Every year I attempt to capture The Ghost of the Summer Dawn as early as possible. Often, summer fires bring smoke that obscures catching Orion on the horizon. My earliest date for the entire belt has been 7/26. This year some of the stars were visible on 7/22, but by the time the belt had risen high enough, the sun / smoke obscured what I was hoping to photograph. The belt is visible above the gnarly tree second from the right.

Z6ii Nikkor Z 70-200 @100mm f/8 4' ISO 200

temp 5350 tint -6 exposure -0.30 highlights -23 whites +23 contrast +23 clarity +31 sharpening +63