Milky is the Way

“Milky is the Way” was taken in the middle of June of 2017 with record snowfall just below Bishop Pass in the Sierra Nevada mountain range near the town of Bishop, California. The print is unique for numerous reasons from the fact it was in the summer and the lake was freezing back over right before AJ Pagano’s eyes while shooting this, to there was a dead body that the snow on the pass was covering and was only discovered by other hikers a few weeks later. The Milky Way happens to be right over the pass where we were headed the next day…and the snow/ice covered body. There was a sliver of moonlight that lit up the mountains as it was setting to the right of the peaks in the photo, so it gave just the right amount of light to cast some shadows, but also it was low enough to reveal the Milky Way all in one shot.
As usual on most backpacking trips, AJ was up a few hours after everyone had fallen asleep and trying to take advantage of the Milky Way just after the moon was setting, but as he was shooting in freezing cold conditions, the lake he was shooting on (Long Lake) was freezing over right before his eyes. With this slim window of opportunity, AJ started to shoot the water with as much of a Milky Way reflection as possible and then shifted to the mountains and then the night sky.