While the starkness of the barren Icelandic Highlands, with its endless black deserts, jagged peaks, and inhospitable glaciers, is part of its appeal, that is not all the region has to offer. A particularly special but often overlooked aspect of the interior’s beauty is its far-flung oases, where dazzling colors and unique flora burst from an otherwise lifeless world.

The one in this print I found to be a particularly magnificent subject. Having embarked on a thrilling helicopter ride, I was shooting a range of features and landscapes impossible to reach by foot, hoping to add a sense of the region’s vastness and emptiness to my portfolio.

[split]

What particularly stood out to me here was the dramatic contrast in the muddy glacial rivers and the striking azure waters that filled the lake, separated by just a low crater wall, as well as the contrast between the black sand desert and verdant, almost lime-green hills.

My pilot circled the feature several times, so I could frame it from a range of different angles and different distances, until I captured this perfect composition. The effect of the sky reflecting on the rivers made them appear almost like an ocean, with the hills resembling islands and the black deserts resembling sandbars.

There was also something that almost whispered of the Fountain of Youth in the vibrance of the crater lake. In a way, these oases truly are islands, as, since the beginning of Iceland’s settlement, they have been places of refuge and life in an otherwise mysterious and unforgiving world.