Moonbeams and the Milky Way

From the photographer: “On a camping trip to the Black Hills I had hoped to get a few good images of the Milky Way behind this abandoned cabin, but Mother Nature had other plans…wind, lightning, and rain. As much as I love a summer storm, time was an issue with the moon rising in the east and the galactic center traversing westward across the southern sky and out of my composition.

With no backup plan, I decided to wait out the storm hoping for the best and was treated to a magical scene…the moon shrouded by the storm cast moonbeams across the sky as lightning highlighted the cloud and illuminated the side of the cabin. Although the moon had already risen, the Milky Way still shows up, albeit a bit faint, on the right while Jupiter and Saturn line up nicely above the cabin.”

Technical details: Canon 5d mkiv, Irix 15mm, 2-frame pano each frame at f2.8, ISO800, 25 sec