The Highland oases of Iceland provide magical sites of color and life in an otherwise barren world of black ash and white snow. Created by the geothermal forces and glacial water, they reveal how the destructive forces of fire and ice are essential in bringing vitality to the landscapes.

For photographers, they further provide fascinating subjects, bringing contrast and interest to otherwise traditional photos of the barren wilderness of the interior. I sought to make the most of the contrast and color of these mystifying sites by organizing a helicopter shoot throughout a late summer evening, where the Midnight Sun promised to bring even more hues into the composition. The conditions were fantastic, with enough clouds to catch the light but not enough to obstruct it, providing a pink and orange tint across the sky.

As we soared across the Highlands, I witnessed a verdant green hill besides striking blue crater lake and directed my pilot towards it. It took several hours of shooting before we attained the right height, angle, and conditions, but the image I managed to take was a perfect reflection of what I sought to capture. An inhospitable glacier capping the mountains in the background; black volcanic ash stretching out of the frame into an Arctic desert; a canopy of fiery clouds; and, in the foreground, a magnificent Icelandic oasis of azure and veridian.