I touched base on this photo in my Iceland: Day 6 entry, but here are the full details...

I had spent the night before sleeping in the car. The previous day was a very, very long day and after driving throughout the night, chasing hopes that turned out to be a bust due to weather, we found ourselves heading back west towards Gullfoss. We made it just past Seljalandsfoss before I realized I was too tired to sleep, so we found a spot off the main road to pull off, set the alarm for an hour and a half and took a quick nap.

We arrived at Gullfoss somewhere between 5am and 5:30am - it was still dark and no one was around. I grabbed my gear and we headed down the trail towards the waterfall. It's a short hike, so it's not like we needed to go very far. This was my first time being right down by the water - when I was here the year before we viewed Gullfoss from the observation area above, but never made it down to the water.

I was trying to find a good viewing area to grab some photos - there are two main spots to get really great views of Gullfoss. The end of the trail walks right up to the first tier of the waterfall. The second is an overlook that looks into the gorge that the second, larger, tier pours into. I tried at the first location, but I just couldn't get anything worthwhile. I walked back to the overlook that views into the gorge. I was able to find a view that I was very happy with and set my camera up and waited. And waited. I arrived so early that I had to wait nearly an hour and a half for any bit of sunlight to show up. There weren't many clouds overhead, so it never really turned into an incredible sunrise, but it was definitely a memorable one that still provided beautiful views.

I've also linked to two videos from that morning. Words and videos to go with this story!

Technical info:

Canon 6D
Canon 24-70 f2.8L II
LEE little stopper
Satechi Wireless Remote
Gitzo Mountaineer Series Tripod
Acratech GP Ballhead
24mm
ISO 50
f/11
1.6 seconds

6 image panoramic stitched in Adobe Lightroom

Behind the Photo: Best of 2016 - Gullfoss Sunrise