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This Photograph was taken in northern Chile at high altitude (around 4300m or 14,000ft above sea level) where night temperatures fall well below freezing, there is no light pollution and the air has an amazing clarity. The exact location of this picture was high in the mountains north of San Pedro de Atacama, an oasis village within the beautiful Atacama desert - one of the driest places on the planet. 

The picture was taken around dawn (5am) one day that we were on our way witness an amazing spectacle of the El Tatio geyser field at sunrise. From our camp by the side of a gravel track, we ascended towards El Tatio in our 4x4, almost getting lost a few times in the pitch black and due to a notable absence of road signs. We also hadn't expected the vehicle to struggle as much as it did as well. The lack of oxygen at altitude and that the air temperature was at its coldest (just before dawn) gave rise to a jeep that didn't want to start and then get out of 1st gear all the way to the summit of the pass. On reaching the top of the pass, the border hills of Bolivia were visible below the crescent moon and breaking dawn. The clarity of the air was such that with my 70mm camera lens, the moon was easily visible and the dawn sky a purple colour that I have never witnessed before. No filters were used in the creation of this shot.

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