I don’t think that my genesis piece could be anything other than this special photo, the piece that has thus far defined my career. I wanted to take a solo photography trip with my then-new Sony a7R III, and I found myself in southern Washington. The grandiose view of the towering Mount Hood or Wy'east from this location absolutely blew me away. Completely unprepared, it was the eve of the full moon, and immediately after discovering this knew that I had to make something unique with this stunning volcano as my foreground. A storm blew in and I wasn’t sure that I’d be able to even see the sky, but upon waking up just before sunrise, the most painterly lenticular clouds perfectly framed Wy’east showcasing that the storm was still lingering. I couldn’t believe how large the moon looked at this hour, and as soon as the sun kissed the clouds and the top of the mountain pink, I knew that I was witnessing pure magic.