Reynisdrangar, the stacks at Vik, Iceland. It was a cold and very windy day, but that doesn’t tell you much. It’s always windy here, but on this visit, much of the island had been shut down with many segments of the Ring Road closed due to a major North Atlantic storm. 

When you set up your camera on a tripod, and fit a wind sail of a filter array on it—in this case, a Hasselblad with 85mm square polarizer and ND filters—you don’t leave it unattended. I was reminded. As I stepped closer to one of my colleagues to hear him better over the pounding surf, a huge wind gout slammed my camera to the beach, shattering the filters (which fortunately protected the lens from harm). Sub-optimal. 

The light was wan, and the sea dramatic, the timing and sound of waves relentless. This image reminds me of all the power, noise, and emotional silence of Reynisdrangar, and how small felt the footing I held before it.