Jewelled Crown

The mist has cleared and visibility is high on this night. The lights of a town on the distant shore shine brightly out across the lake, reflecting in the smooth water, while a tower sits proudly in the lower foreground, guarding the shore.Above these shining lights, mountains climb into the clear night where stars glitter alluringly in the heavens above.There is a real sense of scale here, with the man-made artefacts dwarfed by the natural ruggedness of this region, which is dwarfed again by the endless, star-speckled night sky of space. It speaks of endless possibilities and boundless opportunities - what lies beyond? It speaks to our passion to explore, to push the boundaries ever further in search of answers to questions we don't even know we have.It was actually a bit of a struggle taking this photo as I was on the balcony with giant floodlights shining up and in. I had to shield my lens from below from the ambient light in order to capture this image, and I should have also shortened the shutter speed to make the stars crisper. But either way, it's a gorgeous view!The details for this image are:

• Nikon D7200 with Nikon 17-55mm f/2,8
• f/2.8
• 10 seconds
• ISO2500