Expectations vs Reality
I’m not really a materialistic person, except when it comes to drooling over an amazing photo prop I've found. All I really need in life is my art, good friends, and an the occasional adventure. When you imagine growing up, you sorta have all these expectations and dreams of what it’s going to be like… then reality starts hitting in. You start learning about bills, taxes, insurance, all these things that you never had to deal with before. It’s easy as a child to have such exaggerated expectations of adulthood, it almost seems like a freedom you've longed for, to only discover freedom is a lot more work than you could’ve ever imagined. So, sometimes I imagine what a simpler life may be like.
Last year, I had the amazing opportunity to go to France for a week and attend a wonderful photography retreat hosted by my good friend, Brooke (of Brooke Shaden Photography). A few months before the retreat, everyone attending started chatting online in our group, working out travel plans and car pooling arrangements. When we finally met, it didn’t seem like we were complete strangers. We instantly clicked and became best friends. We activity stayed in touch in our group and now call each other the Fromagi’s.
For months, we teased each other with beautiful images from around the world, but Iceland was almost popping up in our feeds on what seemed to be a daily basis. The idea of an Icelandic adventure was pitched to the group and everyone was immediately onboard! We were over the moon with having an anniversary trip to a place which I have longed to explore for many, many years.
This was my first image that I shot on my Icelandic excursion across the country and it's the first image I shot with my new D810! It was a really exciting morning as our group all met up at the RV site and we were once again together as a whole group after an entire year! We gave tons of hugs and said our hellos, got settled into our RV’s and officially started our road trip across the county.
First, we drove up across the north west, along the coastline with waterfalls littering the mountain sides to the left of us. After coming across two abandoned sites that didn't spark any real creative juices, we kept driving until some of us noticed a little hut in the hillside around what looked to be a lava field engulfed in a thick spongey moss. This spot definitely deemed itself worthy of something truly amazing and creative when we started exploring, after a quick group photo of course.
This Icelandic adventure was definitely a taste of a simpler life. Traveling with friends and creating art in one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. The distractions of home life were gone. We were almost entirely without internet connection. We were off the grid, but we had everything we've ever needed with us. I feel so lucky to have these amazing people as friends - my photo family, the Fromagi's.
