The Father, the Mother.

The view of Mt Rushmore from the South showing the juxtaposition of the founding father (George Washington) and the mother in the night sky (Cassiopeia; the 'W' shaped constellation).

Bear Butte Northern Lights.

Invincible.

One of those moments when I took the shot and my heart skipped a beat when i saw the back of the camera. Neowise comet above Crazy Horse Memorial, world's largest mountain carving.

Gone with the Wind.

A hoodoo in the Badlands. Surface of the Badlands have been wearing away mostly by wind at a brisk rate of about 1 inch per year. I just wonder how different it would look 100 years from now!

The Sleeping Bear.

Bear Butte, locally called Mato Paha (bear mountain) is a reference to the fact that its profile resembles a sleeping bear. The name makes even more sense when you see the night sky where the big dipper, a part of the the Great Bear (Ursa major) constellation makes a beautiful juxtaposition.

The Humbling River.

There is something about our dark night sky, those unfathomable stars and that milk-like river in the sky that never ceases to amaze me. A sense of wonder and awe resurfaces; a pretty humbling experience. A 180 panorama (North-East-South) captured from the rugged and scenic Spearfish Canyon.

Heart Shaped Box.

Sometime having a human element in a nightscape can be super fun and can add weight to the photo. Loved how this turned out with my lighting setup and specially with the shape of the shadow.

Stockade Skies.

Dark night Cold air, Bright stars Warm feeling. Look up and get lost.

Pneuma.

Majestic display of light show in the form of Balloon glow at the Stratobowl. Would have loved to catch stars in they sky but the full moon was too powerful as it washed out most of the stars.

Troika.

Closer look of the photogenic core region with endless sea of stars. Foreground peaks illuminated with an artificial light source.

Rainbow Rising.

Panoramic view of the rising Milky Way and the Moonlit Badlands.

Love of My Life.

Nocturne.

A Starry Night at Spearfish Falls.

The Sentinel.

The Watcher Of The Fields - A lone oak tree stands resilient keeping a close eye on this Wisconsin corn field under sky full of stars. Almost harvest time for these ripening corns. Had to fight a bit with the background light pollution which also illuminated the incoming clouds.

Peaceful Sylvan.

A cropped view of a panorama stitch I did earlier this summer at Sylvan Lake, SD. Full panorama -> https://bit.ly/2G47O1V

Light in the Black.

Milky Way over the iconic Delicate Arch, Utah.

Coming Back to Life.

A rustic old stump seems to come alive under a sky full of stars. Light pollution coming from Keystone, Hill City and Custer adds colorful glow on the horizon.

Show me the Way.

A magical night at the Needles Eye; a perfect haven for repose.

Soulful Attunement.

The vast South Dakota prairie and the torrent of stars above does knock on one’s spiritual corner quite well.

Fourth of July Night Sky.

Milky Way over Devils Tower, Wyoming on the night of 4th of July, 2018.

The crown jewel of our Milky Way - Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex.

The dark skies of South Dakota reveals such a colorful night sky, just makes you fall in love with it all over again. The Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex has one of the most vibrant and colorful nebulas in space.

Star Trails over Bear Butte.

Dakota Roof.

Panoramic Milky Way from Black Elk Peak.

"Excuse me, while I kiss the Sky."

Black Elk Peak and the lookout tower under the spell of mesmerizing night sky.

The Bear and the Mighty Hunter.

The Rising Orion (aka the Hunter) and the majestic Devils Tower (Bear Lodge).

Blossoming Stars in a Cold Chilly Night.

Glittering Milky Way over Sylvan Lake.

Winter Jewels.

The Great Orion Nebula and surrounding regions in the Heart of the Orion Constellation.

Once upon a time.

An abandoned home in ghost town on Ardmore, South Dakota.

Starry Rushmore.

Stars of our planet shine brightly with millions of stars in the sky.

Owanka Lights.

An Abandoned Grain Elevator in a township of Owanka, South Dakota.

Abandoned Ardmore.

A deserted barn in the ghost town of Ardmore makes a beautiful foreground for a starry night image. If only these broken walls could talk...

Celestial celebration.

As humans tucked in their warm cozy bed, the night sky was having a ball of its own. Its around midnight, sky is filled with stars that appear so bright. A crescent moon has just risen in the badlands casting warm soft light on the tiny badlands' peaks. Milky Way dust lane is sweeping across the sky and a shooting star decides to drop by in one of the frame. One of my personal favorite nightscape.

Colorful Badlands under the Milky Way.

A friend of mine once said to me that South Dakota doesn’t have a nightlife. Well…I beg to differ. It gets insanely beautiful around here.

Solar Corona During Totality.

