My nephew and I had planned a week of night sky adventure in hopes of an aurora in Alberta ~ weather forecasts for the area were disappointingly cloudy, but the skies cleared about an hour north of Edmonton. Our first plan (using various tools to scout with no time to visit) turned out to be in the middle of a reservation and not feeling comfortable with the intrusion, we headed north and noticed a sign for West Cove, which sounded like water, and found a boat launch.

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.

I live in a very urban area, so much so that you need to drive at least 8 hours away to get good dark skies. Needless to say, I don’t get to shoot night skies often. I’d gotten a couple of okay Milky Ways shots before heading to Arches and Canyonlands with Brad this past spring, but I had high hopes for something better. Alas, Mother Nature had different plans – clouds, rain, more clouds. Four nights later, punch drunk and addlebrained from no sleep, with a broken ever-sinking tripod leg, I shot this pano. I wasn’t sure the shots had worked out at all until I was able to process them. Success! And, I know how to make a shot like this even better next time.

I visited Crater Lake National Park for the first time in 2012. In the visitor center, a photo of the Milky Way arcing across the sky over Crater Lake was on display, and for sale in a number of different sizes and products. At that moment, I decided it was going to be a goal of mine to capture an image like that on my own, some day (or night).

This composite photo, my favorite night capture of 2015, demonstrates perfectly a shared love of nature and being together. Life since I met Doug has been amazing. How lucky that we found each other!! Images were taken in August on Pinal Peak, south of Globe AZ.

This photo is my favorite of 2015. It was taken in Grand Teton National Park at String Lake late in July on the third night out shooting. We caught an incredible break where the water was clear as a mirror and just before some clouds rolled in. I really like the photo because how it shows the majesty of the Teton Range, and the contrast of sky, stars, mountains and water. I also like the photo because of its symmetry, the incredible reflections and the airglow so prevalent in the Tetons at summer.

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.

Back in 2012 on a photography tour through Utah, Nevada and Arizona a friend and I came across Natural Bridges National Monument…one of the world’s first certified dark sky parks.  I’d never heard such a park o and didn’t know anything about Astrophotography.  In the information centre I saw a National Geographic award winning image of this Natural Bridge with the Milky Way shooting across it and couldn’t stop staring at it.

This is my favorite night sky shot in 2015 because of the subject matter (love Mt. Shasta) and the unplanned way that I came to the shot: It was a bit like finding a $100 bill lying on the ground.  I was driving up to Portland, Oregon on July 23rd for a family visit and had stopped at Castle Crag State Park around 5 pm for a hike up to explore the Crags.