I took this photograph in August 1988 at Crater Lake National Park in Oregon on a road trip with my wife and oldest son to celebrate my wife's birthday, and the fact that I was taking my photography full-time, I never looked back. This is one of a few dozen photos at the time that were selling well in print and as stock, making the move possible. I now have over 200 thousand images on my website.

We camped in the park for seven days. There is a road that goes around most of the top of the crater. We drove it at least once a day and at different times, but always counterclockwise from the campground to keep the crater and lake on my side of the car. I did all the driving back then, as my wife did not get her license for a few more years.

It was late afternoon on this day, and we were heading back to camp from hiking and playing at Diamond Lake. The water there is clear, with fantastic beaches for my son to play on. As we returned to the park at the junction with Rim Rd, we decided to go the long way back to camp, so we turned left, clockwise.

I do not remember how far it was after we turned, but I do remember there was no place to park, and I had to go about a quarter of a mile before finding a place to park legally and safely and hiking back to get the photo.

I only got a few pictures before the sun went behind clouds, and it was gone. You could not see that the tree was there without the sun hitting it. I would have waited to see if it would return, but Beth and Dustin were waiting in the car, so I headed back.

The moral of the story, and something I do to this day, is always to follow the 180 rule. The best images could be in other directions.