Mighty Waterfall

From the photographer: “I wanted to find a waterfall that had the Milky Way behind it, while being lit by the Moon on the opposite side. I did a research online and asked a local tour guide for help. We found that this would be the perfect location to go on the date I needed, so I could get the Moon below 30% illuminated. It took me 1 hour walking to get there and it was totally worth it!

My goal with this image is to serve as reminder of the beautiful and fragile places we have in Brazil. This is one of the few places where we have almost none light pollution. The Veadeiros Plateau has one of the best skies in the country for stargazing and astrophotography.

This waterfall is part of the rio dos Couros (Leather river). The river got the name from the same region where it is located, because in the past not so long ago, the people who lived there traded mostly leather as a form of barter to survive. Now the region is receiving more tourists but still doesn’t have an appropriate organization to take care of the volume of people wandering in the woods. I went to this location with a local tour guide and we were sure not to leave any trash behind, nor to take anything from the place itself.”

Technical Details:
Single-shot, Canon EOS 6D, Rokinon 14mm, F/4.0, 30s, ISO 6400, Edited in Photoshop and Lightroom