The plan had been to photograph from the top of Laekjavik Cliffs, but the wind off the ocean was too strong in late February. It was safer to scramble down the rocks onto the beach, where the mid-afternoon sun was blinding as it reflected off the surf breaking on the black sand, volcanic beach.

Exposing the photograph was a challenge even for the D850 with its exceptional dynamic range, but I wanted to be sure to have enough detail in the shadows of the cliffs to the right for post-processing.