The folds and cracks and crevices of the rocky moonscape in the western Mojave desert bathe in a soft blue glow under the Milky Way, a sort of light that to me really gives this image a sort of otherworldly moon sort of feel. This was a super productive session because of the variety of foreground options in this area of badlands, all sorts of haunting and mesmerizing shapes and twists in the rocky canyons. Before setting my sights and lens to the stars, three different & intriguing foreground compositions with dissimilar subjects presented themselves.
I love the leading lines in the diagonal pattern in this photo, allowing the Milky Way to blend with the image well while providing nice soft corollary light. This one was a little sketchy to get though, as I was shooting on a hillside of probably an angle of 30 degrees, and the topsoil was a super loose melange of peddles and smaller crushed bits of limestone, so I was routinely slipping and sliding and loosing my footing, which is terrifying while also holding expensive camera gear. A couple times I almost stacked it but luckily found my footing, got my shot, and headed gingerly back to lower, flat ground.