This is my first time-blended image of 2019, taken at a gorgeous overlook atop the Rio Grande Valley in northern New Mexico. Based on the astronomical alignments of the pre-twilight sky (I use the TPE apps and PlanIt! Pro to plan my shots), I knew the Milky Way would be arcing over the southern extent of this portion of the Rio Grande, while sunrise would occur over the snow-capped Sangre de Cristo Mountains to my east, near the opposite section of the river.

I hobbled out onto a rocky spine maybe 8 feet wide and covered in uneven boulders and found this irresistible cholla cactus clinging to the rocks just feet away from a precipitous drop into the canyon below. It took over an hour of trial-and-error in the dark to get the composition right, ensuring the cactus was roughly in the middle of my panorama and the boulders weren't obstructing any segments of the river, all while avoiding stepping towards the steep drops on both sides of the spine. After all the tedious setup, I finally captured my night-sky foreground and sky frames just in the nick of time, right before astronomical twilight kicked in. I captured two more panoramic sequences afterward, one during blue hour and another HDR sequence at the moment the sun peeked out over the mountains. All images were captured between roughly 4:30-7:00am from the same tripod location.

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