Kilauea eruption. We booked a room at the Volcano House in the Volcano National Park in Hawaii and lucked out when this happened. #volcanos #Hawaii #Kilauea

Announcing the discovery of the Possum Nebula tucked in between the North America and Pelican nebula. The search is on for the Raccoon Nebula. #stars #humor #milkyway #funny #astronomy

The Iris Nebula A blue reflection nebula surrounded by dark nebula in the northern Milky Way. I shot 80 five minute exposures over two nights under dark skies to capture this beautiful portion of our galaxy. #stars #space #nebula #astrophotography

The Eastern Veil Nebula. Part of a supernova that exploded thousands of years ago in the constellation Cygnus. In this false-color image, red shows hydrogen gas and green/blue shows oxygen. #stars #astrophotography #nebula #veilnebula #space

“The Cygnus Wall” Part of the rich nebula of the Milky Way in the constellation Cygnus the Swan. This is a false-color image captured with special filters. I love the stormy looking tendrils like a scene from Star Trek. #stars #nebula #milkyway #nightsky

Rho Ophiuchi This region of the summer Milky Way has it all - red emission nebula, blue reflection nebula, dark nebula and a globular cluster. 2 1/2 hours of total integration time. Five minute exposures. #stars #nebula #astrophotography #milkyway #rhoophiuchi

Storm A few more dramatic images of storm clouds from my astrophotography trip to the Texas Hill Country a while back. Sometimes the most beautiful “nebula” are closer to Earth. #photography #storms #clouds #nature #thumderstorms

Hill Country Storm An astrophotography trip last year began with a spectacular thunderstorm. We even spotted a small tornado that formed briefly. #photography #nature #storms #lightening

New Wings Here’s one of the great blue heron chicks from earlier this year testing out his new wings. #birds #photography #greatblueheron #nature

The Needle Galaxy NGC4565 A dramatic and beautiful edge-on galaxy at roughly 40 million light years distance. Note the other galaxies nearby. #stars #astrophotography #galaxies

The Orion Nebula I created this image from 103 ten second exposures (about 17 minutes total). #stars #astrophotography #Orion #photography

Ancient Starlight While processing my picture of the three galaxies in Leo, I spotted a couple of small, fuzzy objects that are other galaxies. To my surprise, the one labeled IC2729 is documented at a distance of 1.06 BILLION light years! #stars #astrophotography #galaxies

Three Galaxies in Leo M65, M66 and NGC3628. Approximately 35 million light years away. #stars #astrophotography #galaxies

Snowy Egret Gaze The herons and egrets put on a tremendous amount of showy feathers during mating season which makes them really fun to photograph. #birds #wildlifephotography #outdoor #egrets

Galaxy M83 15 million light years away in the constellation Hydra. A rotating mass of 40 billion stars and billions of planets essentially quarantined from us due to sheer distance. Is anyone or anything looking back? #stars #astrophotography #astronomy

Flying Solo A lone roseate spoonbill returning to its nest as a foggy twilight closes in. Taken at the Houston Audubon Smith Oaks Rookery at High Island, Texas. #birds #photography #wildlifephotography

Lunar Eclipse March 14, 2025 #stars #astrophotography #moon #eclipse #lunareclipse

Cantankerous Spoonbills There’s always a dispute among the spoonbills during nesting season. Prime locations are in short supply as are sticks and other building materials. Somehow it all works out. #birds #wildlifephotography #nature #highislandtexas

Mating Season is Here A pair of great white egrets show off their mating feathers. Already paired up, they’re working on their nest where a couple of turquoise colored eggs will turn into a set of fuzzy dinosaur-like chicks, #birds #wildlifephotography #photography #nature

The Rookery One of my favorite places to see wildlife on the Texas Gulf Coast - the Houston Audubon Society’s Smith Oaks Rookery at High Island. The white ones are great egrets. There are plenty of roseate spoonbills and cormorants too. Sound ON for this one. #birds #wildlifephotography

February Issue This is created by an astronomy buddy of mine. Check it out if you love astrophotography. #astrophotography #stars #astronomy publuu.com/flip-book/75...?

The Veil Nebula in Cygnus Part of an arc of gas that’s the remnant of an exploded star. 1500 to 2500 light years away. #stars #astrophotography #photography #milkyway #nebula #astronomy

For the astrophotographers out there. Check out this new publication. #astrophotography #stars #photography publuu.com/flip-book/75...?

