Last year, at the Way Up North conference in Berlin, Laimonas had the pleasure of meeting the talented photographer Dana Batikóvá from Prague. When at the end of March Dana shared her plan to visit Iceland with her husband for a brief trip, during which she hoped to explore our beautiful country- Iceland. She mentioned her interest in adding a styled elopement shoot to her portfolio- shot in the rural areas of Iceland- got us at Sunday & White thinking.
Inspired by Dana's work and the unique perspective she brings, we thought it would be a great idea to turn this into a mini workshop- something that has been sitting in our minds for a short while already. So we realized that for our first workshop, making it brief and mini, would be the way to go.
Years in the industry, we already understand that the wedding business would not exist a day without other talented people who share their crafts to make each wedding day as it’s imagined. That’s why we decided to contact various vendors who are dear friends of ours to collaborate with us and create two-styled wedding sessions.
Dana contacted Ferovky bridal store and 27jewelry in Prague. Laimonas invited two beautiful couples, Yael & Orri and Robyn & Jóhann to join the workshop. With local vendors such as florists to create bridal bouquets - Þórdís and Flowers by Monika, a make-up artist Berglind to glow up our brides. Leading elopement planning team Pink Iceland to create a cozy after-ceremony picnic setup. After announcing the mini workshop date, we got 6 talented photographers who joined the adventure in Hvalfjörður!
The day started to spark inspiration- with Dana and Laimonas presenting and explaining their “Why's” and how they work, from gathering inspiration from old films to communicating with clients. Ultimately, photography that captures love is about curiosity about other people and creating that intimate connection.
After spending the morning with talks and refueling with coffee and light breakfast, it was time to hit the road and face the wind (which was very Icelandic and cut-through-your-bone kind that day). We wanted to bring the photographers to a situation that would resemble their work day without the pressure of needing to produce client-approved images, as it’s easy to lose your spark when treating each project as a job where even when being creative, the pressure of delivering flawless photographs is always there.
Hvalfjörður welcomed us with breathtaking landscapes and a strong wind- the kind of one that crawls under your skin and stays there. Our first couple's wedding was inspired by a wedding dress from Prague and earthy flower bouquet by Þórdís, giving the couple a bohemian and atmospheric look. With Dana leading the first part of the workshop, the participants were able to capture more posed, cinematic and composed photographs.
The second couple presented a more classical wedding. Robyn and Jóhann whom Laimonas photographed on their actual wedding day last year were happy to put their wedding attire back on and face the wind next to a waterfall. Valdi from Pink Iceland joined us for that part of the workshop to set up the well-known and romantic picnic which includes the photogenic Icelandic cake Kransakaka.
Laimonas shared his way of working and guiding the photographers to capture more minimalistic, natural-looking photographs, showcasing how to work around the models, not making models work around the photographer. With his real-life approach, that sometimes as a photographer you need to accept the fact that the images to photograph in your head is impossible to create, when the Icelandic weather decides to throw a curveball on your way.
Photographs captured and the wind faced, it was time to put the cameras back in the bags and get back to Reykjavík, just to be greeted with drinks and pizza at the studio to refuel and reflect on the day.
When there was so much to take from this one intense day, the main lesson was that when photographing in extreme weather conditions as it was that day, the importance is to keep the mood up and accept the fact that on days like this, one is working around the weather not vice versa and what's most important, is the adventure of the day.
Big thank you for our vendors who joined us in this journey and supported it with their beautiful crafts.
Hair & Make-up: Berglind Lára
Dress: Ferovky
Flowers: Þórdís Zophia & Flowers By Monica
Jewellery: 27Jewelery
Picnic: Pink Iceland / Valdi
Models: Yael & Orri and Robyn & Jóhann
Workshop led by: Sunday & White Studio / Dana Batikóvá
Photographers:
