Landscapes

Comet, Montana."

"Comet, Montana, population of roughly 300 people — in 1880. The town faded only to return in the 1920's to become Montana's second-largest mining venture, after Butte. Miners could rent a room at this two-story boarding house for 75¢ a night from their $4 a day wages. Comet returned to ghost town status once again by the early 1940's. Comet NEOWISE (background) is also fading but will return in 6,800 years."

"Organ Pipe Star Trails"

Organ pipe cactus and yellow brittlebush flowers stand before the desert stars on a moonless night, showing several hours of the Earth's rotation around Polaris, the north star.

"Saint Nicholas Alpenglow."

Glacier's Mount Saint Nicholas wears a late fall scarf of golden larch and an early winter snow-dipped alpenglow spotlight.

"Saturday Night Lights."

The lights of Missoula Valley sparkle from Washington Grizzly Stadium and downtown all the way out to Lolo Peak, Blue Mountain, Ch-paa-qn Peak (Squaw Peak), lower Rattlesnake and the "L."

"Flathead River Bend."

Northern lights show up as a greenish glow and colorful spikes through broken clouds above the Flathead River, in northwestern Montana. And as dark clouds drift over small towns, they reflect the orange glow of lights pointing into the sky.

"Trapper Peaks Moonset"

North and South Trapper Peaks take a bite out of August's full moon, just before dawn near Darby Montana. The moon was 99.9% full when this image was made at 05:42.

"Heaven on Earth."

Dawn sunbeams over Heavens Peak spotlight the North Fork Valley in Glacier National Park.

"Logan Pass Milky Way."

The summer Milky Way arches between Pollock Mountain (left) and Mount Reynolds, high above Logan Pass in Glacier National Park, Montana. This was created during a cloudless 1 a.m., pre-moonrise morning, and it's a 200° wide panorama (30 overlapping frames). Saturn (left) and Jupiter (right) align with the peak of Reynolds, on either side of the Milky Way, and the Andromeda galaxy is right of the Pollock Mountain peak.

"Dusty Star Meteor."

A brilliant, December meteor streaks across the skies above Saint Mary Lake, in Glacier National Park. The meteor went dark above Dusty Star Mountain, or "Iszika-kakatosi" in Blackfeet, which means dusty star or meteor. This earthgrazer meteor lasted several seconds and left behind a smoke trail that persisted for at least 24 minutes.

"Roosevelt Arch, Yellowstone National Park."

After our Sun, the brightest orbs in our celestial view are (in order) the Moon, Venus and Jupiter. During a February dawn, it was Jupiter leading the way over the Roosevelt Arch in Yellowstone National Park, with Venus in second place and a 9% crescent Moon pulling up the morning. The quote across the top of the Roosevelt Arch is from the act that established America's national parks, reading, "For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People." Now THAT was a bright idea.

"Andromeda Rising."

The Andromeda galaxy rises above the northern lights (left), while Jupiter (bright, far right) leads the Milky Way’s arch into the midnight sky above Glacier National Park and the North Fork of the Flathead River.

"Great Northern Dawn"

That moment between dawn and sunrise, over Great Northern Mountain in Montana's Great Bear Wilderness.

"Going-to-the-Sun Road Aurora"

Headlights and taillights outline Glacier's historic Going-to-the-Sun Road at night while the Big Dipper rises over the northern lights. This 180-degree, east to west panorama includes (left to right) McDonald Creek, the Loop, Oberlin Bend, and the Logan Pass Visitors' Center. It's a 18-frame stitch (three rows of seven images) made between midnight and 1 a.m.

"Orionid Meteors Over Glacier Park

On the opening day of Montana's hunting season, I bagged 35 meteors between moonset (04:00) and dawn (06:30). All catch and release, of course, as documented in this composite image. Most meteors traced back towards Orion the Hunter, marking them as likely Orionid meteors — dust from Halley's Comet. Mountains in the middle are (left to right) Heavens Peak, McPartland Mtn. and Mt. Vaught, all in Glacier National Park.

"Spirit Above Spirit Within"

The Earth’s rotation around its north-south axis makes the stars seem to spin in circles around Polaris – the north star – above a tepee sculpture near Saint Mary. I spun my red headlamp in a spiral inside to mirror the stars and acknowledge our choice to bring the spirit above into our homes and hearts.

"Old-school Montana"

Montana still has about 60 rural and one-room schools in use today, but that's what's left of the 2,600 we once had. Most have faded into history. And some — like this proud marm wearing a fresh flag — are still flaking, rusting and exhaling back into the prairies.

"Moon Mars Saturn Jupiter"

At dusk on 24 July 2018, Jupiter (top right) and Saturn (just below the moon) emerged from the deepening blue, and Saturn (the Greek god of agriculture) accompanied a 94% gibbous moon through the night. After all three had crossed towards the west (left to right), reddish Mars rose above the southeastern horizon, clipping the Blasdel Barn on its westward journey. While Mars was hiding behind the barn, I used my headlamp to make a quick light painting of the faded red walls. Then — after a few hours' sleep — I added the layers together. Moon images 3:00 minutes apart, planet images 1:30 minutes apart. Frank W. Porter built the barn in 1908, and the Blasdel family purchased it in 1945. They sold it to the Fish & Wildlife Service in 1987, and today it is part of the Blasdel Waterfowl Production Area. But really it excels at producing mosquitoes.

"Moonstones."

Lake McDonald's colorful rocks shine in the light of a full moon.

"Mt. Reynolds Moonset"

April’s full “Pink Moon” sets behind Mt. Reynolds before dawn, painting thin clouds an appropriate pink.

"Numa Fire Lookout," Glacier National Park

The summer Milky Way fades into a sea of smoke surrounding the Numa fire lookout and Bowman Lake in Glacier National Park.

"Bighorn Canyon Aurora"

The midnight aurora reflects off the water’s surface at Bighorn Canyon, in southeastern Montana.

"Mount Reynolds Eclipse"

The sun laps the moon above Mount Reynolds during an 85% solar eclipse over Logan Pass in Glacier National Park on August 21st, 2017. I knew there would be an abundance of excellent totality photographs, so I decided to look instead for some recognizable scene in Montana. I searched the state for a mountain with a slope that matched that of the sunrise and partial eclipse, settling on one of the best-known locations in Glacier. I picked this location during my scouting trip when I realized that the thin snow field would mirror the eclipse path, complete with a round "eclipse" of rocks. To make the image, I arrived before dawn to set up my cameras/tripods and capture dawn's first light on the mountain top, sans solar filter. Then I programmed the solar-filter protected camera to record images of the sun every 20 seconds, selecting those 2:20 minutes apart for this composite image.

"Flathead Lake Aurora"

Northern lights pulse and sway over Flathead Lake and the sleepy little town of Polson, in northwestern Montana.