A view of Totality as seen from Casper, Wyoming on Aug 21, 2017.

Ascending.

Milky Way above an arrowhead shaped butte in the Badlands.

The Stars are Calling..

A peaceful starry night at the Stockade Lake, Custer State Park. Single image with the original Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 on Canon 5D Mk4.

The Visitor.

Comet Neowise over Stockade Lake. What an absolute treat to the eyes.

The Unnamed Feeling.

The 2020 “Memorial Day” night at the Stockade Lake, Custer State Park was something to write home about. It was a perfect night for stargazing. The calm and stillness of the water meant the Milky Way band was clearly visible to the naked eye even in the reflection. The visual of misty vapor rising off from the surface of the lake against the starry backdrop was absolutely surreal. There were couple of times when I got goosebumps from the beauty that was around me, I was just grateful to be there at that moment of time.

What Once Was.

Star Trails above a worn out and abandoned schoolhouse near Bear Butte. A time lapse photo shot over 2 and half hour long.

A Hard Life.

A wild sunflower under the stars at the Badlands National Park. Even in such a dry landscape a diversity of sunflowers bloom throughout the park from late summer through the fall. It reminded me of a Johnny Cash line, Life is rough so you gotta be tough.

Land of the Stars.

Selenium.

A calm view to rekindle an adrift mind.

Rainbow's Gold.

Summer nights in South Dakota are pretty incredible with the bloom of sunflowers. As suns in the sky meet suns of the Earth, the feeling is pretty evocative.

Azure.

Spinning sky over the arid landscape of Badlands National Park.

W for Wildflowers.

Wildflowers in the Badlands under a starry sky.

The Resting Falcon.

An abandoned Red Ford Falcon stares into an abyss of stars.

Immensity.

A 50mm view of the vast Cygnus region. It is one of the richest regions of gas and star formation in our milky way with lots of Red/pink hydrogen emission nebulae. During winter it falls pretty low on the horizon in the northern sky and can be photographed with an earthly element.

Star Trails from inside a vehicle.

A creative take on this 2-n-half hour long star trail.

Fade to Black.

A deserted church under sky full of stars in an almost uninhabited town of Cottonwood, SD.

Horsethief.

Autumn Night Sky over Horsethief Lake, Black Hills, South Dakota.

Mother Love.

Clothed in diamond she stands tall, Watching the Missouri she shows courage and wisdom for all. A beautiful combination of art and history - the "Dignity" statue portrays a Native American woman in Plains-style clothing giving out positive vibes with her peaceful presence. I love how the backlighting forms a tepee shape structure. She sports a star quilt on her back so thought a photo with a starry background would be so fitting. Mother Cassiopeia just above keeps a keen eye on her.

Skyfall.

Milky Way over the dramatic Palouse Falls, WA.

Star Trails over the Delicate Arch, Arches National Park.

In Trance

A calm and peaceful night at Sylvan Lake made for a stellar reflection.

Nirvanic Sylvan.

An idyllic setting for a quiet and stellar night at Sylvan Lake, Custer State Park.

Moon Melody.

The rising moon shines through an old rusty Chevy as stars take a backseat.

Stargazers.

There were few people around playing with their cameras photographing the milky way, but then this couple just sat there without any cameras and enjoyed the sight of this dark Utah night sky filled with glittering stars. Made me realize that sometimes we fiddle around with our cameras too much that we forget to enjoy the moment with our eyes.

Black Elk Peak and the Milky Way.

"And while I stood there I saw more than I can tell..." Starry sky from the highest natural point in South Dakota.

Rust in Peace.

An abandoned Chevy at peace under a starry night.

The Horsehead and The Flame Nebula.

Moon n Her.

Light Medley.

An iconic barn of Western South Dakota in a light hodgepodge. LED lamp lighting the barn from inside, city lights on the horizon, moon and the distant stars in the Milky Way.

Hazy night at Beaver Creek Bridge, Wind Cave National Park.

What a beautiful structure!! I always feel there is some weird eerie chemistry between a large man-made structure viewed/photographed against a starry sky. Beautiful drive getting to here as well, saw some huge bison with thick chunky fur getting all ready for the harsh winter.

Autumn Rapid City and the Night Sky.

Canyon Lake Park in Fall colors and a shimmering milky way atop. This was such a hard shot to pull off coz of light pollution around and all the lamp posts in the park creating flares in the image. Taken with a help of a intensifier filter to cut down some of the light pollution.

Of Stars and Men.

A stark silhouette of some good old star-loving humans under Antares.

Textures in Soil, Textures in the Sky. Charm of Badlands Night Sky.

The Diamond Ring.

Sun rays peeking through seconds after totality.

Shooting for the Stars.

