I took photos with 2 cameras. I swung the one with the bigger zoom lens into action, framing the Moon using tree branches as guideposts. Normally, a digital camera's electronic viewfinder makes spotting difficult subjects easy by increasing contrast, but not here. I shot blindly in the area, but it really wasn't until after sunset that I could spot either one in the photos I took.

Naked-eye views of the Moon and Mercury also had to wait until after sunset, but once seen, they stole the show despite Venus's brilliance directly below them. The splotchy gray Moon proximate to orangish Mercury (mag -0.5) contrasting with the darkening royal blue sky took prominence away from a merely white Venus, no matter its brightness (at mag -3.9).

The other camera took wider shots that included Venus close to the mountaintops and Saturn up high and left. Truthfully, Saturn was a very pale fixture that added little to the overall scene. But it's next to Neptune right now, which it won't be for the next 35 years or so.

Images:
#1: Moon and Mercury
#2: ditto #1 plus Venus directly under
#3: ditto #2 plus Saturn at upper left (Venus marked with green arrow)
#4: Saturn and Neptune (N to upper right, FOV=3.25° x 2.5°)

Photo data:
Panasonic GX8, Lumix 100-300mm lens @ 300mm--for closeups
Panasonic G9, Leica 12-60mm lens @ various--for wide shots
... both cameras in Program (semi-automatic) mode
... Feb 18, 2026 6:00pm-7:30pm MST