This wasn’t a long hike, nor a challenging access point (if you had snow shoes that is – someone was there before us who had to be post-holing up to their chest based on the holes in the snow). The biggest issue I had in capturing this image was spilling my coffee all over myself as soon as I got on site. Regardless, that problem left my mind within seconds of seeing this scene.
I may have pushed the shutter here, but I need to be clear that this image wouldn’t have come together without my friend Scott. He had the vision for this opportunity and timed it out perfectly on when we’d need to be here. Scott, another friend – Eric, and I all ventured out here for this scene shortly before sunrise, with each of us selecting a slightly different moment of interest to capture.
I had tried to imagine the image coming together when I saw the location, but really nothing compared to actually being there. Once I started to see the golden reflections on the water and that glowing moon centred among the peaks like the eye of Sauron, it all immediately came together in my head on what was important to me in the image.