Tim Reaves Photography

03/05/2026

Decided to go black and white for this photo of Daffodil Flats.

02/24/2026

Contemplating the cosmos. Here's quick re-edit of a shot from 10 years ago. My brother and I explored some of our old stomping grounds in the Boone area at night.

02/17/2026

After four hours of imaging, the Rosette Nebula blooms in the sky.

I recently got a Dwarf Mini smart telescope, and it's been a blast to use! It solves most of the problems that normally keep me out of the field with my astrophotography rig - the size/weight, finicky polar alignment, and lack of go-to functionality. Basically, my normal setup is more powerful, but I have to do everything manually, including carefully aligning the equatorial mount to Polaris and actually finding the object I'm trying to photograph, which is usually invisible to the naked eye. So I spend a lot of time confirming alignment and taking test shots. The Dwarf Mini checks its own alignment and guides your adjustments to achieve better results. It then automatically finds and locks onto whatever target you give it. It also automatically takes dark frames (another thing I used to have to do manually).

The short version is, it automates most of the things that make deep sky astrophotography frustrating, but it comes at the expense of total power. It's a great sidekick for a big imaging session or the primary telescope for a night when I'd otherwise feel unmotivated.

02/09/2026

Human beings are the storytelling animal, and this star cluster is the subject of what might be humanity’s oldest surviving story.

The Pleiades, or seven sisters, are hot blue luminous stars that have formed within the last 100 million years- young on a cosmic timescale.

Throughout the world, humans have stories about the origin of these stars, usually involving seven maidens who get attacked or chased by a ferocious animal or an unwelcome suitor. Many stories involve the maidens asking a powerful god to save them, with that god sending them into the heavens to escape their pursuer.

Here’s the interesting part. Most people today can see only six stars with the naked eye, but stars move relative to each other on timescales far beyond human lifetimes. Astronomers have shown that tens of thousands of years ago, one of the stars now seen as part of a close pair would have appeared more clearly separated, making seven stars easier to distinguish.

Combined with the remarkably similar stories found across widely separated cultures, this has led some anthropologists and archaeoastronomers to suggest that the core of these stories may be extraordinarily old- possibly originating tens of thousands of years ago. While this idea remains debated, it offers a rare example of how human storytelling may preserve memories of the night sky from deep prehistory.

11/25/2025

🌌 Black Friday Art Deal: “Secrets of the Holler” - 50% Off!

✨ 40×30" Fine Art Print - Normally $300, Now Only $150 ✨
🕒 Starts NOW · Ends Nov. 30 at 5 p.m.
🔥 ONLY 25 PRINTS WILL BE SHIPPED!

Step into the Appalachian night with “Secrets of the Holler,” a long-exposure portrait of one of Western North Carolina’s rarest natural wonders - blue ghost fireflies. Captured deep in the Appalachian Mountains after dark, this image reveals their vibrant, continuous light paths formed through long-exposure photography

This 40×30" gallery print is a true statement piece - immersive, luminous, and a glimpse into a phenomenon few ever witness.

➡️ Order here: https://fineartamerica.com/weeklypromotion.html?promotionid=289458

Bring a little mountain magic home for the holidays.

11/05/2025

🍁 Fall in Full Color 🍁
There’s nothing like autumn in the Blue Ridge- fiery maples, misty mornings, and that golden light that turns every trail into a painting.

Explore my Fall Colors Collection for vibrant prints, canvases, metal panels, and more- perfect for bringing a touch of mountain magic into your home. 🍂 Link below ⬇️



https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/1-tim-reaves/collections/fall+colors

10/24/2025

Grandfather Mountain and the Linn Cove Viaduct, shot from Rough Ridge last weekend.

10/22/2025

Comet Lemmon slipping beneath Mt. Pisgah 🌠🔭📸

I caught this fleeting visitor just before it disappeared below the horizon Monday night. At only a few degrees above the mountain's shoulder, the window was short and frantic. I raced to the Mt. Pisgah parking lot, quickly polar-aligned my tracker, and managed 13 good subs- 26 minutes total at 2 minutes each.

Using a 250mm telescope lens and a star tracker, I was able to freeze the sky and keep it sharp by matching Earth’s rotation in reverse- requiring a careful alignment to Polaris, the North Star.

Comet Lemmon (C/2025 A6) is now streaking through the inner solar system on a long, elliptical path, and it won't return for thousands of years. ☄️

09/12/2025

I'll be in the Pinegate Renewables parking lot (130 Roberts St., Asheville) tomorrow from 10-5 with several metal prints and smaller items, including haunting photos of the aurora borealis over the River Arts District after Helene.

09/02/2025

A huge thank you to Asheville Regional Airport for including my work in "Mountain Memories," the first exhibit in their new terminal, and for sharing this story about my photography. ✨

"Secrets of the Holler" captures the fleeting glow of blue ghost fireflies in the Western North Carolina night- one of the most magical sights I’ve ever witnessed.

You can read more on their blog here: https://flyavl.com/article/tim-reaves-finding-light-dark

And see more of my photography at bit.ly/timreaves

Photographer Tim Reaves captures the quiet magic of Western North Carolina nights. His piece "Secrets of the Holler," featured in "Mountain Memories," the inaugural exhibit in AVL's new terminal, reveals the rare blue ghost fireflies as you've never seen them before. Follow his path into the night on our blog.

https://flyavl.com/article/tim-reaves-finding-light-dark

08/21/2025

I brought my camera with me to a beach vacation with my partner’s family, and I’m very glad I did. The clouds cleared on a couple nights and revealed a surprisingly dark sky over the dunes of Fort Fisher State Recreation Area. I didn’t expect astrophotography conditions rivaling those in the mountains this close to populated areas along the coast.

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