Since Jan 14th I have been working on imaging NGC 2359. Seeing conditions have been spotty. I collected over 21 hrs of data, but only used 15.4 hrs of data tossing the rest due to poor seeing. I have to say this is better than any previous attempts with OSC camera. #astrophotography #colorado #ZWO

Captured this Common Hoopoe in Maasai Mara National Reserve. He very obligingly posed for us in the evening sunlight. #birds #nikon #z8 #safari #Africa #Kenya #wildlife

Wrapping up post on data collected before Christmas. Pleiades open star cluster taken with ASI 1600mm and William Optics z63. 4 hrs of LRGB data. #astrophotography

Continuing adventures with mono. Took a bit since I was fighting cloudy nights; thought I would never get my Oiii data. And post processing can be a major time sink hole. I have 4 different color versions of this target. Attached are two. #astrophotography #colorado

#Astrophotography was not on the agenda during safari. But it was fun to observe constellations that are normally on the horizon at home straight over head. I did set up a go pro and captured a 1 hr star trail timelapse. Looking north with Polaris on the horizon. Bit different at 3° vs 39°

A juvenile American Goshawk hunting during yesterday's snow storm. He/she caught the squirrel in a tree and then proceeded to try and kill it by dropping it. Unfortunately the soft powder made that a challenge. Eventually seceded and flew off with dinner. #colorado #birds #cobirds

Big stretchies! Our #safari group came upon this cheetah waking up for the evening in Maasai Mara National Reserve. #wildlife #Africa #Kenya #Nikon #z8

So I have my first mono astro cooled camera. I was able to pick it up used from a club member. So now a whole new adventure begins. My first night out I targeted IC 1848 Soul Nebula. In post I created two versions: SHO and HOO. Lots to learn. Details in alt text #astrophotography #colorado

Little Malachite Kingfisher seen in #Amboseli National Park in #Kenya. #birds #nikon #safari #Africa

Heart Nebula in SHO. I have been playing with the new L-Synergy filter from #Optlong for creating SHO palette images with a color camera when combined with L-eXtreme data. Still figuring out the workflow but like the detail. Total exposure is 16 hrs. #astrophotography #colorado #nikon

Two more images one with a meteor that decided to get in on the action. #astrophotography #aurora #meteor #nikon

Some #Aurora shots from last night. These were taken with a #Nikon #z8 and 14mm lens at f/4, 8 secs, ISO 3200. So bright we were able to see and watch the movement with our eyes. #astrophotograpy #colorado

Still going strong here in Colorado with amazing activity and movement that you can see with your eyes. #astrophotography #aurora, #colorado

Aurora from southern Colorado. Been active now for about 2 hrs and still going. #astrophotography #aurora #colorado

Some still images of #lions mating. #Serengeti #Safari #Tanzania #wildlife #nikon #z8

Video is not the best. Taken with a GoPro so very wide angle. I have zoomed in 200% so it breaks apart. But the video is more about the audio which captured the lion vocalizing after mating. #Serengeti #Africa #Safari #wildlife #lion

On Safari in #Tanzania we came across a pride of lions abandoning a kill to a pack of hyenas. In the video you see 4 adults herding the cubs away while two lionesses stand guard to make sure the hyenas do not follow. Love the little bouncing one. #Africa #wildlife #nikon

Our greeting party as we entered #Serengeti National Park in #Tanzania. Note the movement under the tree where others have gathered. I was not prepared for how emotional seeing these animals would be. #Elephants #Africa #Safari #wildlife

LBN 437 Gecko Nebula located in the constellation Lacerta. I had imaged this area as widefield two years ago but decided I wanted to try and isolate this molecular cloud and reflection nebula on its own. Total integration time 21 hrs. #astrophotography #colorado #nikon

Some birds I hoped to see on safari, and then some birds were a big surprise. This is a Saddle-billed Stork named for the yellow saddle shaped patch on the bill. Up to 5ft (1.5m) tall. This male stork is standing in a wetland in #Amboseli National Park. #birds #Kenya #Africa #wildlife #nikon

Starting to see nice separation of the dust and ion tails now. This is C/2025 A6 Lemmon from Oct 21. 60 minutes of data. Much better than where I started this week at 11 minutes. Captured with #Nikon D5300a and William Optics z73 430mm scope. #astrophotography #comet #nightsky

Another night on comet C/2025 A6 Lemmon. I found a different location that avoided setting behind trees too quickly. This is 48 minutes of data. It is has developed a very nice tail. Equipment details in alt text. One more night and then its clouds for days. #astrophotography #comet #nightsky #nikon

Rare clear night and comet C/2025 A6 Lemmon. Unfortunately I don't have a very good view since it sets behind trees quickly. This is only 11 minutes of data. Plan is to capture a little bit every night and build from there. It is developing a very nice tail. #astrophotography #comet #nightsky

What's in a name. #Secretarybird named in the 1800 after male secretaries that wore gray tailcoats, dark knee-length pants and carried goose-quill pens behind their ears. Sorry for the video shake. Happens when you are in a jeep with a bunch of excited birders. #birds #Kenya #Africa #wildlife #Nikon

#Secretarybird -- This bird is on the endangered list so really excited we were able to find and image. This is tall crane-like terrestrial raptor. It hunts for reptiles and small mammals which it stomps with its powerful legs. #birds #Tanzania #Africa #wildlife #Nikon