Happy Valentines Day #birds #photography #wildlifephotography #nature #greatblueherons #herons #valentinesday

Great Blue Herons Build Their Nest I’m actually following three different nests that are all close neighbors to one another. Here’s one pair trying to find the perfect fit for this new stick. #birds #wildlifephotography #photography #greatblueherons

Great Blue Herons It’s only February but these two have paired up and started a nest. I hope to follow their progress and photograph the chicks. #birds #wildlifephotography #nature #greatblueherons #photography

Great Blue Heron Having a Moment Not sure what this bird was up to! It’s mating season already here close to the Gulf Coast so the courtships and nest building has begun. #birds #wildlifephotography #nature #wildlife #greatblueherons

🔭 Comet G3 ATLAS Setting over a Chilean Hill Video Credit & Copyright: Gabriel Muñoz apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap25020...

Oregon Squirrel Oddly enough, on a trip to photograph the magnificent Oregon coast, my favorite shot was this squirrel against the turquoise sea. The lesson: look around, don’t get locked into your expectations. #wildlifephotography #photography #wildlife #Oregon #nature

Milky Way and Perseid Meteors #stars #astrophotography #milkyway

The Pinwheel Galaxy, M101 This magnificent galaxy with roughly 1 trillion stars is 21 million light years distant. Look close at the fuzzy spots nearby, they’re other galaxies. The Universe is swarming with galaxies. #stars #astrophotography #nightsky #galaxies

NGC2174, the Monkey Head Nebula in Orion. 6400 light years away. Shot this recently from my light-polluted backyard thanks to some specialized filters. 3hrs, 50min total exposure time. #stars #astronomy #space #nebula

Great Horned Owls, family portrait Taken a few years ago at Brazos Bend State Park outside of Houston, Texas. #birds #wildlifephotography #nature #photography #owls

Zooming in on the Heart Nebula. 7500 light years away in Cassiopeia. I shot this with special nebula filters so the red shows glowing hydrogen gas, the green is oxygen and the blue is sulphur. #stars #astrophotography #photography

More Sandhill Cranes - the video (too long for posting in Blue Sky). youtu.be/6b7ltZA1cr0?...

Sandhill Cranes by the Thousand Nebraska Sandhill crane migration. Landing on the Platte River. An awesome sight not to be missed. Dr Jane Goodall calls it “one of Earth’s great migrations”. #wildlifephotography #birds #nature #photography

Sandhill Crane Landing If you love birds, you’ll want to see the sandhill crane Spring migration in Nebraska. Up to half a million birds gather there and overnight along the Platte River. One of Earth’s “great migrations”. #wildlife #birds #photography #nature #cranes

Happy New Year

The famous Horsehead Nebula in Orion #stars #astrophotography #astronomy #wintersky

Great Egret Windy Day Mating display feathers are getting ruffled for this egret on a windy day in early Spring. #birds #wildlifephotography #photography #nature #wildlife

Great Blue Heron Love it when the GBHs put on their mating feathers in the Spring. #birds #wildlife #wildlifephotography #photography #naturw

Zooming in on the Milky Way On the left, the North American and Pelican Nebula taken last Summer. On the right, a crop of just the upper left corner of the first image. All those little speckles are individual stars in our galaxy and most of them have planets. #stars #astronomy #photography

Crested Caracara I’m always excited to see one of these birds. Their range is mostly in Mexico and Central/South America. Captured this image at Anahuac NWR on the Gulf Coast, not far from Galveston, TX. #birds #wildlifephotography #nature #wildlife #birdsofbluesky

NGC253 One of my favorite galaxies because of all of the dark nebula visible in the disk. Located in the southern constellation Sculptor, it’s not easy to see from most of the US. 11M light years away. #stars #astronomy #astrophotography #photography #galaxies

If you’re looking to get started in astrophotography, there are a variety of “smart telescopes” that do it all for you and are controlled by your phone. This is the most basic one. Much easier to use. #astronomy #stars #astrophotography youtu.be/Z1l5e5_s0O8?...

NGC 6888, the Crescent Nebula A cloud of gas 5000 light year distant in the thick of the Cygnus Milky Way. Captured this last Summer with my new 130mm refractor under dark skies. About 3 hours of total exposure. #stars #astronomy #astrophotography #photography

Cattle Egret Even the humble cattle egret looks pretty awesome when they put on their mating feathers each Spring. Photographed this one at a small county park near Alvin, Texas. #birds #wildlife #wildlifephotography #nature #photography

Oregon Wave The Oregon coast is a photographer’s dream location. #photography #landscapes #Oregon