The Eerie Splendor of Devils Tower - A 30-minute time lapse image of the night sky over Devils tower taken with a 200mm. At such a narrow field of view, stars move much faster across the frame and even a short imaging session like this can produce a decent star trails.

In Perpetuum.

An old barren tree among sea of stars, made for an amazing night of stargazing. This is a 4 hour+ time lapse image that started with about an hour and half of setting crescent moon. I left the camera to shoot continuously and sat down looking up, made meaningful conversations with my significant other, and just admired the night sky until the morning light gleamed in.

The Wall.

The heart of the badlands landscape.

Stockade Blues.

A Pensive Parable.

As I stood here in this cold yet sweet spot in Spearfish Canyon under pre-dawn light, I couldn't help but get a little sense of melancholy, may be our current situation had something to do with it. Hope you can get the gist of what I felt and experience the moment vicariously through this image.

Sheridan Stars.

A Peaceful moment at Sheridan Lake.

Under the same moon.

Caught in the moonlight, beneath the starry night. Momentarily trapped in this startling sight.

Ascension.

A winsome view of the peculiar granite spires overlooking the city of Custer in the distant where the silvery stream in the sky shines bright above the hazy night lights.

Lone in the Hills.

Lost my heart in the black hills, The black hills of Dakota. Where the pines are so high, That they kiss the sky above.

Endless.

Closer look of the photogenic core region with endless sea of stars. Foreground peaks illuminated with an artificial light source.

Badlands Bowl.

Enjoyed shooting this panoramic view of our galaxy overlooking a beautiful mini canyon in the Badlands. Additional lights were used to illuminate the landscape.

Into the Milky Way.

Panoramic view of our night sky facing East above the snow covered Badlands.

Bear's Nest.

A 2-hour star trails over Bear Butte during one of those stormy nights when the Aurora was visible from this part of the world too.

Timeless Pursuit.

Stalking of a cosmic level - Orion eternally in chase of the seven sisters, the Pleiades. A winter wonderland.

The Last Kiss.

A Perseid meteor kisses the milky way goodbye, quite a romantic and spectacular night at the Badlands during the Perseid meteor shower 2018.

Weathered.

A classic Wisconsin red barn aging gracefully coupled with the best known asterism in the northern sky.

Home.

Ripples of airglow above the rugged badlands landscape.

Eye of the Needle.

A gem of a sight at the heart of the Black Hills. The Needles Eye is an astounding nature's work of art and looks gorgeous against a spectacular night sky.

Badlands Beatitude.

A graceful badlands landscape and the heavens above. Mars on the left, Jupiter on the right and the stellar Milky Way in between. If you look closely you'd also see Saturn near the middle somewhere.

Enchanting Badlands.

Milky Way Arc and the colorful display of airglow above a picturesque rugged badlands landscape revealing many layers of valleys and formations and the vast plains on the horizon.

Rainbow in the Dark.

Moonlit North-South panoramic nightscape at Deerfield Lake.

Stellar Rochford.

Milky Way over calm and peaceful Rochford, South Dakota imaged at early astronomical twilight.

The Delicate Arch and the Milky Way.

The iconic Delicate arch in Arches National Park, Utah.

Cathedral Spires and the Milky Way.

The incredible needles and the stars above it captured from the highest point in South Dakota.

Rustic Symphony.

An Abandoned Car under a beautiful Star Light.

The Great Orion Nebula and the Running Man.

No praise is too high for the Great Orion Nebula, one of the grandest beauties of the winter night sky.

December Lights.

Crown Jewel of Black Hills under sparkling winter stars. Christmas just round the corner.

An Evening with the Presidents.

Starry evening at Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Faces of the presidents lit by a projected beam of lights from different direction.

"Luny Tunes."

An Abandoned barn, Moon and the Milky Way in an eerie harmony.

Owanka Elevator.

A skeleton of a grain elevator, once a thriving business in a small town of Owanka, South Dakota, still holds its ground.

Dignity – Of Earth and Sky.

A beautiful combination of art and history overlooking the Missouri River near Chamberlain, South Dakota. The dignity statue depicts a Native American woman in Plains-style clothing laying a peaceful presence. She sports a star quilt on her back so I thought taking a photo with star trails behind her would be so fitting.

The radiant glow of Badlands Night Sky.

This was how I celebrated my birthday, under a billion star hotel. Off to peace and solace, and closer with our stars. What better way to celebrate the day that you came into this earth!!

The Great American Eclipse in one single frame.

The full sun, the crescent sun, the diamond ring, the totality and back to normality. Pictures can never justify this wonderful event as compared to being there and seeing with your own eyes. The 2 and half minutes of totality went like a flash and I'd cherish it for my lifetime.