PEERING INTO ETERNITY

When I was little, driving home in the backseat of the car, I would always fall asleep watching the night sky. I have always found a sense of peace looking up at the stars. Although where I lived, they weren’t as visible. I experienced the deep sky only once when I was 16. It is a memory that has been in my mind ever since. 

When I picked up my camera back in March 2021, I started to shoot the night sky and knew I wanted to keep pursuing it. I’ve always been a sunset chaser and still am, but something about being under the night sky brings me a sense of wonder and I’m transported to somewhere out of this world.
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Crater Lake is one of the most beautiful places in the world I always had hoped to be able to go back and change the narrative from my first trip, which had gone badly. I can now say it’s one of my favorite places on Earth. This was one of my first Milky Way shots and one of my greatest life-changing adventures. 

There’s something thrilling about hiking in the middle of the night. I did a total of seven miles round trip in the snow for this and it was worth every minute. When I got up to this spot, my jaw dropped. The sky was blazing with stars, and I was immediately brought back to my 16 year old self. The conditions were absolutely perfect. I could see each and every star reflecting in the lake and there was the Milky Way! As physically exhausted as my body was, I couldn’t contain my excitement. When I took my first shot I cried. I’d never seen Crater Lake look as magical as it did. It was so beautiful and so spiritual being there in the quiet of the night under a billion stars. I proceeded to take so many photos and shot my first panorama this night. 

It feels amazing to be adventuring and doing something I love. It’s bringing me so much joy. What an incredible experience that I’m so grateful for and will never forget.

(10001 x 7501 High Resolution image will be sent to collector)