I had to think about it for a while if I should go out or not this morning. It was dark, freezing cold, strong wind and actually everything was against it. Hmmm . . it’s really warm inside so why bother. Then my conscience starting to nag me as I knew if I wouldn’t go, then I wouldn’t get the beautiful morning winter light – this is winter so deal with it ( I thought).
For my last birthday my wife gave me really good coat, especially for this kind of weather so I had no excuse.

Well I went out to the car and it brought me to Stóru – Sandvík (I didn’t know where I was going when I started). I stepped out and started to walk in the dark towards the Lake. After few steps I decided to crawl back and put the spikes on as it was deadly slippery.

The wind was strong because this is an open area so I had some difficulties with my tripod. I had to stay low and put some load on it to make it stable. The dawn was beautiful and after I’ve seen some of the shots I was really satisfied with the outcome.  

Yes sometimes the art can be ruthless.

The Cove south of Valahnjúkur features a spectacular boulder black beach and Lake formed by the rampant storms of the North Atlantic, and farther to the north the black sand dunes at Stóra Sandvík are a blunt reminder that the wind blows fearlessly through Reykjanes. It also hosts a small (~1 km2) high-temperature geothermal area with small steaming vents and bubbling solfatars. However, these hot springs are only a shadow of what they used to be, partly because the area is now utilized for power generation which we must stop.