Jökulsárlón Beach Sunrise

Jökulsárlón Beach at Sunrise.

I actually came to this location the day before this was taken hoping for a sunset shot, but quickly realized that wasn't going to happen as it had been cloudy and rainy, pretty much all day. That night, we decided to head back to camp and try again the next morning. On the morning this was taken, I set an alarm for 0400 to give me enough time to drive back to the beach before sunrise and get a composition.

After packing up camp and forcing myself to wake up enough to drive the 45 minutes to this location, I was finally back. Unfortunately, I only had 15 minutes to find a composition but the sky was truly working in my favor. Fortunately, there were no other photographers (or anyone for that matter) there yet, so I had the entire beach to myself.

After running around trying to find a good spot, I found this one and felt that it was what I was looking for. I took about 20 different exposures at this same spot, trying to get the waves moving around the chunks of ice and, unfortunately, got very wet in the process.

All in all, I would say it was totally worth it! Moral of the story; always give yourself enough time to compose a shot! I did however get to take in the sights and really take in the beauty that is Iceland that morning. It was very relaxing watching the waves throw large chunks of ice onto the beach. The sunrise itself, as you can see, is probably the perfect sunrise, with the perfect amount of clouds to really show the colors I was able to capture.

Being an amateur, I can definitely reflect on that experience and understand what I need to work on, as I did overlook a few things. That being said, I think it turned out quite well being my first ever sunrise (mostly because I can never find the inspiration to wake up that early!).

Done