A starfish in the wash with the sun coming up behind it.

The sun laid a column of gold straight down the water toward the beach, and the starfish is sitting at the bottom end of it, half-buried in the wash — so the light runs from the horizon all the way down the frame and finishes on the animal. It is orange and rough-textured against smooth pale sand. The water moving over it has gone soft with a long exposure. The cloud above is dark and heavy.

Vertical, warm at both ends and dark through the middle. A small subject holding the whole picture.