Groth Galleries

Groth Galleries Sam's Nightscape and Deep Sky Astrophotography
Psalm 19

Clear images despite smoke and wind?Swipe to see the timelapse!
06/01/2026

Clear images despite smoke and wind?

Swipe to see the timelapse!

05/29/2026

Are you ready for calm nights by the lake this summer?

When visiting some of the most popular locations, sometimes the transient conditions like the smoke in the sky are what ...
05/29/2026

When visiting some of the most popular locations, sometimes the transient conditions like the smoke in the sky are what make your photos unique.

On this night at the highest point in the most visited national park, the conditions were not clear as predicted as a fire started and there was smoke passing through the entire night. This was the only night of my trip where I was able to photograph both the Orion sky in the evening and the core of the Milky Way in the morning so I decided to see what I could capture.

This is the third image from that night and by far my favorite so far. The smoke creates a trailing effect across the sky and really glows along the horizon from the light pollution.

I guess I should not be surprised that there was smoke in the Great Smoky Mountains, but I was able to capture a week later under very clear skies nearby this composition. Very excited to edit that image soon!

Have you visited the Smoky Mountains?

Cliff Palace, the crown jewel of Mesa Verde National Park!Can you imagine climbing down the side of the wall using just ...
05/26/2026

Cliff Palace, the crown jewel of Mesa Verde National Park!

Can you imagine climbing down the side of the wall using just carved out hand and foot slots which were designed to only be used in a very specific way?

In order to ensure some level of security an privacy, the entrance paths were designed so that if you didn't start at the first hold with the correct hand or foot, you would fall to your death in the canyon instead of arriving at the cliff dwelling below.

There are dozens of these stunning structures throughout the park and many are pretty well preserved a thousand years after being built due to the way they are shielded by the canyon walls.

If you have the opportunity, I highly recommend visiting the park and taking the tour of Cliff Palace.

The same location in both images on the same night.The change in perspective is quite extreme between the nearly 300 deg...
05/22/2026

The same location in both images on the same night.

The change in perspective is quite extreme between the nearly 300 degree panorama and the 14mm stack!

Have you tried show casing the same landscape at different perspectives?

The Alien Throne. No aliens. Pretty meh 🌌
05/20/2026

The Alien Throne. No aliens. Pretty meh 🌌

Do you believe in divine intervention?While I was capturing my test exposures for this sky, one of my cameras started to...
05/18/2026

Do you believe in divine intervention?

While I was capturing my test exposures for this sky, one of my cameras started to malfunction causing me to walk away for a few minutes. When I returned to check that my test images were looking good, I stopped the interval 24 seconds into a 2 minute exposure which preserved the brightness of this fireball meteor!

I don't know if this was divine intervention, but I do know this is the most amazing meteor I have captured fitting perfectly into my planned composition!

Embracing the light pollutionI arrived at this location in the middle of the night and found that all of the composition...
05/15/2026

Embracing the light pollution

I arrived at this location in the middle of the night and found that all of the compositions that I thought might work over the reservoir were blocked by trees so I had to quickly decide on a new plan which was to capture from the center of the dam overlooking the lights. This meant capturing my first ever HDR vertorama (vertical panorama)!

While this was exciting and I'm really happy with the results, it also meant a loss of detail in the sky and limitations on what filters I was able to use.

I definitely prefer darker skies, but sometimes trying unique compositions like this is an interesting challenge. What do you prefer?

How would you handle a scenario with Ha and reflections?
05/14/2026

How would you handle a scenario with Ha and reflections?

Spent a night at the Great Sand Dunes National Park on a recent trip. This is a location that you don't want to miss!A q...
05/12/2026

Spent a night at the Great Sand Dunes National Park on a recent trip. This is a location that you don't want to miss!

A quick tip if you visit and don't want a strenuous hike: Some of the closer dunes can be used to create significant depth without the 700 ft of elevation gain on sand. The first and last images are examples of what's possible with just a short hike.

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