Alan Stenback Photography

09/01/2026

Dumpstafunk at the Dillon Amphitheater. Awesome show! Especially given the circumstances aka cold, clouds and rain to start the show Dumpstaphunk Dillon Amphitheater

08/27/2026

Tonight’s partial lunar eclipse 🌕🌑

Photographers across Colorado and the greater Southwest have an interesting opportunity tonight. The eclipse will already be underway when the Moon rises.

That makes this a great opportunity to think beyond a tight shot of the Moon and plan a composition around moonrise. Mountains, ridgelines, desert formations or another recognizable landscape can make for a much more interesting image.

Using Denver as a reference:

🌕 7:29 PM MDT — Moonrise, east-southeast
🌑 8:33 PM — Partial eclipse begins
🌑 10:12 PM — Maximum eclipse, about 93.9%
🌕 11:51 PM — Partial eclipse ends
🌕 1:01 AM — Eclipse ends

Exact moonrise will vary by location and your local horizon.

A few photography tips:

• Scout your composition early and know where the Moon will rise
• Try 200–600mm if you want the Moon prominent within the landscape
• Shoot manual and adjust your exposure as the Moon darkens
• Watch your shutter speed at longer focal lengths to avoid motion blur
• Bracket exposures to capture the difference between the illuminated and shadowed portions of the Moon
• No solar filter or eclipse glasses are needed

These images are from a previous lunar eclipse I photographed.

If you’re heading out tonight, get there early and be ready before moonrise.

Clear skies!

08/26/2026

Today marks the 110th anniversary of the National Park Service

Coincidentally, I also received our Commercial Use Authorization from Big Bend today, meaning our workshop in the park this November is officially a go!

There are two spots left. If you’ve been thinking about joining us, now’s your chance

08/26/2026

08/24/2026

Colorado’s mountain views don’t end at sunset. Congratulations to Frisco on earning International Dark Sky Community certification recognizing its work to reduce light pollution, protect wildlife, and preserve our spectacular star-filled skies. This designation will also strengthen responsible tourism and help future generations experience Colorado’s natural beauty after dark.

Read more from Powder: https://www.powder.com/news/frisco-colorado-darksky-certification

08/24/2026

ASTRO PHOTOGRAPHY IN BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK

Big Bend National Park is one of those places that seems made for night sky photography

Located in the remote reaches of West Texas, the park protects a vast stretch of the Chihuahuan Desert along the Rio Grande. Its distance from major cities means exceptionally dark skies, expansive horizons and very little artificial light competing with the stars

I’ve photographed the night sky in a lot of places, but Big Bend continues to stand apart

08/23/2026

Cleared for takeoff. 🛸

Two airliner seats, a sky full of stars, and nothing but open desert in every direction. Inside the dome it glows purple and warm. Outside, Terlingua turns on the kind of star show most people only see in photos.

This is what a night in one of the darkest places on Earth actually looks like. Your window seat is waiting.

📸 Captured by Alan Stenback Photography, framing the dome under a perfect Terlingua sky.

Link in bio to book. 🤠

📍 Terlingua, TX · 11 min from Big Bend

08/22/2026

“Let us never forget that the National Park Service is based upon a legislative act and is not securely incorporated in the Constitution of the United States. Hence, it is vulnerable to erosion and destruction by legislative action. Such action may be sudden and catastrophic, as in the event of some national emergency, or it might appear as a slow but tragic attrition induced by overpopulation, economic pressures and public apathy. Obviously, eternal vigilance must therefore be the essential attitude of all our people.” - A.A.⁠

‘Sand Bar, Rio Grande, Big Bend National Park, Texas,’ 1947. Photograph by Ansel Adams.

08/20/2026

Big Bend is one of those places that keeps pulling me back

The scale of the landscape, the Chihuahuan Desert stretching toward the horizon, the mountains catching the last light of the day and then, after sunset, some of the darkest night skies in North America

This November, I’m heading back for three days and two nights of landscape and astrophotography, and I’m bringing a small group of photographers with me

We’ll be there November 8–10, timed around the new moon, photographing Big Bend from golden hour and sunset into the night. We’ll work on landscape photography during the changing light, then transition into astrophotography once the stars take over

This is a small-group workshop with plenty of hands-on instruction and time in the field. Whether you want to improve your landscape photography, get more comfortable photographing the night sky or simply experience Big Bend with a camera in your hands, that’s what these three days are about

Only a few spots remain

Full details and registration:

https://alanstenbackphotography.us/big-bend-national-park-photography-workshop-texas/

08/18/2026

Some nights, the sky does all the talking. 🌌

This is Terlingua after dark one dome, no city glow, and the entire Milky Way arcing overhead. Out here in the largest Dark Sky Community on Earth, the stars don’t just appear. They take over.

This piece of art was captured by Alan Stenback Photography — the first of many. Thank you for framing exactly what we feel every night out here. 🛸

Come see it with your own eyes. Link in bio.

📍 Terlingua, TX · 11 min from Big Bend