My favorite photo of 2015 was taken in late August on the Icefield's parkway just north of Banff, Canada. It was just after midnight and I had planned a shot using the Star Walk app to frame the Milky Way directly over the Bow Glacier after the moon had set. While waiting for the milky way to move over the glacier where it spilled into the lake. There were two other photographers there doing the same thing. I was taking some shots and noticed that the glacier had taken on a greenish color as I was reviewing images. I turned around and a strong aurora was visible above the trees. Having been to Peyto Lake which was a few miles up the road earlier in the day, I knew that the overlook would be a great vista to shoot from so the three of us drove back up the road and I captured quite a few images of the aurora over the lake as well as some nice time lapse footage. I was fortunate to be there on that night since it had been cloudy for a few weeks and seeing a strong aurora there is not common but that night there was a solar storm and the KP index hit 6. It was also the first time that one of the people that I had met had ever seen the aurora.

Catching a clear night during the summer at the CA coast can be a challenge. The coast often fogs over at sunset and into the night. I have made many attempts to photograph the famous Bixby Bridge. But last summer, I was lucky and not only was the night sky clear, there was little wind which made being out until almost midnight much more pleasant. A strong flashlight aided in the light painting since the bridge was quite a bit away. I am pleased to offer this image for inclusion into the alumni group image collection.

This is my favorite from 2015 because it took a lot of planning, travel, permits/insurance, etc. and it came out 99% (could have used more moon light) as I had planned. I was so excited to be at Cliff Palace overlook and see the Milky Way arching over the ruin as I had calculated those months earlier. I feel a sense of accomplishment because I think the image captures the timeless quality that I was trying to convey.

Not necessarily my BEST nor most popular image of 2015, but the most special memory without a doubt! This was shot during my Artist in Residency tenure in the Petrified Forest National Park. After the park closed at sunset and all guests were "escorted" out, I had access to the entire park. This is the "Blue Forest" area, accessed from the teepees and ending up on the Blue Mesa. A trecherous hike in the dark, but worth it!

One of the wonders of the sky is that there is so much more there than we can see with our mortal eyes. The camera helps visualize a little of this. The Eye of Heaven is seen looking down over the Golden Gate in San Francisco. It is strong and ever-present, but not at all apparent to the casual observer. Each time we are out under the night sky the Eye is up there - visible yet invisible, well known to ancient mariners who used its help for navigating, and known to a fortunate few of us who are able to visualize it in our images.

This one is probably my favorite from this year as it was more than just driving up to a spot and setting up. For a couple of years now I have been wondering what kind of shot of the rare aurora I could get from the Mt Bachelor cone and on June 22, the numbers were looking really good so the time had come to see.In the summer-time Mt Bachelor closes their gates early in the afternoon so I would have to bike in approximately a mile with my gear and then start an hour + climb up the flank of Mt Bachelor and then finally scrambling up the backside of the "cone". The "cone" is an ancient lava cone covered in loose lava rock which made the final stretch a 2 steps forward one step back process. But, by sunset I had made it to my perch for the evening and patiently waited. And by pure serendipity, a partial moon would be setting at the same time lighting the foreground landscape.

This year started with a huge change. After 25 years in Western Washington we said good-bye and moved to Hawaii. Sadly, Oahu suffers from awful light pollution, and makes night shooting a constant challenge. A trip to the "Big Island" was a welcome change. This year I was able to see active lava lake bubbling from Kilauea main crater. In this image the lava glow trails into the stars and reminds me just how amazing a place this is.

The arch, carved out by the Ardèche River, is 60m (200ft) wide and 54m (175ft) high. It is a very popular canoeing and kayaking area and is heavily visited by tourists. It is usually described as the natural entrance to the Ardèche Canyon.

Aurora Over Boise. It is fun and a challenge chasing auroras at this latitude. Addicting. It all came together 6/22, the alarms went off and KP was 8! The moon, Jupiter & Venus added to the comp. I could see the sky was shimmering, and there was a hint of pink. In RAW it is nearly this bright, I dialed down Vibrance to -15, and Saturation to -10.

I like this image as it was challenging to shoot and also think creatively to blend everything into a single image, the moon, setting milky way and the fall colors.First the location was challenging to shoot, i had to sit on a ledge with a 30-40ft drop off on 3 sides and in a 16degree weather. getting this shot in one go was never going to happen, had to shoot the foreground at low ISO for 10Min and the sky was shot with a normal 30" exposure.