Milky Superstitons

“Milky Superstitions” was one of my first real attempts at capturing the Milky Way, and it ended up kicking off a whole series for me. It was taken out near the Superstition Mountains in central Arizona, far enough away from the city lights to actually see what the sky can do. I remember setting up the shot, taking multiple exposures, and working through the process of stacking them later. At the time, I wasn’t sure how it would turn out—I was still figuring a lot of it out as I went. What surprised me was how much detail came through. The Milky Way stretched clean across the sky, and the mountains picked up just enough light to give the scene some structure without taking away from it. It’s one of those shots that sticks with me because it was a turning point. Not just the image itself, but realizing what was possible once everything started to come together.