Behind the Falling Gold

The sun drops toward the horizon behind Seljalandsfoss, on Iceland's South Coast, and for a few minutes the falling water and the mist it throws into the air both catch the same gold light. I made this from the worn path behind the falls, where the basalt opens into a rough stone window looking out over the flat farmland below. We had just finished a long loop around the Golden Circle and were staying nearby, so rather than push on toward Reykjavik we stayed to see what the evening would do. The wait paid off. As the sun neared the horizon the spray thrown up by the falls lit up in shifting color, and for a short stretch of time the water, the mist, and the sky all held the same warm light before it faded and the valley went blue.