April 8, 2024
For years I had been looking forward to seeing another total solar eclipse. And when I moved out of New York City to Rochester, New York, I was so happy to be in the path of totality. But then, disappointment along with the accompanying excitement of traveling to North Carolina. Read more…
April 1, 2024
If you ever find yourself traveling through West Virginia and need a quick respite from the road, Koolwink Motel is a darling motel in Romney with decor to die for. This mid century modern gem within the valley was likely the cleanest motel I’d ever been in, for one, but Read more…
March 14, 2024
When I left Rochester in the early morning, there was snow on the ground. After a gorgeous trip south aligned with the sunrise, I’d arrive inside the bright blue sky So bright that I needed to buy some sunglasses from the Goodwill en route to Orange City. It just so Read more…
March 13, 2024
Another goal of mine while in Florida… swim with the manatees. Having done so in 2006, 2016 and now in 2024, I have seen norms change drastically in Crystal River, Florida. My private tour would be far less fruitful than previous visits and would ultimately kill my underwater camera. Here Read more…
March 12, 2024
I ventured into Old Florida to check out the dark skies. This was the highlight of my quick trip and most definitely well worth it. First, some scenic beauty in the daytime hours. See those tracks in the sand… well I got my rental car stuck in the sand, much Read more…
March 11, 2024
Soon my daily life will be completely different and temporarily out of my control. Finally, my career shift is coming to fruition… so I needed to take an excursion before these drastic changes. I cashed in my miles for a quick excursion to Florida. My first stop was Blue Spring Read more…
December 29, 2023
Spending time on the North Shore of Long Island, I saw some pretty things. It was very foggy! From the shore we couldn’t even make out the land across the way… Dinner at the Onion Tree in Sea Cliff. This is the Bum tchoonth waingan (Eggplant & Apple Curry) “A Read more…
December 28, 2023
I was so happy to get an intimate tour of the mansion and greenhouses at Planting Fields. The former Gold Coast estate of William Robertson Coe and Mai Rogers Coe, heiress and daughter of Standard Oil partner Henry Huttleston Rogers. Like many of the preserved former estates on Long Island’s Read more…
October 28, 2023
Time for the beautiful full moon to grace my page once again. I swear I will work on doing some composite images with some foreground next time. But I never grow tire of this image. . the moon in all its crater-y form beaming proudly. These shots were taken in Read more…
September 28, 2023
Another full moon on the porch in Rochester, NY. This one, September’s Harvest Moon. Regretfully, I took these shots using the auto-focus. I am now realizing it isn’t as sharp as when I use the manual focus. A lovely mistake to learn. Next full moon will be in October! Oh, Read more…
September 19, 2023
It always a shock to see how vibrant the stars are at Montauk. Sure, there is also a lot of light pollution at the horizon–but the Milky Way always says “Hi” to me. I like to blame my starry luck on my underwear which is always star-patterned. And in some Read more…
When a camping spot in the coveted J-section at Hither Hills State Park opened up, I booked it for two nights knowing there wouldn’t be a better way to spend the evening on my visit back to the metro area of New York. And it would be a perfect location Read more…
August 31, 2023
You may have heard… there is a super blue moon tonight! Super as in it’s closer to the Earth. And Blue as it is the second full moon in the calendar month. The next time this combination of super and blue moons will occur is 2037. I took pretty pictures Read more…
August 21, 2023
Though the St. George area of Utah is a busy gateway city to some of Utah’s mind-blowing national parks, there is plenty off the beaten trail and free of the summer mobs, like Snow Canyon State Park, which I happen to drive through trying to get some vegan breakfast at Read more…
August 20, 2023
Despite the all-day of trickling rain and a sky full of gray, I knew I’d see the stars in the evening. It’s not because I checked the weather, though I did. I just kind of knew. The stars had satisfied every evening I wanted to shoot them. Though I don’t Read more…
I wanted to differentiate this section of Cathedral Gorge State Park as it offers adventurers a chance to enter the beautiful land formations I showed in my previous post. Though wet and slippery, I could not help myself from entering the Moon Slot canyons. I imagine that the maze of Read more…
Plenty to see at the beautiful Cathedral Gorge State Park. This is the first installment.
After a wet ride of downpours in the desert accredited to Hurricane Hilary, I arrived at Panaca, Nevada. Here I would enjoy a charming bed and breakfast along with a pretty amazing state park, a warm spring, some muddy trails and, fantastically, a slither of time with the stars. But Read more…
August 19, 2023
August 18, 2023
I’m finally in a new International Dark Sky Park… my 19th!! Great Basin National Park. Despite some clouds, I got some great astrophotography done as I laid in my tent. I have come to find the clicking of my intervalometer comforting as I am camping. The clouds then returned to Read more…
And onward to the second national park during this short trip: Nevada’s Great Basin National Park. This park, which is also an International Dark Sky-certified park, has such a diversity of offerings… the chance to step into a glacier, an emerald-hued alpine lake, caves, tremendous conifers, towering cliffs and rock Read more…
August 17, 2023
I learned about this hike from some signage at Cedar Breaks National Monument and I was very glad I did. Not only did I have the hike to myself, but there were spectacular views every step of the way, including Zion National Park in the distance. The waterfall is fed Read more…
August 16, 2023
And night came at Cedar Breaks National Monument… along with its billions of stars. I spent most of the time of my night shoot in an empty parking lot near my campsite where it was a bit darker than my campsite. That’s my rental car up there. And a gorgeous Read more…
As with any of my summer trips west, the goal was star shoots. Camping ensures easy access to an International Dark Sky park’s starry skies. But first you have to fill your day with the park’s beauty as the sun beats strong. On my last visit to Cedar Breaks National Read more…
August 13, 2023
It was a gorgeous night with crisp stars… but some wispy clouds persisted to enter the landscape. Still, the night shoot went better than I expected, with the most beautiful Milky Way right outside the door pretty early on. It makes a case for how a gorgeous galactic core can Read more…
August 2, 2023
How wonderful to see the full moon from the porch… to easily set up the tripod after waking up in the middle of the night to catch August’s first full moon. She was a beauty! Did you get to see her?