06/25/2023
I've been envisioning this shot for almost 2 years. Around the summer equinox, when the sun is as far north in the sky as it will be all year, the morning rays strike the face of Long's Peak at the perfect angle. To capture this particular image, I hiked toward the top of Twin Sisters, an 11,000-foot twin-peak mountain northeast of Long's Peak. And to get there by sunrise, I needed to leave the trailhead at 3am. It was a long and difficult hike, and for a moment I thought I had missed my opportunity, but because the front range blocks the first rays of light, I had time to scout for the perfect location. A notable consequence of the light hitting the face later in the morning is that by then there is very little color in the sky, so I opted for black and white to accentuate the texture and lighting.
