Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Daria Endresen. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Daria, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I fell in love with photography the moment I picked up my first DSLR camera, a gift from my father, back in 2007. He used to have his own darkroom and I was so fascinated by the process! Sadly, I didn’t take up film until much later, so in the beginning all my efforts were concentrated on learning digital. Several years down the line, when I felt more or less confident in my work, and opportunities started to roll in, I kept wondering whether I should take it to the next level and actually try to make a living with doing something I truly love. But the fear of instability held me back – the common thinking is that only a few artists manage to live off their art, and it’s some sort of unachievable dream for most of us. More years passed and I became increasingly frustrated with part time service jobs that left me drained and depressed. So when I became unemployed once again, I made a decision to dedicate myself to photography full time instead of going back to the usual routine. I figured I owe to myself at least to give it a try, and if it doesn’t work, I can always go back to where I was before that. I won’t lie, it was probably the scariest thing I’ve ever done, and the path to where I am now was not easy, but I’m so glad I did it.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Daria Endresen and I am the lead photographer at Ást og Hraun (it means *Love and Lava” in Icelandic). I work together with my life partner and second photographer Hjalti. We are based in Iceland, and we focus primarily on elopements and adventure sessions, providing our clients with honest and emotive images of their special day, and giving them all the help and assistance they need when planning an elopement in Iceland. For us it’s all about the experience. Our style is laid back and candid, which means we avoid all sorts of fake posing and perfect Pinterest shots. We prefer to capture the day as it unfolds, with all the lovely in-between moments, and our couples fully relaxed and true to themselves.
Being comfortable with your photographer requires a great amount of trust – we do our best to build up that trust from the first email exchange, and we love getting to know our clients prior to the shoot. So when we finally meet in person, it doesn’t feel like a dry stiff photo session, but rather an exciting adventure with friends, that everbody has been very much looking forward to.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I started out as a fine art photographer, but after 40+ exhibitions I realized that it’s not for me, and furthermore having a stable income with art seemed close to impossible. I’ve tried taking up various commissions throughout the years, from book covers to promo shoots for musicians, but being constrained with someone else’s vision and wishes left me uninspired and dissatisfied with the final result – it wasn’t my thing either. When I started traveling to Iceland regularly, I got several requests from friends or people who followed my artistic career, to photograph their elopements. It was a particularly hot trend back then (it still is), however I hastily declined, since I had no experience in the matter and no clue how one would go about such a project.
Further down the line, I moved to Iceland, and my thoughts turned to elopements once again. Being local and having the opportunity to scout places really sparked my interest – I’ve decided to give it a try. My first sessions were with friends, and I quickly realized how much I actually enjoy shooting people in love. There’s that wonderful energy flowing around, and a strong sense of gratitude for being able to witness and capture the special intimate moments between 2 human beings.
Within 8 months I booked my first paid elopement, and things just kept rolling from there.
Right now I work as a full time elopement and couples photographer, and I couldn’t be happier.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Starting your own business is hard. I tried to prepare myself the best I could, with multiple back up plans, diving deep into the business side of things, and learning as much as possible before I registered officially. There’s an enormous amount of work that goes into starting and sustaining your business. And I have to admit, I felt like I’m ready to give up more than once. In the beginning my inquiries were practically non-existent and my social media wouldn’t grow despite the substantial following from the fine art photography days. I’ve spent months on designing my website and learning SEO, but I still didn’t rank on Google, and all my marketing strategies were crashing down one by one. Two things that helped me the most back then : knowing that if I give up now, I will regret it later, and I just need to see this through. And no less important, support and encouragement from my partner and family, who kept believing in me no matter what.
The lesson I learned from this experience : be patient, be kind to yourself, keep working and trust in the process. Things will most definitely work out in the end.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://astoghraun.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ast.og.hraun/
• Other: hello@astoghraun.com

Image Credits
Photos by Ást og Hraun