Snæfellsnes Peninsula is on the western coast of Iceland to the northwest of Reykjavik. It consists of a national park on the westernmost tip, and beautiful scenery throughout. The coast is rocky and has the typical violent, crashing waves seen throughout the island.
On the trip Lindsey and I kept saying "this area is known for a black sand beach, but it's dangerous to get too close to the water." And what I want to note is that ALL the beaches (that we saw) in Iceland had black sand or black rock, and they were ALL dangerous. So one could just call them all "dangerous beaches" and drop the black sand descriptors.
All the beaches were known for "sneaker waves." At most beaches the biggest waves occur every 7 or so waves. It's rhythmic, cyclical. But these sneaker waves come out of nowhere and scurry up the beach past where any other waves went, and sometimes are large enough to pull unsuspecting people back into the surf. As we were planning the trips I did get a bit cocky thinking "that's only dangerous for other people. I'm gonna do what I want." But I watched enough youtube videos that humbled me back to a space of caution.
At Djúpalónssandur beach on the peninsula I immediately noted where the safety ring buoy was just in case, and tried to find good compositions. Then this bird situation happened, arching across the sky and it was a stunning thing to witness. I think it's interesting how, especially with photography, one is often juxtaposing moments of chaos with moments of serenity. And that's one of the things that makes Iceland so compelling photographically, is that everywhere you look there is chaos next to something serene.
