One of the traits that defines my photography is my relentless planning. While I love finding beauty spontaneously, there’s something immensely gratifying about researching and planning a shot and having it turn out just as expected. I had been planning this shot specifically for months. I timed up the new moon with the Milky Way orientation you see above. All that was left was for the weather to cooperate! As we hiked in, large and heavy clouds began to cover the sky. This worried me - but as the evening went on, the sky began to clear. I was able to get some great sunset shots and was cautiously optimistic about my chances later in the night. When my alarm went off at 12 AM, I peeked my head out of the tent and it was crystal clear. I shot for a few hours, experimented with a few different compositions, and took this image right after 2 AM.