Into the Arctic

The pink and purple hues are visible briefly as the sun rises between the horizon and the low-lying cloud layers of winter in Iceland. During this season, light is limited to just a few short hours, but I found the photographic opportunities worth the effort. The colors painting the Arctic skies make for subtle, almost monochromatic tones like nowhere else on earth. 

Shot on OPPO Find X5 Pro, additional hardware and software used. 

Icy winds have swept black sand dunes to create curated, organic forms at the foot of Mount Vestrahorn. For me, finding sand dunes whose edges are highlighted by grasses is such great luck, and being able to pair them with Vestrahorn in the backdrop elevates this to one of the most striking landscapes on earth. 

Shot on OPPO Find X5 Pro, additional hardware and software used. 

Although stunningly beautiful when seen in-person, Iceland’s famous Diamond Beach is notoriously difficult to photograph. The complex surface of the ice is made more confusing by the contrasting textures of waves and sand. To simplify, I experimented with long exposures, creating soft sweeping lines from the retreating waves that connect all elements of the image. 

Shot on OPPO Find X5 Pro, additional hardware and software used. 

The ephemeral aurora borealis flares over a wrecked DC-3 plane deep in the polar night. The magic of the northern lights partly comes from that they are unpredictable. I love finding an interesting foreground like this plane as a focal point and setting the image up in a way that allows the aurora to complete the composition. 

Shot on OPPO Find X5 Pro, additional hardware and software used. 

Wind tosses the mane of an Icelandic horse on the tundra in eastern Iceland. I love the sweep of the mane ending in the horse’s eye. Icelandic horses may be smaller in stature but they are hardy, having been bred over centuries to endure the cold and intensely harsh conditions of Icelandic winters. Their coats come in an array of colours, from black to palomino to roan, meaning they offer wonderful contrast to any image. 

Shot on OPPO Find X5 Pro, additional hardware and software used. 

Mysterious rock formations appear in the diffuse mists of a black sand beach. The distant rock shrouded by the mist, and the fact that it mirrors its brother, lends a sense of wonder that inspires questions. The intense volcanic activity and erosive weather of Iceland has created an enormous variety of unusual geological oddities. 

Shot on OPPO Find X5 Pro, additional hardware and software used. 

Boulders settled by glacial meltwater glow in light refracted through the ice. I love that this landscape is completely sculpted by rushing water—you can see it in the organic carved shapes here. Ice caves are actually tunnels beneath glaciers often created by summer meltwaters running through them. Although some of these subglacial flows are also caused by geothermal warmth. 

Shot on OPPO Find X5 Pro, additional hardware and software used. 

An arch inside an ice cave reveals skylights and a surface scalloped by meltwater. The textures are incredible already, and since they are backlit, the structures are even more ethereal and photogenic. In winter, ice caves are empty of meltwater and stable enough to explore—a pause in time where one can walk the path where ice cold, crystal clear water once flowed, and will again. 

Shot on OPPO Find X5 Pro, additional hardware and software used. 

Waves pound through the arch of a solid basalt peninsula. I found this difficult to compose at first, but in making a minimalist silhouette of the arch, the detail in the waves and mist became the real subjects of the photo. The arch window is so large that ships and even small planes can pass through under certain conditions. 

Shot on OPPO Find X5 Pro, additional hardware and software used. 

A ridge of glacial ice, washed up on a black sand beach, resembles the spine of an ancient creature. With the late light making beautiful textures on the sand, I experimented with different compositions on this strange ice block until I saw this. The ice, once part of a glacier, may be as old as a mammoth. 

Shot on OPPO Find X5 Pro, additional hardware and software used.