REYKJANES IN BLACK AND WHITEAndreea & Matthias

June 19, 2026

Andreea and Matthias eloped across the Reykjanes peninsula in Iceland, and I shot the whole day in black and white.

Reykjanes is the first bit of Iceland most people ever see, the lava plain you drive across from the airport, and most of them keep driving. It is black sand, steam coming straight out of the ground, sea cliffs and a small black church, all of it within half an hour of the terminal.

The whole day was black and white. Take the colour away and what is left is shape, light, and the two of you, nothing else. I get that from Ingmar Bergman, the Swedish director known for his black-and-white films: get the frame right first, then take out anything that does not belong. If you want an Iceland elopement that looks like this, I would love to hear from you.

Black sand and steam

The day started out on the black sand and the steaming ground.

This end of Reykjanes is all volcano and very little else. Black sand blowing into ridges, a rift you can walk down into, ground that steams where the heat gets close to the surface, and cliffs where the sea comes in hard. It photographs like the surface of somewhere else. Andreea and Matthias walked out into the middle of it and let it be big around them.

Bride crouching by dark lava rock on the Reykjanes peninsula, black and white Black sand rift on Reykjanes, a tiny figure below the walls Bride small in a black sand canyon, Reykjanes elopement Bride portrait with the groom behind on the black sand, Reykjanes Bride alone on the black sand ripples of Reykjanes Andreea and Matthias small on the black sand plain, Reykjanes Close black and white portrait of Andreea and Matthias, Reykjanes Windswept portrait of the couple on the Reykjanes peninsula Steam rising straight from the ground on Reykjanes, Iceland Sea stacks and surf on the Reykjanes coast, black and white A volcanic crater on the Reykjanes plain, Iceland Andreea and Matthias tiny in a Reykjanes lava field

Krýsuvík

Krýsuvík is the middle of the peninsula, cliffs on one side and a small black church out on the heath.

The cliffs here drop straight into the North Atlantic, loud and cold, and Andreea and Matthias spent a while on the edge of them. Then inland to Krýsuvíkurkirkja, a little black timber church on its own in the middle of nowhere, which burned down in 2010 and was rebuilt exactly as it was.

Cliffs dropping into the sea on the Reykjanes coast Couple embracing on the sea cliffs of Reykjanes, black and white Bride on the cliff edge above the Atlantic, Reykjanes Black and white portrait of Andreea on the Reykjanes cliffs Bride on the Reykjanes sea cliffs, Iceland elopement Andreea and Matthias on the black beach below the cliffs, Reykjanes
Andreea and Matthias at Krýsuvíkurkirkja, the black church at KrýsuvíkThe couple in front of the black church at Krýsuvík, Reykjanes
The black church of Krýsuvík alone on the heath, Reykjanes Bride walking to Krýsuvíkurkirkja, the black church on Reykjanes

Kleifarvatn

The rest of the day ran along Kleifarvatn, the biggest lake on the peninsula, black water under a grey sky.

The ground above the water is crags and boulders and moss, good hard shapes to put two people among. Kleifarvatn itself sits in a bowl of volcanic hills with no outlet you can see, deep and cold right from the shore. I worked the ridges above it and the black beach along it until the light went. It is a good place to end a day like this, quiet and a long way from anything.

Andreea and Matthias small on a rocky ridge, Krýsuvík The couple on a crag in the Krýsuvík hills, Reykjanes elopement
Couple beside a huge lava boulder, KrýsuvíkA lone figure on a rocky ridge above Krýsuvík, black and white
Bride among the mossy lava at Krýsuvík, Reykjanes Bride among the crags at Krýsuvík, Iceland Black and white portrait of Andreea, Krýsuvík
Bride in motion on a green slope at Krýsuvík, ReykjanesWeathered lava rock on the Reykjanes peninsula, black and white
Bride on the slopes above Kleifarvatn, Reykjanes Andreea and Matthias on a ridge above Kleifarvatn lake The couple walking above Kleifarvatn, Reykjanes Andreea and Matthias embracing above Kleifarvatn lake A cairn above Kleifarvatn on the Reykjanes peninsula The couple among rock formations near Kleifarvatn Bride in a dark rock cleft, Reykjanes, black and white Bride with her bouquet in a dark rock cleft, Reykjanes Andreea and Matthias in the rocks, Reykjanes elopement The couple close in a dark rock cleft, Reykjanes A lone figure on the rocks by the water, Reykjanes Misty lake and lava shore on the Reykjanes peninsula Andreea and Matthias by the water at the end of the day, Reykjanes

There is more of Iceland in Anna and Niklas at Kirkjufell and Lindsey and Daniel’s day further south. If a day like this, black and white and a long way from anyone, is your idea of a wedding, come and find me.

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