Milky Way Above a Sea of Clouds

Shot taken on June 28th 2012, after moonset, from the summit of Mount Rocciamelone (3,538 m), Italy.

Yes, a remote location indeed.

The infinite is my favorite subject, since I can't go into deep space, I am constantly searching it here, on Earth...

The point of view of landscape photography is often from the plain toward an higher subject (like a mountain), this happens most frequently for obvious practical issues.
That's why I've always dreamed of pictures taken from most rarest view points.

This is definitely among my favourite night shots I've taken so far, just for one simple reason: the encounter of several natural spectacles!

Here we have the Milky Way cutting the night sky in direction south, so it is perfectly aligned with the distant pyramidal summit of Monviso (3.841 m).

This alignment, Milky Way -> Monviso, occurs at the beginning of every summer night, then gradually the Earth moves eastward, and the starry sky obviously to the west.

However, the particularity of this wonderful night was the presence of an infinite bank of clouds, approximately 800 meters below the summit where I was spending the night... the lights of the valley below turned this mass in motion in a sort of "primordial ocean".

As usual in night photography, the camera was able to capture far more details than I could see with my eyes, anyway this has been one of the most spectacular scenery I have ever seen :-)

berteroroberto.pixu.com/