Sony Ar7ii late at night after dinner at the tip of the Sibley Peninsula, Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario. Light pollution from Thunder Bay on the right. Remember Mars was prominent in summer, 2019. We anchored the boat in a bay to the right.

I chose this picture because even though this lighthouse in the Outer Banks has been shot many times I really liked the composition and the fact that it was without the Milky Way.  It does have a funny story behind it, while I shot it I had no idea if I was staying in a remote beach house without a car alone with a serial murderer.  (he wasn’t) So this shot also has a sense of fear to me.

The dark skies of SE Oregon were my go to location in 2019, with four visits during the year.  Several of the trips were to experiment with new gear combinations, mounting vintage fish-eyes on a new mirror-less body, pushing f/5.6 lenses with new sensors, or trying really fast glass under the stars.  The heavy green air glow made it a challenging year, still figuring out the best way to adapt to it. In the fall I hoped to be there when a land speed record would chased, but the day before I was to go they tragically had a crash that claimed the drivers life.  I postponed my trip until a month later and enjoyed crisp nights with brilliant stars, and a somber visit to lake bed.  This image sums up the year, great skies under the watch of the Steens, with tracks leading to who knows where.  caelum certe patet

This may not be my best image of 2019, but it is my favorite. This was the first shoot in which I took full advantage of my astro modified A7 III. It shows the Reds/Magentas of the nebulae in the northern Milky Way, revealing that it can be can nearly as interesting as our galaxy’s core. I shot this pano at the May workshop after I had “finished” shooting, and while I waited for everyone else to start packing up. Everything else I shot that night was meh…and that’s how it always seems to go.

The challenge of combining multiple techniques in both shooting and editing this image makes it the most complex image I’ve ever created. The beauty of the scene, the night spent under the stars with friends and the fond memories of my time spent in Utah easily makes this my favorite image of 2019.

This scene was captured not far from my hometown in southwest Colorado.  I live in Ohio now and don’t get back often.  I miss the mountains.  I had the location in mind and in fact tried to capture the scene a few times.  One year, the weather didn’t cooperate.  The next year, it was a light snowpack and not what I had in mind.  This year, it finally came together with a heavy snowpack for the year and good weather.  I was able to capture the snowcapped San Juans with a summer Milky Way.  Growing up, I guess I always took the scenery for granted. Not anymore.

This image was taken at 13,000ft at my favorite run out and shoot spot because I have clear skies (mostly).  I had planned of shooting the Milky Way arching over a star gazing castle ruins at the summit (14,000), unfortunately someone else had made plans to shoot selfies with their car headlights.  After patiently waiting for half an hour for them to finish my shot was spoiled.  So, I decided to head back down a little ways to this beautiful location and try my luck, it payed off!  I took this shot just in time.  Had I arrived slightly earlier the reflection would have been perfect; the wind kicked in while I was setting up.  Instead of getting a reflection I got the storm clouds rising!  To be able to shoot at 14,000ft is great!  Watching the thunder and lightning storm all around below you is amazing, this shot captures both, the drive home in the down pour not so amazing.  I decided to pack it up after this pano because I felt like I was being watched!  While editing the photos I discovered that I was!  To the right of the image in-between the mountains there was a herd of big horned sheep (they didn’t survive the edit).

This image was taken on March 31, 2019, along a stretch of the Dalton Highway north of Fairbanks, Alaska, nicknamed ‘The Enchanted Forest’. While I got many nice photos of the aurora while I was there, this is my favorite because the trees and snow provided a nice foreground to the curtains of auroral light overhead. It was taken with a Nikon D850 DSLR and the Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 lens, at 14mm, f/2.8, ISO 3200, 3 sec.

This is the Mongla Stupa in the Khumbu Region of Nepal. This is my 2019 favorite because I took it while my husband and I were on a 15 day trek from Lukla to Gokyo. The trip included summiting Gokyo Ri (17575 ft) at sunrise to view Mt Everest. We had hoped for many nights of astrophotography but this was the only clear night. We were lucky enough to be staying in the tea house right above this stupa. It was a magical trip that I will never forget.

This is my favorite picture from 2019 because it represents a new level of capability for me.  It was taken in moonlight and used focus stacking techniques, both of which were processing challenges.  The location was difficult to get to but had great rewards due to the fabulous view of Mt. Shasta.  It think it is my best nighttime picture so far.  It was taken during one of Brad’s Mt. Shasta Workshops in July.