While I was on the west coast teaching lighting and posing at a few camera stores, I found myself in close proximity to Mount Rainier. I literally had 24hrs before my flight home and it was during a new moon phase. I saw sunrise over the mountain itself, luckily on a clear day where the reflection in the water was still and perfect. I hear from locals that it's a rare thing when "the mountain is out." I visited the park during the daytime hours and then plotted my nighttime image using PhotoPills so I'd know exactly where the core of the Milky Way would rise vertically out of the landscape. To say that it was cold at 1am is an understatement but the resulting image was more than worth it.