Mile High Photographer

Mile High Photographer Full service photographer located in Rockwall, Texas. Portraits, weddings, senior photos and more.

Two rigs running tonight capturing different nebulae within the Milky Way region of the sky. Picture in Picture running...
07/14/2026

Two rigs running tonight capturing different nebulae within the Milky Way region of the sky. Picture in Picture running as well so I can still watch tv while monitoring the captures. Dark sky for the in!

The Pacman Nebula πŸ‘»πŸŒ Rockwall County, Texas, USANGC 281, nicknamed the Pacman Nebula for the dark dust lane that bites i...
07/04/2026

The Pacman Nebula πŸ‘»

🌍 Rockwall County, Texas, USA

NGC 281, nicknamed the Pacman Nebula for the dark dust lane that bites into its glowing hydrogen shell, lies roughly 9,500 light-years away in Cassiopeia. The nebula is illuminated by IC 1590, a young open cluster of hot O-type stars still embedded in the gas cloud from which they formed. Radiation and stellar winds from these stars are actively sculpting the surrounding nebula, carving the dense dust pillars visible near its center β€” regions of ongoing star formation caught mid-process.

Captured in SHO narrowband palette β€” Sulfur-II in red, Hydrogen-Alpha in green, Oxygen-III in blue β€” from my backyard in Rockwall, Texas, across three imaging sessions.

EXIF:
- Camera: Player One Uranus-M (Sony IMX585)
- Telescope: ZWO FF80
- Focal Length: 600mm
- Pixel Size: 2.90Β΅m
- Filters: Sulfur-II, Hydrogen-Alpha, Oxygen-III
- SII: 27 frames Γ— 600s β€” Gain 210, Bin 1Γ—1
- Ha: 14 frames Γ— 300s + 2 frames Γ— 600s β€” Gain 210, Bin 1Γ—1
- OIII: 34 frames Γ— 300s + 17 frames Γ— 600s β€” Gain 210, Bin 1Γ—1
- Total Integration: ~11h 40m
- Processing: Siril, AMSP, GraXpert, VeraLux HyperMetric Stretch, VeraLux Curves, StarComposer, Lightroom
- Date: July 1–3, 2026

Flashback Friday to July 4, 2020. Fireworks Over Mt Rushmore
07/04/2026

Flashback Friday to July 4, 2020. Fireworks Over Mt Rushmore

We ready, we ready, we ready for stars….
06/27/2026

We ready, we ready, we ready for stars….

The Wizard πŸ§™πŸŒŽ Rockwall County, Texas, USANGC 7380, the Wizard Nebula, is an emission nebula in the constellation Cepheus...
06/18/2026

The Wizard πŸ§™

🌎 Rockwall County, Texas, USA
NGC 7380, the Wizard Nebula, is an emission nebula in the constellation Cepheus approximately 7,000 light-years from Earth. The nebula surrounds the young open star cluster NGC 7380, whose powerful stellar winds and radiation are actively sculpting the surrounding gas and dust into the dramatic pillars and ridgelines visible here. The warm gold regions trace sulfur-II emission concentrated around the brightest star-forming zones, while the cooler oxygen-III signal wraps the outer structure in blue β€” a natural division in the physics of the nebula itself. Captured in narrowband from my backyard in Rockwall, Texas.

EXIF:
Camera: Player One Uranus-M (Sony IMX585)
Telescope: ZWO FF80
Focal Length: 600mm
Pixel Size: 2.90Β΅m
Filters: Sulfur-II, Hydrogen-Alpha, Oxygen-III
SII: 30 frames Γ— 300s β€” Gain 210, Bin 1Γ—1
Ha: 6 frames Γ— 300s β€” Gain 210, Bin 1Γ—1
OIII: 27 frames Γ— 300s β€” Gain 210, Bin 1Γ—1
Total Integration: 5h 15m
Processing: Siril, ASMP, GraXpert, VeraLux Alchemy, HyperMetric Stretch, VeraLux Revela & Curves, Photoshop
Date: June 16–17, 2026

A Bubble in Gold 🫧🌍 Rockwall County, Texas, USANGC 7635, the Bubble Nebula, paired with the open star cluster M52 in Cas...
06/17/2026

A Bubble in Gold 🫧
🌍 Rockwall County, Texas, USA
NGC 7635, the Bubble Nebula, paired with the open star cluster M52 in Cassiopeia β€” two objects that share the frame but not much else. The Bubble is a stellar wind bubble blown by a massive young O-type star, BD+60Β°2522, pushing into the surrounding molecular cloud and carving that nearly perfect 7-ly sphere visible just left of center. M52, off to the right, is a much closer, unrelated open cluster of a few thousand young stars. Captured in SII/Ha/OIII narrowband from my backyard in Rockwall, then run through a custom palette mapping (rather than the traditional Hubble SHO green) to bring out a warmer, more natural gold-and-blue color story.
EXIF:

Camera: Player One Uranus-M Pro (Sony IMX585)

Telescope: ZWO FF80

Focal Length: 600mm

Pixel Size: 2.90Β΅m

Filters: Sulfur-II, Hydrogen-Alpha, Oxygen-III

SII: 8 frames Γ— 600s β€” Gain 210, Offset 20, Bin 1Γ—1

Ha: 6 frames Γ— 300s β€” Gain 210, Offset 20, Bin 1Γ—1

OIII: 12 frames Γ— 300s β€” Gain 210, Offset 20, Bin 1Γ—1

Total Integration: 2h 50m

Processing: Siril, GraXpert, VeraLux Alchemy, Adobe Camera Raw (color calibration), Seti Astro Perfect Palette Picker, VeraLux StarComposer, SyQon Prism, Paralax, Lightroom (curves + vignette)

Mount: UMi 17S Harmonic

Date: June 16–17, 2026

Feather Pull πŸͺΆπŸŒ Brevard County, Florida, USAA Great Egret (Ardea alba) tips its bill to the sky at Merritt Island Nation...
06/15/2026

Feather Pull πŸͺΆ
🌍 Brevard County, Florida, USA
A Great Egret (Ardea alba) tips its bill to the sky at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, working a loose aigrette free with quiet patience. It is the last evening of March. The sun is low and the plumes catch it fully, each filament burning gold against the cool water. One more night of stillness before Artemis II would shake the cape and split the sky.
EXIF:

Camera: Sony Ξ±9 III (ILCE-9M3)
Lens: Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 + 2Γ— Teleconverter
Focal Length: 800mm
Exposure: 1/3200 sec at f/5.6
ISO: 400
Date: March 31, 2026

Into the Trunk 🐘🌍 Rockwall County, Texas, USAThe Elephant’s Trunk Nebula (IC 1396) β€” a dense pillar of gas and dust appr...
06/14/2026

Into the Trunk 🐘

🌍 Rockwall County, Texas, USA

The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula (IC 1396) β€” a dense pillar of gas and dust approximately 2,400 light-years away in the constellation Cepheus. The trunk is a site of active star formation, its dark interior shielding nascent protostars from the intense radiation of the surrounding HII region. The glowing rim along the top of the pillar marks the ionization front where ultraviolet radiation from the central star cluster is slowly eroding the structure away. Captured in SHO narrowband palette β€” Sulfur-II in red, Hydrogen-Alpha in green, Oxygen-III in blue β€” from my backyard in Rockwall, Texas. First draft β€” more integration time planned.

EXIF:

β€’ Camera: Player One Uranus-M Pro (Sony IMX585)
β€’ Telescope: ZWO FF80
β€’ Focal Length: 600mm
β€’ Pixel Size: 2.90Β΅m
β€’ Filters: Sulfur-II, Hydrogen-Alpha, Oxygen-III
β€’ SII: 13 frames Γ— 600s β€” Gain 210, Bin 1Γ—1
β€’ Ha: 9 frames Γ— 300s β€” Gain 210, Bin 1Γ—1
β€’ OIII: 18 frames Γ— 300s β€” Gain 210, Bin 1Γ—1
β€’ Total Integration: ~3h 45m
β€’ Processing: Siril, ASMP, GraXpert, nb2rgb, VeraLux Alchemy, HyperMetric Stretch, Paralax, Prism, VeraLux Revela & Curves, Vectra, StarComposer, Photoshop, Lightroom
β€’ Date: June 13, 2026

Heart of the Wolf 🐺🌍 Rockwall County, Texas, USAFirst light on the Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888), a Wolf-Rayet emission neb...
06/13/2026

Heart of the Wolf 🐺
🌍 Rockwall County, Texas, USA
First light on the Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888), a Wolf-Rayet emission nebula in Cygnus shaped by the powerful stellar winds of WR 136 β€” one of the hottest, most luminous stars known. The glowing shell you see is material the star has blown off over thousands of years, lit up by its intense ultraviolet radiation. Captured in SHO narrowband palette β€” Sulfur-II in red, Hydrogen-Alpha in green, Oxygen-III in blue β€” from my backyard in Rockwall, Texas. This is a first draft β€” I plan to continue capturing data and increasing integration time.
EXIF:

Camera: Player One Uranus-M (Sony IMX585)
Telescope: ZWO FF80
Focal Length: 600mm
Pixel Size: 2.90Β΅m
Filters: Sulfur-II, Hydrogen-Alpha, Oxygen-III
SII: 14 frames Γ— 600s β€” Gain 210, Bin 1Γ—1
Ha: 12 frames Γ— 300s β€” Gain 210, Bin 1Γ—1
OIII: 24 frames Γ— 300s β€” Gain 210, Bin 1Γ—1
Total Integration: 5h 20m
Processing: Siril, GraXpert, VeraLux Alchemy, HyperMetric Stretch, VeraLux Revela & Curves, Photoshop
Date: June 12–13, 2026

Fire and Dust πŸ”₯🌍 Rockwall County, Texas, USA First draft from initial data capture of Sh2-112 and Sh2-115 β€” two emission...
06/12/2026

Fire and Dust πŸ”₯

🌍 Rockwall County, Texas, USA

First draft from initial data capture of Sh2-112 and Sh2-115 β€” two emission nebulae in the constellation Cygnus that appear side by side in the sky but are actually at vastly different distances from Earth. Sh2-112, the compact circular nebula on the left, lies approximately 5,600 light-years away and is ionized by a single massive O-type star whose radiation carves the striking dark dust lanes visible on its western edge. Sh2-115, the larger more complex region on the right, is considerably closer at roughly 3,000 light-years. Both are active star-forming regions embedded in the rich dust and gas clouds of the Orion Arm of the Milky Way. Captured in SHO narrowband palette β€” Sulfur-II in red, Hydrogen-Alpha in green, Oxygen-III in blue β€” from my backyard in Rockwall, Texas. This is a work in progress β€” I plan to continue capturing data and increasing integration time.

EXIF:
Camera: Player One Uranus-M (Sony IMX585)
Telescope: SVBONY SV555
Focal Length: 243mm
Pixel Size: 2.90Β΅m
Filters: Sulfur-II, Hydrogen-Alpha, Oxygen-III
SII: 10 frames Γ— 600s β€” Gain 210, Bin 1Γ—1
Ha: 18 frames Γ— 300s β€” Gain 210, Bin 1Γ—1
OIII: 22 frames Γ— 300s β€” Gain 210, Bin 1Γ—1
Total Integration: ~4h 15m
Processing: Siril, ASMP, GraXpert, VeraLux Alchemy, HyperMetric Stretch, VeraLux Revela & Curves, Photoshop
Date: June 11–12, 2026

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Rockwall, TX

Telephone

+14177704019

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