Spectacular ice cave

This is a spectacular ice cave in southern Iceland. The patterns of minerals embedded in the ice ceiling swirled throughout, making this a particularly dramatic natural phenomenon. Ice caves can only be entered in mid- and late winter because they are safe at that time. Many weeks of cold have frozen the caves solid, making it unlikely large chunks can fall to the floor with potentially lethal consequences. I was there with a photo tour group in March. In another month or two, the bottom of the cave would form a small body of water. To simulate that, I used the Photoshop plug-in Flood 2. When I was there, the cave floor was snow and ice. Everyone in my group wore crampons that gripped the ice and allowed us to walk in and out safely. This is a 7-frame HDR composite with the slowest shutter speed being 1/15th of a second. I used a Sigma 14mm f/1.8 lens, and I shot wide open at 400 ISO. I used a tripod.