Reaching for the Stars

From the photographer: “On July 16, 2012, I presented a program in the mountains near Julian , California , USA , and afterwards could not pass up hauling out my camera for a few hours of photography. I had to wander carefully off the path about 75 yards into thick knee-high grasses, searching around me for snakes all the way in and out. (It never occurred to me at the time that this is perfect camouflage for mountain lions!) I parked myself beneath this extremely tall tree and tried several angles to capture it in front of the glorious Milky Way. The light of the campsite appears near the lower right.”