We had just arrived on the Portuguese island of Madeira the evening before I took this shot and despite little sleep, the weather was looking great for a potential sunrise shot. As I do often when we travel, I laid out my gear and clothes for a silent escape in the morning so my wife could sleep a little longer. I raced along the coastal road through the numerous tunnels hoping I'd get to the beach in time as navigating Madeira's roads can be a bit of a challenge.

Having made it to the beach just in time I managed to skip and hop over the many large boulders with reasonable sleep deprived grace to frame my shot. I quickly set up the tripod but wasn't happy with my location. Then moved farther down toward the water and lowered my perspective as well. Once satisfied, I added my 10 stop ND Lee Filter and tried a few shots to see how the scene was coming together. After a few more adjustments I got this image and was glad for the peaceful morning watching the sunrise in this far away place.