Live from the Oregon Coast after Dark
- Mar 18
- 5 min read
There’s something magical about standing on the coast long after midnight, camera humming quietly as the sky glows with starlight. The essence of this magic is the source of my inspiration: I’m thrilled to share a closer look at what’s coming up with my 2026 exhibition, The Oregon Coast After Dark, at the Chessman Gallery in Lincoln City. This show has been years in the making, drawing from countless late nights along the shoreline, long exposures under the Milky Way, and a deep love for the wild edge we get to call home.
Today, I’m giving you a behind‑the‑scenes preview:
🎥 the new behind-the-scenes look,
🖼️ a deeper look at one of the signature images,
🌛 some recent shots including the moon,
🔭 the new hardware I’ve added to my imaging toolkit.
Let’s jump in!
🎥 Exhibition video walkthrough of the Oregon Coast after Dark
I had the opportunity to walk through the exhibit before it was opened to the public. This short video will give you a sense of the gallery and the stories behind the pieces.
I was also interviewed by the gallery. If you're on Facebook, you can view that here:
Thank you all for making the opening reception a huge success. We had a huge turnout despite the stormy weather on a Friday night.
🔨 Featured image: Thor's Helmet
Since you've previewed the gallery, I want to focus in on the one piece that draws almost everyone's attention and is a definite conversation-starter: Thor's Helmet.
This is the piece you have to see to believe. My good friend Isaiah carved the beautiful wood frame out of local wood. My wife loves the original piece so much that I gifted it to her, but I have five prints available in an ultra-limited edition that simply replace the custom frame with a black metal one. This is an effect I've envisioned for a few years but didn't have a clue how to make it happen. I finally ended up hiring a Hollywood special effects firm to generate the 3D models I needed to print the hologram through a process called "lenticular printing."
Imagine how amazing it was when I received the prototype, tore away the protective wrapping and found myself face-to-face with the actual piece appearing to hang suspended in three dimensions through a window to nowhere!
I plan to process a few more nebula this way because it really brings the experience to the next level.
🌛The moon and friends
With incredibly clear skies, I set up my high-powered telescope to image the moon and Jupiter. The magnification was so high that I had to create a mosaic of the moon from tiles. Unfortunately, the left side didn't process well so I was stuck with this crop. Although it means this won't turn into a piece for me, it also illustrates the potential for my next goal which is to capture this detail and color the next full moon and grab the whole disc this time!
If you're curious, the process involved moving to different areas of the moon and recording a short video. Each video was processed to pull out the details of the moon, and then I used special software to stitch them together.
This was actually just a calibration session, so I knew I was prepared for the total lunar eclipse that was set to happen later in the evening (or early the next morning, depending on how you want to look at it). The clouds, however, did not cooperate so the eclipse happened out of sight. Fortunately, every session is a learning opportunity that will produce cleaner, brighter, more breath-taking images to share on metal in the future.
Next, I swung my telescope over to Jupiter. It was staring down with its Great Red Eye.
It was a good session!
🛠️ New Tools for a New Season
Finally — I’ve upgraded some of my hardware for the 2026 imaging season, and I couldn’t be more excited.
I purchase almost all of my equipment from Highpoint Scientific. They provide excellent service and reviews (check out their guides for various equipment) and are very responsive to support me when I have questions. I've not had any issues with orders there, so it's a no-brainer to be a part of their affiliate program. That means if you use one of these links and purchase a product from them, I may receive a commission. All of the items in this section were purchased from Highpoint.
I asked AI for advice on what to invest in, and it gave me a very grounded response. Essentially, it pointed out with high resolution lenses, filters, and some of my existing scopes that a new mount or telescope for deep skies aren't going to do much. On the flipside, there is a planetary camera I ordered from ZWO that should be better adapted to my system. I also purchased a new solar scope (a Lunt 50mm) that has a larger aperture and narrower filter to really grab some details. My first shot of a flare looks promising, but this was taken with a low-resolution camera, so I want to try again with a monochrome camera at a higher resolution.
OK, so I did make one more purchase. As a nod to my roots starting out with a smart telescope in 2020, I wanted to see what was available today. I picked up a ZWO SeeStar and already am enjoying it. It is really lightweight, much smaller, and quieter compared to Stellina. Here are a few shots I got just "fooling around."
I removed some noise and balanced the Orion nebula:
Not bad for a short session, no? It also supports "regular" operation during the day. Here's a juvenile bald eagle.
I'm excited to have an option in the SeeStar that will give me the option to compromise when I can't bring heavy gear or don't want to invest the time in setting up a more complicated rig. I can already tell this season is going to open some new doors, visually and creatively. And, yes! You’ll start seeing the results soon.
Closing Thoughts
Standing in the gallery on opening night, surrounded by all of you, reminded me why I chase these moments in the first place. Thank you, as always, for supporting my work, whether you visit a gallery show, follow along online, or bring one of these pieces into your home.
Until the next time…
Clear skies, steady tracking, and may your horizons stay bright.
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