©Stephen Wilkes/National Geographic

It was the perfect day for a cherry blossom photo shoot. There was no cold snap, no rain, and winds never went over ten miles per hour, recalls photographer Stephen Wilkes to National Geographic.

After 16 hours of nonstop photographing, Wilkes captured an illuminating shot of springtime in the District—including those never-ending cherry blossoms and all. The photo, which appears in the cover story of National Geographic’ magazine’s January issue of 2016, features the Tidal Basin, people frolicking in West Potomac Park, and a collection of D.C.’s historic monuments.

Wilkes captured the photo from 80 feet high on a questionably unstable cherry picker—he wasn’t allowed to bring his heavy, truck-mounted lift. His goal was to see the sunrise over the Jefferson Memorial and twilight over the National Monument. “I knew I was going to get a great human narrative,” he said.

In celebrating the National Park Service’s century-long existence, National Geographic magazine has launched a yearlong exploration of “the power of parks, across all its platforms, to help people better understand the wonders and challenges of parks around the world,” according to a release.

“One hundred years ago, the National Geographic Society helped persuade the U.S. government to create the National Park Service. Today, parks are more critical than ever to ensure the health and sustainability of our planet, says Chris Johns of the National Geographic Society. “We want people to explore and experience the wonder of these protected places with us and through us, and support our efforts to understand and preserve them.”

Wilke’s photo collection, Day to Night, is part of that initiative. Along with the Tidal Basin photo, it features shots of Yosemite National Park, the Grand Canyon, Seronera National Park in Serengeti, Tanzania, and more.