This picture was taken at sunrise along the black sand beach near the Jokulsarlon lagoon in Southern Iceland. The beach is nicknamed the "Diamond Beach" because of all the ice chunks that wash up on the beach after floating out from the nearby lagoon. It is an exhilarating location and quite popular with photographers but you need to be alert at all times as the incoming waves can unexpectedly knock you or your camera equipment to the ground or worse!

The biggest challenge is to be able to split your concentration from watching the waves break and recede (creating the streaks in long exposures) while not being surprised by a large wave. Some good lessons learned from my guide was to plant the tripod deep and to put one leg directly in front of me so that if an ice chunk shifted the tripod leg would deflect it from hitting me. I learned from experience that was great advice!