Iceland is well known as the land of fire and ice, the small country being home to both glaciers and volcanos. All eyes were recently on the Bardarbunga volcano, which was was threatening to erupt and disrupt flight travel in the area. Photographer <a href="http://www.lukas-gawenda.de/"target="external">Lukas Gawenda</a> offers stunning aerial views of the country in his series, Iceland from Above.

Lukas Gawenda has created abstract images of Iceland, flying over the small island nation each fall. A selection of images from his series, Iceland from Above, is featured here but a wider variety of Gawenda's work can be seen on his <a href="http://www.lukas-gawenda.de/"target="external">website</a>.

<a href="http://www.lukas-gawenda.de/zur-person/"target="external">Lukas Gawenda</a> has said that his image making is inspired by the desire to preserve nature, and the challenge of presenting natural wonders in a new way.

His <a href="http://www.lukas-gawenda.de/zur-person/"target="external">images</a> offer a unique vantage point, flattening the landscape into painterly swirls of color that are caused by different elements: iron oxide for red, bog soil for yellow and blue from glacial rivers.

In additon to Iceland, <a href="http://www.lukas-gawenda.de/zur-person/"target="external">Lukas Gawenda</a> has photographed landscapes in the United States, Morocco, and numerous locations in Europe, where he is from.

<a href="http://www.lukas-gawenda.de/"target="external">Lukas Gawenda</a>

<a href="http://www.lukas-gawenda.de/"target="external">Lukas Gawenda</a>

<a href="http://www.lukas-gawenda.de/"target="external">Lukas Gawenda</a>

<a href="http://www.lukas-gawenda.de/"target="external">Lukas Gawenda</a>

Lukas Gawenda <a href="http://www.lukas-gawenda.de/"target="external"/a>

Lukas Gawenda <a href="http://www.lukas-gawenda.de/"target="external"/a>

Lukas Gawenda <a href="http://www.lukas-gawenda.de/"target="external"/a>

Lukas Gawenda <a href="http://www.lukas-gawenda.de/"target="external"/a>

Lukas Gawenda <a href="http://www.lukas-gawenda.de/"target="external"/a>

Lukas Gawenda <a href="http://www.lukas-gawenda.de/"target="external"/a>