Unlike most visitors, I find Zion National Park most magical during low season in the winter. It rains . . . a lot, but the low hanging clouds against the bright orange rocks and abundant waterfalls make for the most incredible captures. I hope this shares a slice of what a truly special place Zion is.

Adobe Lightroom Classic, Adobe Photoshop.

Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM.

Map: 37.2750, -112.9445

We almost missed this sunset due to snow and clouds rolling in and creating a complete blanket of gray skies. However, we decided to wait, standing in the cold wind and snow flurries, just in case. After a couple hours of waiting, we were treated to one of the more vivid sunsets I have seen in quite some time. The sky exploded with a fiery glow as the winds calmed and the snow stopped.

Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom.

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

Photo Settings: 19mm, f/16, 4 seconds, ISO 64.

It was a rainy, cool day in Northern California. I wanted to capture the mood of the forest.

Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop CC.

Nikon D600, Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G.

I took this photo from the top of "Siegessäule", facing the skyline of Berlin, Germany.

Adobe Photoshop CC.

Nikon D600, Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 16-35mm f/4G ED VR.

Planetary nebulae like the Helix are sculpted late in a Sun-like star's life by a torrential gush of gases escaping from the dying star. They have nothing to do with planet formation, but got their name because they look like planetary disks when viewed through a small telescope. With higher magnification, the classic "donut-hole" in the middle of a planetary nebula can be resolved. Based on the nebula's distance of 650 light-years, its angular size corresponds to a huge ring with a diameter of nearly 3 light-years. That's approximately three-quarters of the distance between our Sun and the nearest star.

The Helix Nebula is a popular target of amateur astronomers and can be seen with binoculars as a ghostly, greenish cloud in the constellation Aquarius. Larger amateur telescopes can resolve the ring-shaped nebula, but only the largest ground-based telescopes can resolve the radial streaks. After careful analysis, astronomers concluded the nebula really isn't a bubble, but is a cylinder that happens to be pointed toward Earth.

Credit: NASA, NOAO, ESA, the Hubble Helix Nebula Team, M. Meixner (STScI), and T.A. Rector (NRAO).

The Montenegran town of Kotor dates back to Roman times and is surrounded by 4km of city walls which encompass both the city and the mountains behind it. This picture was taken around mid day, there was still a touch of mist lingering in the mountains.

Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop.

Nikon D610, Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED.

Photo Settings: 24mm, f/8, 1/200 second, ISO 100.

This is the first time I visited Yosemite and thus obviously the first time I saw the famed Tunnel View vista. This is at sunrise, about 5:30 in the morning. The crowds were still thin, and many roads in the park had just been re-opened for the Spring/Summer. I have adjusted the RAW file for exposure and white balance in Photoshop and Light Room, with additional minor tweaks in Exposure X2.

Lightroom, Photoshop, Exposure X2. Sony a7rii, Tamron 15-30mm f/2.8 lens.

Sony Alpha 7R, Tamron SP AF 17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di II LD Aspherical (IF).

Photo Settings: 17mm, f/5, 2.5 seconds, ISO 400.

Map: 37.7156, -119.6769

Second Roach Lake from Medawisla AMC Lodge, Maine.

Fuji X-T20

Photo Settings: 10mm, f/11, 1/100 second, ISO 200.

NASA and ESA are celebrating the Hubble Space Telescope's silver anniversary of 25 years in space by unveiling some of nature's own fireworks — a giant cluster of about 3,000 stars called Westerlund 2. The cluster resides inside a vibrant stellar breeding ground known as Gum 29, located 20,000 light-years away in the constellation Carina. The comparatively young, 2-million-year-old star cluster contains some of our galaxy's hottest, brightest, and most massive stars. The largest stars are unleashing a torrent of ultraviolet light and hurricane-force winds that etch away the enveloping hydrogen gas cloud. This creates a fantasy celestial landscape of pillars, ridges, and valleys.

Press release: hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2015/12/full/

Copyright © Sebastian Köhling. Picture taken near the beach in La Pared.

Camera RAW

Sony Alpha 7, Samyang 16mm f/2.0 ED AS UMC CS.