Fish Stew…not really a stew in my mind but more of a mash of white fish, onions and potatoes…but, really quite tasty.
Icelandic black sand.
Our book said that there would be lots of tiny flies here…they weren’t kidding. Although, this one spot was the worst.
This is where lava once flowed right up to the yard of the local church and then went around it. The locals strongly believe it was due to the prayer of the parishiners. I also like how it shows how adaptible Icelanders are…building their homes, etc in amongst these odd geological occurances as you can see the recent buildings behind it.
See how far the lava flows stretch out across the landscape…
This is Kirkja in Dimmuborgir. Kirkja means church and it is a big underground cave. The kids enjoyed exploring here…Jack called the light coming into one spot his ‘Indiana Jones Light’…
From the front and then from the back…an arch in Dimmuborgir. A picture I think every tourist who makes the trek there must have in their possession…
Slowly making my way through my Iceland images…this was a large post cause it actually covered a couple of days. The warmest ones we had while we were there. And, we stayed in a wonderful hostel in Arbot where the lady running the hostel had a little girl in between my kids in age. They enjoyed watching Icelandic kid shows with her
I’m missing summer vacation today…
~ Dana
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I love that this family allowed me to shoot in their house even though they were feeling a little bit less than perfect. They had just moved in and have only begun the process of making it their own home…when I saw the dining room with the artwork taped on the walls and the chairs lined up waiting to be refinished, I knew I had to start there. It is my hope that years from now when the wall they have planned for that space has long been completed and the old chandelier has been replaced, they will look back at the photographs we took there and remember where they startedIf I am lucky enough to be asked back, I will always shoot them against this wall. For history’s sake…
We took some outside as well…but, the indoor ones are my favorite. A nice change for the blog this time of year
~ Dana
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When the first frame looks like this….well, you know it’s going to be a good session
When I shot it, I instantly thought ooooohhhhh black and white, but now that I see them both, I lean towards the color.
And, now a pretty one from the very middle of the session…
And, let this last one be a lesson to all of my future clients–do not ever say ‘ah man, that is going to be the one you put on your blog, isn’t it’…because then I most definitely will put it on my blogI do love it though. Mostly cause the dog managed to get in the shot quite nicely.
These are from last night…a session where the rain threatened and we started out kind of cold(thus the blanket), but soon enough, the clouds parted and the sunshine warmed us up. A beautiful night with a beautiful family out in Canmore. And, I have a feeling that one of these girls is going to be an Olympian Freestyle skier one day and I will get to say ‘I knew her when’…
Fall has started and I have only a few spots left until the end of October…act fast before the fall is gone!
~ Dana
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This superhero is on my website from his last session which was in Toronto…he is also the son of my dear, dear friend…who is the smartest person I know(true story). And, an amazing voice teacher in Toronto. She was here this summer visiting us. One night we snuck out for a session with the Alberta sun.
Anyone who tells me that seeing your dear friends happy in their life isn’t one of life’s greatest pleasures are crazy. The love in these images makes my soul happy.
It’s been awhile since I posted an entire session…this was my biggest gallery ever, so biggest blog post. Took forever to narrow it down to these ones
~ Dana
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