This was a fun sunrise panoramic to capture within the Superstition Mountains. To get to this vantage point, it is a very fast 1 hour hike from the First Water trailhead. That means that the hike along the Dutchman Trail had to be done on the dark using the light of the full moon to show the path. About 15 minutes before this image was taken there had been a small burst of color that quickly faded. I thought that the morning sunrise was going to be a dud. Boy, was I ever wrong. I arrived at location with just enough time to set up the pano head/tripod and get a rough exposure reading.

The spire to the right is called Weavers Needle and is very prominent in most maps and stories concerning the Lost Dutchman Mine and a favorite destination within the Superstitions.

I knew that contrast would be an issue, so I took 2 different exposures at each spot and created a digital graduated neutral density filter to help balance out the contrast.

This was a shot that had been planned from the previous week: http://www.pbase.com/image/24807430