Damnation Creek Trail along 101 in Northern California. Redwood heaven.

Adobe LightRoom 5.

Canon EOS 6D, Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM.

Photo Settings: 17mm, f/4, 1/40 second, ISO 100.

Driving to Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada. Shot in May 2014.

Samsung NX10.

Photo Settings: 104mm, f/11, 1/400 second, ISO 400.

A nice sunset at Cape Arago on the Oregon Coast on the evening of February 2nd, 2014.

I had to dodge a few incoming waves at this mid-tide time. My wife stands watch to yell at me when a big incoming one makes me grab the tripod and run. Finally captured the reflections I wanted.

Adobe Lightroom 5.3, Adobe Photoshop Elements 11, Lee 0.9 ND Hard Grad filter.

Canon EOS 5D Mark III, Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM.

Photo Settings: 17mm, f/11, 2 seconds, ISO 50.

Picture of the big apple right before vicious rain. Taken July 2018.

Adobe Lightroom 6, MeFOTO A1350, Fotodiox WonderPana ND 32 Filter.

Nikon D810, Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED.

Photo Settings: 14mm, f/14, 10 seconds, ISO 64.

Taken June 2016 while on Vacation. I was on Vacation. I shot this hand held late afternoon.

Shot in Raw and processed in Adobe Lightroom.

Nikon D7100, Tokina AT-X Pro 11-16mm f/2.8 DX.

Photo Settings: 14mm, f/4, 1/200 second, ISO 100.

The graceful, winding arms of the majestic spiral galaxy M51 (NGC 5194) appear like a grand spiral staircase sweeping through space. They are actually long lanes of stars and gas laced with dust.

This sharpest-ever image of the Whirlpool Galaxy, taken in January 2005 with the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, illustrates a spiral galaxy's grand design, from its curving spiral arms, where young stars reside, to its yellowish central core, a home of older stars. The galaxy is nicknamed the Whirlpool because of its swirling structure.

The Whirlpool's most striking feature is its two curving arms, a hallmark of so-called grand-design spiral galaxies. Many spiral galaxies possess numerous, loosely shaped arms which make their spiral structure less pronounced. These arms serve an important purpose in spiral galaxies. They are star-formation factories, compressing hydrogen gas and creating clusters of new stars. In the Whirlpool, the assembly line begins with the dark clouds of gas on the inner edge, then moves to bright pink star-forming regions, and ends with the brilliant blue star clusters along the outer edge.

Some astronomers believe that the Whirlpool's arms are so prominent because of the effects of a close encounter with NGC 5195, the small, yellowish galaxy at the outermost tip of one of the Whirlpool's arms. At first glance, the compact galaxy appears to be tugging on the arm. Hubble's clear view, however, shows that NGC 5195 is passing behind the Whirlpool. The small galaxy has been gliding past the Whirlpool for hundreds of millions of years.

As NGC 5195 drifts by, its gravitational muscle pumps up waves within the Whirlpool's pancake-shaped disk. The waves are like ripples in a pond generated when a rock is thrown in the water. When the waves pass through orbiting gas clouds within the disk, they squeeze the gaseous material along each arm's inner edge. The dark dusty material looks like gathering storm clouds. These dense clouds collapse, creating a wake of star birth, as seen in the bright pink star-forming regions. The largest stars eventually sweep away the dusty cocoons with a torrent of radiation, hurricane-like stellar winds, and shock waves from supernova blasts. Bright blue star clusters emerge from the mayhem, illuminating the Whirlpool's arms like city streetlights.

The Whirlpool is one of astronomy's galactic darlings. Located 31 million light-years away in the constellation Canes Venatici (the Hunting Dogs), the Whirlpool's beautiful face-on view and closeness to Earth allow astronomers to study a classic spiral galaxy's structure and star-forming processes.

Object Names: Whirlpool Galaxy, M51, NGC 5194/5

Credit: NASA, ESA, S. Beckwith (STScI), and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

This is the peak of Mount Cook, New Zealand. I captured this beautiful view during a recent flight around the Aoraki area with its wonderful mountains, glaciers and valleys.

For me - and I guess for most of other people, too - reaching the top of one of these mountains is a lifelong but yet unreachable dream.

Canon EOS 5DS R.

Carl Zeiss Milvus 2.8/18mm

Capture One Pro 11

Photo Settings: 18mm, f/5, 1/320 second, ISO 100.

Heath in Bloom at Zuiderheide, The Netherlands.

Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop.

Canon EOS 5D Mark III, Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM.

Photo Settings: 16mm, f/4, 1/320 second, ISO 100.

Beautiful sunset near Seceda, Italy.

Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop.

Canon EOS 5D Mark III, Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM.

Sunset at Fort Bragg, California.

My first successful HDR. The guy beside me had hundreds of dollars in filters. I hope his shots came out this nice!

Adobe Lightroom 5.

Canon EOS 6D, Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM.