Erin & Norman Travels

A quick search of "Iceland" on Pinterest will take you to the most amazing pictures of the small island's majestic topography, geological wonders, Icelandic food snapshots, but also beautiful, curated, stills of weddings and engagements. From the moment we saw those, we knew it was imperative that we do a photoshoot during our stay.

No research could have prepared us for the actual, tangible, splendor of Iceland! There were many beautiful locations to take pictures, but we quickly fell in love with the Black Sand Beach in Vik, on the southern tip of the country, a couple hours east of Reykjavik. On one side of the beach, the infamous Dyrhólaey (cliff with a hole) can be seen at a distance, and on the other side, the fascinating Hálsanefshellir Cave, surrounded by pillars of rectangular rock formations, lied right on the beach, a couple feet away from our photoshoot location.

Originally, we had wanted to hire someone to take the pictures, but when we found out the costs ($2,500-$3,000), we decided to do it ourselves! We used:

Canon 5D Mark II DSLR with a Canon 24-105 f4.0 L lens,
a tripod, and
a remote

We like to think that our setup did the job (exceptionally well). You can be the judge by checking our stills below! As for pose ideas, we had garnered a couple from Pinterest and had tried to replicate them.

After spending a couple days in Iceland, we realized that popular spots were often filled with tourists during the day, and with the advantage of the sun not fully setting ever, we decided to take our pictures during the sunset at 10pm. It was the best decision we ever made because there weren't a lot of people on the beach and the sunset was absolutely breathtaking.

This trip and photoshoot has inspired us to travel somewhere new every year during our wedding anniversary and get glammed up to do a photoshoot (even if it's a camping trip). It's a budget friendly and memorable "souvenir."

Thanks for checking out this blog post and if you have any questions on DIY photoshoots or taking a trip to Iceland, leave a comment below.

For our honeymoon last year, we went on the adventure of a lifetime and took a road trip across California from San Francisco to Los Angeles. We debated between an adventurous or relaxing honeymoon, and decided that this was the best of both worlds! It was the perfect trip, experiencing the beauty of California’s coastline, eating the most delicious foods, and enjoying each other’s company.

Checkout out the itinerary of our 12 Day California Road Trip below. We skim over lodging details and what we ate because we knew this was going to be a long post, enjoy!

Days 1-2, San Francisco: We met up with one of our friends who showed us the best eats in SF! We had the most AMAZING food ever. Our favorites and most memorable were definitely Sushirrito (Sushi burrito) and a small Vietnamese restaurant called Cordon Bleu (they had vermicelli salads the size of a basketball). Aside from constantly gorging ourselves, we also walked the Golden Gate Bridge (YES! It was super windy, and even though it was July, we had to wear coats), Lombard Street, and of course- WENT SHOPPING. It was fun to explore, but one major tip- dress in layers. Even though it was summer, we wore our coats some parts of the day, and t-shirts during others. I even had to buy a sweater!

Day 3, Yosemite: Next we veered East towards our next destination: Yosemite National Park. It was nice to get out of the city and see the California nature. We opted on driving the scenic route because we had only planned to be there for the day. It was definitely breathtaking. As we “hiked” and drove to different lookout points, it felt surreal to be surrounded by such beauty. The vibrant colors were mesmerizing and we felt incredibly small in comparison to all of the mountains around us.

Day 4, Monterey: This was the first stop on the iconic Pacific Highway (PCH) road trip. We stayed at a cute Airbnb close to the beach- expecting to spend the day at the beach, but once again again, even though it was July, it was too cold! Instead we took advantage of our host’s Aquarium membership and visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium and explored downtown Monterey.

Day 5, San Luis Obispo: We spent most of the day driving down PCH and visiting different spots along Big Sur. We visited the STATE PARK, took pictures along the coast and detoured on to Bixby Bridge. It was a gorgeous drive and ever-so enchanting. We chose to drive north to south so that we would have an ongoing view of the ocean in all of its majesty. Due to my bouts of car sickness, Norman ended up driving the whole time. We ended our long day on the road with a stay at the Madonna Inn, which was possibly the coolest hotel we’ve ever stayed at! Each room had a different theme with very elaborate decor. For example, our room was hot pink and decorated in a beautiful floral print. We enjoyed some leisure time at the pool,had dinner at their restaurant, and even received a balloon that said “honeymoon”!

Day 6, Los Angeles: We drove from San Luis Obispo to the Camarillo Premium Outlets just north of Los Angeles and started with lunch at In n’ Out, a west coast eatery favorite. We then shopped for a few hours before driving to Los Angeles to visit family. The evening ended with an impromptu honeymoon photoshoot at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).

Days 7-8, Disneyland: 2 days in the most magical place on Earth and Norman finally lost his Disney virginity! A little backstory: I absolutely LOVE Disneyland and actually prefer it over Disney World. I’ve been there many times with people for all different occasions, and that is why sharing this experience with Norman on our honeymoon was that much more special. We spent the first day at California Adventures and then the second at Disneyland. Yes, we even did the cheesy matching couples shirt thing. It was two magical days full of chasing Disney characters, Dole whip, fireworks, and reminiscing of our childhood through the rides.

Days 9-12, Venice Beach: The last leg of our honeymoon was probably one of the most “honeymoon-like”. We rented a very small airbnb right off the beach and literally rolled onto the beach. For the last 3 full days we spent every morning on the beach, sitting under an umbrella, and smelling the ocean waves. Our first night we explored Venice Beach, which presented as an eclectic beach town. Our second day, we did the typical LA tourist thing-- walking around places like Hollywood Blvd and the Griffith Observatory (where we met up with another friend). We also took one last trip to the LACMA again; it really is beautiful there. , We ate our way through Koreatown enjoying awesome KBBQ and bubbletea! We even endured the LA traffic! It took us two hours to get from Koreatown to Griffith Observatory, but it was well worth it for that view. Our last full day was more of a chill and vedge day. After our morning on the beach, we rented bikes and rode along the beach all the way to Santa Monica Beach. We shopped a little, walked around the downtown area and came back for dinner, ending our honeymoon with a relaxing evening.

It has almost been a year since we got married and our honeymoon, and we are excited to plan our anniversary trip to Iceland. Thanks for reading our first post and we hope you are inspired to go on an adventure!