Two mornings before sunrise ago I walked westward across the dried bottom of the Great Salt Lake to where the water had retreated. The full moon was gradually sinking towards the horizon, lighting the smooth ground like a spotlight.

I was hoping to photograph one of my favorite astronomical phenomena reflected in the still waters of this ancient body of water.

It’s not rare event but quite common. It occurs every sunset and sunrise and is known as The Belt of Venus.

I also hoped to catch the full moon floating in its red hue.

Every sunrise and sunset while the sun is a few degrees below the horizon it’s light passes through our atmosphere and backscatters wavelengths of red producing a red arch across the sky.

The dense blue color beneath the rosy belt is literally the shadow of our planet cast upon the atmosphere.

As sunrise approached the pink band slowly descended to the horizon granting me the privilege of witnessing the rotation of our Earth.

Nikon D810a
Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5 @f/11

Minor adjustments in Adobe Camera Raw followed by Curves adjustment