Michael Mauldin
@teamtoad.bsky.social
Photographer, cattle rancher, Jeeper, robot builder.
Mabank, Texas, USA, Earth. Sol.
https://lazytoad.com/contact.html
Mabank, Texas, USA, Earth. Sol.
https://lazytoad.com/contact.html
The second night of the aurora here in Texas was much less vivid, but this 2.6 hour integration of the stars swirling over our ranch is still pretty.
Stacked, 312 exp x 30 seconds, lightest pixels merged.
Canon 5d4 fs, Rokinon 10mm SP f/3.5
ISO 1600 at f/5.6, LrC and PS CS6.
Stacked, 312 exp x 30 seconds, lightest pixels merged.
Canon 5d4 fs, Rokinon 10mm SP f/3.5
ISO 1600 at f/5.6, LrC and PS CS6.
November 14, 2025 at 2:46 PM
The second night of the aurora here in Texas was much less vivid, but this 2.6 hour integration of the stars swirling over our ranch is still pretty.
Stacked, 312 exp x 30 seconds, lightest pixels merged.
Canon 5d4 fs, Rokinon 10mm SP f/3.5
ISO 1600 at f/5.6, LrC and PS CS6.
Stacked, 312 exp x 30 seconds, lightest pixels merged.
Canon 5d4 fs, Rokinon 10mm SP f/3.5
ISO 1600 at f/5.6, LrC and PS CS6.
With no more dark sky adventures planned for 2025, I've posted 16 wallpaper-sized nightscapes on our website:
lazytoad.com/astronomy/ni...
Although my focus has been mainly RGB+Ha Milky Way landscapes, the Comet Lemmon got most of my October focus.
Feel free to download, share, or print.
lazytoad.com/astronomy/ni...
Although my focus has been mainly RGB+Ha Milky Way landscapes, the Comet Lemmon got most of my October focus.
Feel free to download, share, or print.
November 3, 2025 at 4:17 AM
With no more dark sky adventures planned for 2025, I've posted 16 wallpaper-sized nightscapes on our website:
lazytoad.com/astronomy/ni...
Although my focus has been mainly RGB+Ha Milky Way landscapes, the Comet Lemmon got most of my October focus.
Feel free to download, share, or print.
lazytoad.com/astronomy/ni...
Although my focus has been mainly RGB+Ha Milky Way landscapes, the Comet Lemmon got most of my October focus.
Feel free to download, share, or print.
Comet C/2025 A6 Lemmon over the Very Large Array, October 19, 2025
Tracked, Stacked, Golden Hour Blend.
Canon R5m2 and EF 300mm f/4L
tracker: Star Adventurer
sky: 56x30 sec ISO 6400 f/5.0
foreground: 1/500 sec ISO 200 f/5.6
PixInsight, Pixelmator Pro, and LrC
@thenrao.bsky.social
Tracked, Stacked, Golden Hour Blend.
Canon R5m2 and EF 300mm f/4L
tracker: Star Adventurer
sky: 56x30 sec ISO 6400 f/5.0
foreground: 1/500 sec ISO 200 f/5.6
PixInsight, Pixelmator Pro, and LrC
@thenrao.bsky.social
October 20, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Comet C/2025 A6 Lemmon over the Very Large Array, October 19, 2025
Tracked, Stacked, Golden Hour Blend.
Canon R5m2 and EF 300mm f/4L
tracker: Star Adventurer
sky: 56x30 sec ISO 6400 f/5.0
foreground: 1/500 sec ISO 200 f/5.6
PixInsight, Pixelmator Pro, and LrC
@thenrao.bsky.social
Tracked, Stacked, Golden Hour Blend.
Canon R5m2 and EF 300mm f/4L
tracker: Star Adventurer
sky: 56x30 sec ISO 6400 f/5.0
foreground: 1/500 sec ISO 200 f/5.6
PixInsight, Pixelmator Pro, and LrC
@thenrao.bsky.social
Not sure how we can exceed 24 hours a day, unless we're counting both screens.
October 18, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Not sure how we can exceed 24 hours a day, unless we're counting both screens.
In Valley of the Gods, Utah, shooting Comet Lemmon and Orion.
October 18, 2025 at 5:35 PM
In Valley of the Gods, Utah, shooting Comet Lemmon and Orion.
Here's a side-by-side comparison of the Tiffen Double Fog 3 filter for astrophotography.
The fog filter spreads the light from the brighter stars to make the image match what your eyes see in the night sky.
