how do i avoid blown highlights on sony a7iv during high altitude sunrise shots

so i was on the rim of machu picchu at 2400m rn, sun just peeking, and my a7iv decided to turn every sky pixel into a white blob lol

• set exposure comp to -0.7 or -1.0, but remember the built‑in 5‑stop ND on the kit lens is a myth, bring a real ND8
• use spot metering on the summit silhouette, not center‑weighted, otherwise you get that overexposed sky vibe
• lock focus on the foreground rock, then switch to manual focus to avoid hunting when the light changes fast
• shoot RAW + JPEG, because the JPEG will be a hot mess but at least you can see the histogram on the fly
• bracketing 3‑shot ev 0, +1, -1 with 1/125s gives you a safety net if the sky decides to go full white

tbh the biggest mistake i see is forgetting to set the camera to ISO 100 on a sunny summit, i’ve definetly burnt my D850 on an alps sunrise before. bring a spare UHS‑II card, the buffer fills up faster than you think when you crank the burst mode for those epic wide‑angle panoramas.

any other summit‑sunrise hacks? drop your go‑to settings below