A friend and I decided one morning to head on to the desert road to photograph Mount Ruapehu at sunrise, a choice that meant getting up three hours before sunrise and a two and a half hour drive. The conditions looked favorable, the journey pleasant, but relying on nature following a forecast is a risk. The desert road was blanketed with a storm, horizontal rain, and low thick featureless cloud. We decided to head back down the road we came and head back to Ohakune. Then we saw this beautiful scene. Same subject, the conditions we hoped for, magic light… but we needed to change our perspective, use our creativity. The landscape taught me what we see at first may not be what really matters, our experience can help us.