The fog filter spreads the light from the brighter stars to make the image match what your eyes see in the night sky.
October 7, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Here's a side-by-side comparison of the Tiffen Double Fog 3 filter for astrophotography.
The fog filter spreads the light from the brighter stars to make the image match what your eyes see in the night sky.
The fog filter spreads the light from the brighter stars to make the image match what your eyes see in the night sky.
My daughters... many years ago.
October 4, 2025 at 12:42 PM
My daughters... many years ago.
Sadly StarNet2 splits the halo from the star...
Working on ways to combine unfogged nebulae with the fog halos...
I had a very productive trip to Utah last month.
Working on ways to combine unfogged nebulae with the fog halos...
I had a very productive trip to Utah last month.
October 4, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Sadly StarNet2 splits the halo from the star...
Working on ways to combine unfogged nebulae with the fog halos...
I had a very productive trip to Utah last month.
Working on ways to combine unfogged nebulae with the fog halos...
I had a very productive trip to Utah last month.
From Horsehoof Camp in the Needles District of Canyonlands NP.
The Milky Way, Jupiter, Orion, and the Zodiacal light, all together.
Canon R5m2, vis+ha mod, Tracked, Stacked, Blue hour and narrowband blend.
The Milky Way, Jupiter, Orion, and the Zodiacal light, all together.
Canon R5m2, vis+ha mod, Tracked, Stacked, Blue hour and narrowband blend.
October 4, 2025 at 3:18 AM
From Horsehoof Camp in the Needles District of Canyonlands NP.
The Milky Way, Jupiter, Orion, and the Zodiacal light, all together.
Canon R5m2, vis+ha mod, Tracked, Stacked, Blue hour and narrowband blend.
The Milky Way, Jupiter, Orion, and the Zodiacal light, all together.
Canon R5m2, vis+ha mod, Tracked, Stacked, Blue hour and narrowband blend.
Perseid meteor and the Milky Way over the Chisos Mountains in Big Bend NP, August 2025.
First draft of my first night of shooting at Big Bend on Friday, 8/22/2025.
Looking south from Paint Gap Road.
Tracked, stacked, blue hour blend, 51 minutes total of RGB, Ha, and O-III.
First draft of my first night of shooting at Big Bend on Friday, 8/22/2025.
Looking south from Paint Gap Road.
Tracked, stacked, blue hour blend, 51 minutes total of RGB, Ha, and O-III.
August 28, 2025 at 5:09 AM
Perseid meteor and the Milky Way over the Chisos Mountains in Big Bend NP, August 2025.
First draft of my first night of shooting at Big Bend on Friday, 8/22/2025.
Looking south from Paint Gap Road.
Tracked, stacked, blue hour blend, 51 minutes total of RGB, Ha, and O-III.
First draft of my first night of shooting at Big Bend on Friday, 8/22/2025.
Looking south from Paint Gap Road.
Tracked, stacked, blue hour blend, 51 minutes total of RGB, Ha, and O-III.
The Andromeda Galaxy as seen from Valley of the Gods, Utah.
EXIF:
Canon R5m2 Vis+Ha mod by Spencer's.
Canon EF 300mm f/4.0L
Star Adventurer tracker
No filter
90x60 second exposures, ISO 3200, f5.6
Processed in PixInsight (with RC Astro plugins)
Final color and cropping in LrC
EXIF:
Canon R5m2 Vis+Ha mod by Spencer's.
Canon EF 300mm f/4.0L
Star Adventurer tracker
No filter
90x60 second exposures, ISO 3200, f5.6
Processed in PixInsight (with RC Astro plugins)
Final color and cropping in LrC
June 26, 2025 at 6:28 PM
The Andromeda Galaxy as seen from Valley of the Gods, Utah.
EXIF:
Canon R5m2 Vis+Ha mod by Spencer's.
Canon EF 300mm f/4.0L
Star Adventurer tracker
No filter
90x60 second exposures, ISO 3200, f5.6
Processed in PixInsight (with RC Astro plugins)
Final color and cropping in LrC
EXIF:
Canon R5m2 Vis+Ha mod by Spencer's.
Canon EF 300mm f/4.0L
Star Adventurer tracker
No filter
90x60 second exposures, ISO 3200, f5.6
Processed in PixInsight (with RC Astro plugins)
Final color and cropping in LrC
That time I put a Toad Sticker on the Pyramid of Menkaure in Giza. This is the smallest of the three large pyramids.
Only one pyramid is open each year, to cut down on moisture damage.
