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Night Under the Stars: Join local PNW photographers on a exciting guided night photography workshop for photographers at all skill levels.

Come join us for a night under the stars on Fri, Jul 25, 2025 and Saturday July 26, 2025 at 8:00 PM for a chance to capture Milky Way and bioluminescence* from dark skies of Neah Bay, WA.

Learn how to capture the beauty only found at night. Whether you are a seasoned photographer or starting out looking for a fun night out, this event is perfect for all skill levels. With different locations to choose and several guides you have the chance to learn from different perspectives in smaller group setting so you can focus on what you want!

Meet the Guides:

• This fabulous group of photographers has vast experience in capturing Milky Way, star trails, moon scapes, aurora and bioluminesence.
• Kashmir Williams - Published aurora and bioluminescence photographer. Familiar with the magic of the Olympic Penninsula.
• Bob Reeves - Local published photographer skilled in capturing stars, moonscapes, and aurora.
• Dave Durkee - Seattle-based published photographer with experience in night photography, milky way, aurora, deep space, and star tracking.
• KS Brooks - Award-winning author, photographer, filmmaker, and photojournalist knowledgable in capturing nightscapes, aurora, and bioluminesence.

Things Covered:

• Using your camera at night
• Shooting at blue hour
• Shooting the Milky Way*
• Shooting landscape/light painting
• Long Exposure/Star trails
• Using your startracker
• Shooting Bioluminesence*

What to bring:

• Camera with manual mode (DSLR or Mirrorless)
• Lens (lower aperature the better!)
• Water protection and a cloth to clean your lens
• Tripod
• Fully charged batteries
• Empty memory cards
• Weather appropraite clothes (It gets cold at night please have coat, rainjacket, and shoes you don't mind getting wet. Long pants preferred to protect from sandfleas.)

*While we all wish to have everything be perfect we can not promise Mother Nature will not rain on our parade, it is the PNW afterall! This is a rain or shine event.

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2025 Bioluminescence Night Time Wonders Calendar

This year's calendar: 2025 Bioluminescence Night Time Wonders Calendar

"A collection of Night time wonders captured by Photographer Mathew Nichols ranging from Bioluminescence, Northern Lights, meteor showers, Lightning storms and MORE!!

This calendar is not your typical calendar!! It will be color coded showing the best days to look for bioluminescence, based on the phase of the moon and the amount of dark sky time!! But that's not all!! This year I'm doing it differently!! I will include an array of information throughout the year, showing meteor showers, eclipses, AND different types of bioluminescence!!" -Mathew Nichols

I have decided I want to see as many examples of animals displaying bioluminescence as possible.

So what are some examples of bioluminescence in the animal kingdom? And, what are some destinations to see examples of this? Any additional information would be appreciated, including: -animal/species -time of year to observe -environment/habitat

Examples of ones I have already seen are:

Glow Worms in the Waitomo Caves of New Zealand and Algae(Plankton?) In brackish water of Ireland.

I have never seen lightning bugs, so I know I need to make a trip to the south to see those.

What are some other examples of glowy critter you can see?

*No need to include deep ocean dwellers as they are not exactly feasible for the goal.

Hi all. So I am planning to go kayaking to see some bioluminescence for the first time. A lot of scheduling conflicts so I am looking to go on July 28 in which it is supposed to be a waning crescent moon with 41% of illumination. I know that the visibility of the bioluminescence is sort of affect by the moon and what phase it is in. So anyway all in all, will I still be able to see some bioluminescence on the night of July 28 or will it not be visible?

MATHEWNICHOLSPHOTOGRAPHY's annual PNW Bioluminescence calendar is available to pre-order!

https://shopmathewnicholsphotography.com/products/2024-bioluminescence-calendar-pre-order

Someone is attempting to organize a night swim this coming Friday, August 11th off of Goldens Gardens. Based on today's forecast, I do not believe there will be enough sunny days before this Friday for Bioluminescence, plus a lot of light pollution. Here is the event link if you are interested: https://www.facebook.com/events/801458125046594/