I made a trip out to Picacho Peak recently during the full moon. Surprisingly, this was my first time going to this park considering the countless times I’ve driven by it. My buddy and I were just exploring the park at night until we came across this saguaro which lined up with the mountains, it was too good to pass up. We only had to wait a few minutes for the moon and the saguaro to line up as well, so it was pretty good timing to stumble across this spot. The moon was already giving some ambient light but we decided to light-paint from the side to get more dramatic features on the saguaro. In order to get the moon-spikes I needed to use a higher f-stop, ~f/9 seemed to work and also let enough light in for the rest of the image. This is one exposure. While editing my intention was to keep it dark, to capture the mood, yet retain detail at the same time. Looking forward to more nights like this.