(JACKSON, Miss.) Maria Coulson, who serves as program coordinator for the Academy of Research and Scholarly Engagement at Jackson State University, shot the cover photo for the February issue of Outdoor Photographer magazine.
The photo features Eagle Falls, which is located above Emerald Bay in Lake Tahoe, Calif.
Coulson, an accomplished photographer as well as civil engineer, said she had the picture in her mind for some time before she made the pre-dawn trek to get the iconic shot.
Using flashlights, the photographer and two friends arrived at 4:30 a.m. to get to their vantage point. They navigated in the cold to be ready for the sun to come up.
Eagle Falls runs into Emerald Bay in Lake Tahoe. The spot where Coulson took her photo is a short walk from the highway. The falls are full in the spring due to snow melt out of the mountains.
Coulson’s photo was selected in part because of her use of High Dynamic Range (HDR) software, which enabled her to create a composite of five images.
For more information, visit outdoorphotographer.com.