I had my Tamron super zoom tuned up and took this shot from my backyard to test it out.

Views of the southern sky and Milky Way Galaxy from outside Sky Meadows State Park in Delaplane, Virginia. The constellations of Scorpius, Sagittarius, and Aquila (clockwise from bottom right) are outlined.

As viewed from Wakefield School in The Plains, Virginia, Venus, Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn are seen in the early morning sky with Jupiter and Mars making a close approach. The inset, shot with a different lens, provides an upclose view of Jupiter and Mars with Jupiter's Galilean moons visible.

In this 4-minute composite of 12, 20-second shots, the International Space Station is captured rising from the western horizon of Lake Ashby near Warrenton, VA, before disappearing in Earth's shadow as it passes to the left of the Big Dipper. The near vertical visual aspect is the result of the Station flying directly at and over where I was on the Lake's dam.

While visiting some friends in Tampa, Florida, I shot this crane feeding in the grass near a pond behind their yard in the early morning. These things are crazy big and it let me get scary close.

For those of you needing your critter fix, caught this Brown Paper Wasp feeding on our Holly bush in the front yard on the morning of April 29, 2022.

The International Space Station rose out of the Earth's shadow from the west (left) heading towards the north (right) and passing through the handle of the Big Dipper just after 5 a.m. on April 27, 2022, as seen from The Nokesville School in Nokesville, Va. This is 3 minutes of the trek comprised of 9, 20-sec exposures.

Venus, Saturn, and Mars are seen just before sunrise on March 21, 2022, as viewed from behind The Nokesville School in Nokesville, VA

A quiet Saturday afternoon and had been thinking about putting together a shoot centered on some dried roses, old wine bottles, and photographs. Sometimes you just feel like being creative and this was the result today.

Mercury, Venus, and Mars as seen from The Nokesville School in Nokesville, VA in the early morning of February 9, 2022. Click here for a higher quality, unlabeled version.

Looking to the southeast from the entrance to Sky Meadows State Park in Delaplane, Va., I captured the last 4 minutes of the Station as it passed near the constellation Orion (click here for a labeled version of the image) on its way to the horizon and completed a 10-minute trek across the sky that started from the northwest. This image is a composite of 12, 20-second exposures.

Close up view taken a few minutes before the family portrait to the right.

This evening was the clearest of the few days I was able to see the comet. And Saturn (center top), Venus (super bright object lower right), and Leonard (just above and between the first and second poles from the left) formed a very nice triangle portrait. Click here for a labeled version of the photo.

I was able to photograph the comet a few more times before it began its departure away from Earth and our solar system for ever. On this day, it was actually visible to the naked eye for a shot period of time--not that you could tell it was a comet, but it was brighter than the nearby stars as it approached the horizon about an hour after sunset.

Nothing like last year's Comet Neowise, Comet Leonard is now in our solar neighborhood for the next few weeks. Only about as bright as Jupiter's Galilean moons, the comet is seen here near the star, d Boötis (center of image). This is a 30-second exposure using my equatorial/star tracker and fully zoomed in on my Tamron 600 mm lens.

A mere 21 hours after taking photos of the lunar eclipse, I captured the Station on its half second transits across the nearly full Moon in this 4 image composite as seen from Hanover Courthouse Park, VA.

This close-up, 2.5 second exposure shows the partial lunar eclipse as seen from the Manassas Battlefield in the nearby starfield.

The partial lunar eclipse as seen from the Manassas Battlefield, with the 14th Brooklyn Monument in the foreground.

On a 4 minute trek rising from the south-west horizon, the International Space Station as seen from Parkgate Drive in Nokesville, Va. This 14 image composite captures it passing by Venus (lighting up the cloud in the bottom right), Saturn (in the cloud, Center), and Jupiter (brightest object) before disappearing in the Earth's shadow. The clouds and ground were being illuminated by the nearly full Moon that was out of the image to the left.

A little late afternoon, Veterans Day relaxation just after sunset and captured The following morning, I captured the airliner as it passed just below the Moon as seen from my driveway in Bristow, VA.