Little Bee-eater for today. Another 'I hope I see...' bird. This is the smallest of all Bee-eater species in Africa. #birds #Kenya #Tanzania #Africa #Nikon

Working through 1000s of images from East Africa, and overwhelmed with what to share. Decided to start with #birds; specifically the "I hope I see..." list of birds. So starting one a day, first up Gray Crowned-Crane. I was hoping to see a few-- ended up seeing flocks of 100s. #Kenya #Tanzania

Just returned from an amazing safari trip to East Africa; #Kenya and #Tanzania. Lots of images to sort. Meanwhile, a video that I took in Ngorongoro Crater. It's a bit shaky since it was hand held telephoto and a lot of heat waves but still pretty cool. #nikon #wildlife #Lion

M27 Dumbbell Nebula. Taken in bortle 2 conditions. Skies were so dark and clear and the target so bright it did its own post processing. Astro modified Nikon D5300, RC6 (1370mm at f/9), ISO 1600, 5 min exps. Total stack 3.5 hrs. #Colorado #astrophotography

NGC 6559 nicknamed Chinese Dragon Nebula for the dark nebula next to the central star. For me, this was one of those targets where you keep coming back and tweaking. Calling it done for now. Nikon D5300a, RC6 (1370mm at f/9), ISO 1600, 5 min exps. Total stack 3.2 hrs. #Colorado #astrophotography

Greater Short-horned Lizard (aka horny toad) from my hike today. Only had a cell phone so not the greatest picture. #Lizard #Colorado #reptile

Rufous Hummingbird perched in the shade of a pine tree. #Birds #Colorado #Hummingbird #cobirds

Another capture from June; Rho Ophiuchi. Captured with an unmodified Nikon Z6 and Rokinon 135mm f/2 lens on a star tracker. ISO 1600, 1 minute exposures. Total stack 3.5 hours. Bortle 2 skies. #Colorado #astrophotography

Continuing through my Rocky Mountain Star Stare captures from June. This is IC 1396 Elephant's Trunk Nebula. This was a backup target for when clouds got in the way of Blue Horsehead. Wider angle than I have used to captured before. Equipment details in alt text. #Colorado #astrophotography

Super cool experience last night. Had an opportunity to go on a Flammulated Owl walk lead by University researchers. Second smallest owl in North America. It got its name from the flame-like markings on the wings. #birds #cobirds #colorado

Attended Rocky Mountain Star Stare this past week. Had great dark skies conditions. Just now starting to go through all the data captured. My target project for the week was Blue Horsehead Nebula in Scorpius; captured over two nights. Equipment details in alt text. #Colorado #astrophotography

Decided to stack all the data from my Aurora watch night (6/1-6/2) and create a star trail. #astrophotography #colorado #startrail

Set up a camera to try and capture the #aurora on Jun 2. I did not see anything but the camera came through and captured a tiny event at 3:00-3:51 local time. Its fun to watch the stars in the sky in any case. Nikon z6, 14mm, 8 sec exposures. #astrophotography, #northernlights #Milkyway #colorado

Male Evening Grosbeak #bird #cobirds #colorado

Broad-tailed Hummingbird at the rock bubbler taking a bath. #bird #hummingbird #cobirds #colorado

Attended the Pikes Peak Birding & Nature Festival this weekend and had some spectacular birding hikes. 5 lifers. One being this Lazuli Bunting. And Western Tanagers always deliver. #birds #cobirds #colorado

Somewhere around May 13th we got a hatchling in the Hairy Woodpecker nest. Now feeding time begins. This is a little composite of clips from the game camera on the nest. Have not seen any little beaks yet. Probably another week. #birds #cobirds #colorado #woodpecker

Encountered a Ruby-crowned Kinglet with attitude while out birding this weekend. Very pleased to have captured his crown displayed. In the second picture I feel like he is saying "See my crown? Its red. Don't mess with me!" #birds #cobirds #Colorado

Male Hairy Woodpecker - mate to the female in the video. I think the nest is active since it is not being left unattended with the male and female trading off. I have a game camera set up on the nest so hopefully we will see a chick or two later this month. #birds #cobirds #colorado

Feeder Watch today. This is a digiscoped video of a female Hairy Woodpecker that is nesting on our property in a Aspen tree cavity. She is out from the nest bulking up on some suet before returning to egg duty. I have some stills of her mate that I will post later. #cobirds #birds #Colorado

Migrating Evening Grosbeaks at our feeders today. Lights Out Colorado! Our feathered friends are on the move. #cobirds #birds #Colorado

#Sun Day. After using solar eclipse glasses to view the giant sunspot AR4079 with my eyes, I decided to image with my telephoto lens and solar filter. Captured with a Nikon z6, 180-600mm @ 600mm, f/8, 1/3200 sec, ISO 200 and Kase Solar ND filter. #Solar #Astrophotography

Waking up for spring. Western Terrestrial Garter Snake. I was out cleaning up leaf litter on the rock drive and almost stepped on him/her. Little sluggish but definitely enjoying the warm rocks. #Colorado #herps #wildlife

While out looking for the Mountain Plover came across a Burrowing Owl which is always fun to image. #colorado #birds #cobirds #owls