Caldera sunrise

A simple shot of a not so simple scene. There are a lot of superlatives associated with this place, but on this particular morning - the first day of the year - the most relevant one for me was the ungodly hour at which I had to get up: 3 AM. However, the early driving towards and up the 3 kilometer tall volcano through rain and mist in the dark was all worth it once I made it to the summit. I got there well before sunrise and was shrouded in dense fog, soaking my coat and backpack. Once the sun rose, it burnt off just enough of the fog to see it stream it into the caldera from the windward side of the mountain. With the golden rays it created this surreal scene and I couldn’t think of anything better to do than just focus on the light. Single image, minimal processing. Part of a massive panorama which I will post on my website sometime in the future.