Mont Saint Michel is a rocky tidal island and commune located on the northern coast of Normandy, France. The commune's position on a small island a short distance from land made it possible for pilgrims throughout history to walk in at low tide and pay their respects at the abbey, starting from the early 8th century.

Mont Saint Michel and its surrounding bay were inscribed on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1979 for their unique aesthetic and importance as a Catholic site. More than three million people visit Mont Saint Michel each year, so it remains a hot spot for visitors to Normandy.

I had been travelling with three other photographers when we arrived here at dawn. In daytime, this place is occupied by flocks of sheep so later in the day, you would be mingling with large groups of sheep feeding on grass and laying in the sun: possible foreground subjects. Given the sheep, we were careful to watch our every step as we searched for a composition.

I took this photo at sunrise from a farmer's field with a tidal channel that mirrored the colorful clouds and the very tip of the Mont Saint Michel abbey. The unique geometric shape of the channel serves as a curved leading line pointing toward the fairytale Mont Saint Michel. But the channel is only filled with water when the tide is extremely high, and since this does not happen often, we were in luck on the morning of our visit.

I placed my tripod about a foot off the ground to capture as much of the cloud reflection as possible and used a long lens to compress the scene.