I took the sticker off after the photo... June 2001.
Only one pyramid is open each year, to cut down on moisture damage.
I took the sticker off after the photo... June 2001.
March 2, 2025 at 8:26 PM
That time I put a Toad Sticker on the Pyramid of Menkaure in Giza. This is the smallest of the three large pyramids.
Only one pyramid is open each year, to cut down on moisture damage.
I took the sticker off after the photo... June 2001.
Only one pyramid is open each year, to cut down on moisture damage.
I took the sticker off after the photo... June 2001.
Yep... was about 2 feet deep when I did it in 2013... you need a good Jeep. Call the Park Ranger to check conditions.
www.nps.gov/care/planyou...
www.nps.gov/care/planyou...
February 27, 2025 at 8:41 AM
Yep... was about 2 feet deep when I did it in 2013... you need a good Jeep. Call the Park Ranger to check conditions.
www.nps.gov/care/planyou...
www.nps.gov/care/planyou...
Today Debbie and I have been married 25 years. We had a simple ceremony on the beach in Grand Cayman on February 23, 2000.
February 23, 2025 at 9:38 AM
Today Debbie and I have been married 25 years. We had a simple ceremony on the beach in Grand Cayman on February 23, 2000.
Pirate Week, Georgetown, Grand Cayman, October 2000.
February 22, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Pirate Week, Georgetown, Grand Cayman, October 2000.
My 2023 Rubicon Ecodiesel climbing an obstacle on the Rubicon Trail. Nick, the guide from Barlow's Adventures, is spotting me.
Photo by Matt Altman.
Photo by Matt Altman.
February 20, 2025 at 5:27 PM
My 2023 Rubicon Ecodiesel climbing an obstacle on the Rubicon Trail. Nick, the guide from Barlow's Adventures, is spotting me.
Photo by Matt Altman.
Photo by Matt Altman.
It was a 1000 foot hike down to the river, and 1000 feet back up.
But I was a younger man, then, only 55.
But I was a younger man, then, only 55.
February 17, 2025 at 6:05 AM
It was a 1000 foot hike down to the river, and 1000 feet back up.
But I was a younger man, then, only 55.
But I was a younger man, then, only 55.
The "Spanish Bottom" along the Colorado River below the "Dollhouse" in Canyonlands Maze District.
The flat area is the result of a collapse of an ancient sinkhole within the last 100 million years, and was formed before the Colorado River was there.
www.utahtrails.com/Canyonlands%...
The flat area is the result of a collapse of an ancient sinkhole within the last 100 million years, and was formed before the Colorado River was there.
www.utahtrails.com/Canyonlands%...
February 16, 2025 at 11:37 PM
The "Spanish Bottom" along the Colorado River below the "Dollhouse" in Canyonlands Maze District.
The flat area is the result of a collapse of an ancient sinkhole within the last 100 million years, and was formed before the Colorado River was there.
www.utahtrails.com/Canyonlands%...
The flat area is the result of a collapse of an ancient sinkhole within the last 100 million years, and was formed before the Colorado River was there.
www.utahtrails.com/Canyonlands%...
The White Rim Trail is perhaps my favorite place to Jeep!
February 8, 2025 at 4:31 AM
The White Rim Trail is perhaps my favorite place to Jeep!
The Corso Vitorio Emanuelle II, Rome Italy, 2018 and 2025.
February 8, 2025 at 4:29 AM
The Corso Vitorio Emanuelle II, Rome Italy, 2018 and 2025.
Big Bend National Park, Mariscal Mine, view of the Chisos Mountains through a window in an old mine building, 2014.
February 3, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Big Bend National Park, Mariscal Mine, view of the Chisos Mountains through a window in an old mine building, 2014.
The Château d'If... where the Count of Monte Cristo was set.
January 22, 2025 at 6:16 PM
The Château d'If... where the Count of Monte Cristo was set.
The Milky Wat over Horsehoof Camp in the Needles District of Canyonlands NP in Utah.
January 20, 2025 at 10:33 AM
The Milky Wat over Horsehoof Camp in the Needles District of Canyonlands NP in Utah.
"The Kelpies" in Scotland. We took a day off of filming "Robot Wars" to tour the area around Glasgow.
January 18, 2025 at 12:26 AM
"The Kelpies" in Scotland. We took a day off of filming "Robot Wars" to tour the area around Glasgow.
We BattleBot builders have been preparing for this for decades.
January 11, 2025 at 9:07 PM
We BattleBot builders have been preparing for this for decades.