Fine Art Landscape & Astro Photography
from the American West

Canyons by Day|Cosmos by Night

Keith Cuddeback photographing in Death Valley. Wearing a brimmed hat, shorts and hiking boots with his tripod and camera setup on the valley floor in late afternoon. There's a touch of warm color in the western sky behind him.

Live the Story

1 Sprinter Van
150,000 Miles
Countless Sunrises

“I don’t take photos to escape — I go into the landscape and beneath the stars to capture the beauty and the bizzare of the universe. Join me behind the scenes for the quiet stories of solitude that nature shares.”

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Epic photo of Monument Valley and the iconic Mittens with a lightning bolt striking between them in a monsoon.
Photo Galleries
From my Vespera Pro smart telescope a shot of the Pleiades star cluster, known also as the Seven Sisters featuring the wispy blue nebulosity around each of the main stars.
Deep Space Astro Photography

Featured on the Blog

  • Spooky photo of many cypress trees growing out of the water with one prominent tree in the foreground with a branch full of fall color stretching across the frame

    My First Visit to Caddo Lake

    Photographing a cypress swamp has been on my bucket list for years. So, in early November I took a few days to drive out to East Texas to visit this spectacular location!

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  • A serene beach scene at sunset with Morro Rock partially shrouded in mist, gentle waves, and a single bird on the shore.

    Van Life and landscape photography on the California coast in January

    After several months away, I finally made my way back to California from Texas, eager to reunite with the ocean.

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  • Angelic Twilight. The pastel hues of sky and sand melding to create a very minimalist photograph.

    Epic White Sands Road Trip

    An early December road trip took us to Carlsbad Caverns and While Sands National Park

    Read more

My Instagram

The lungs of the desert, or something along those lines is what I’ve heard about this crypto biotic soil. When I visited the Lybrook fossil area in northern New Mexico recently, I ran into a lot of it! We also know not to walk on it, right? #
The lungs of the desert, or something along those lines is what I’ve heard about this crypto biotic soil. When I visited the Lybrook fossil area in northern New Mexico recently, I ran into a lot of it! We also know not to walk on it, right? #lybrook #newmexico #landscapephotography #cryptobioticsoil #theblackplace
This is what “drill, baby, drill” looks like in practice—and it is devastating. 💔 I arrived in Northern New Mexico yesterday, camera in hand, ready to document the raw beauty of the Lybrook Badlands. Instead, I found a landscape u
This is what “drill, baby, drill” looks like in practice—and it is devastating. 💔 I arrived in Northern New Mexico yesterday, camera in hand, ready to document the raw beauty of the Lybrook Badlands. Instead, I found a landscape under siege. The Trump regime has been fast-tracking leases to fossil fuel corporations, handing over our Public Lands to the highest bidder. But “extracting” this fossil juice comes at a steep price that isn’t measured in dollars: • Fragmented Ecosystems: A sprawling network of wide industrial roads now crisscrosses the badlands like scars. • Destroyed Crusts: Decades of growth in fragile cryptobiotic soils—the literal foundation of this desert ecosystem—have been crushed under heavy machinery. • Industrial Blight: Where there should be silence and vast horizons, there are now pumps, pipes, and holding tanks. Our Public Lands belong to all Americans, not to the balance sheets of oil executives. Once this wilderness is industrialized, it can never be truly “restored.” My heart hurts for this land. We cannot let these sacred spaces be sacrificed for short-term profit. We must stand together to protect what remains. Will you join me in telling Washington that our Public Lands are worth more than the oil beneath them? #ProtectOurLands #KeepItInTheGround #NewMexico #SierraClub #ActOnClimate SaveTheBadlands
The New Mexico landscape has such a timeless, almost alien quality to it. On my recent road trip I spent two days camping at Ghost Ranch, the 40 year home of Georgia O’Keefe. “I found I could say things with color and shapes that I could
The New Mexico landscape has such a timeless, almost alien quality to it. On my recent road trip I spent two days camping at Ghost Ranch, the 40 year home of Georgia O’Keefe. “I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way—things I had no words for.” — Georgia O’Keeffe 🎨 The Georgia O’Keeffe Hoodoo Trail (often simply called the Hoodoo Trail near Ghost Ranch) is essentially a geological art gallery. While many of the larger formations at Ghost Ranch have formal names—like the nearby Chimney Rock or Kitchen Mesa—the smaller, individual hoodoos along this specific trail are often referred to collectively as the “Silent People” or simply as O’Keeffe’s subjects. Walking the Hoodoo Trail at Ghost Ranch feels like stepping directly into one of her canvases. These “silent people” have stood guard over the New Mexico desert for millennia, sculpted by the wind and waiting for the light to hit them just right. There’s a certain mesmerizing magic in the balance of a caprock that refuses to fall. #GhostRanch #GeorgiaOKeeffe #NewMexicoTrue #HoodooTrail #Abiquiu LandOfEnchantment
Six months ago I had no clue that such cool things are out there in our galaxy floating around! Then I bought a smart telescope and have been delighted with what I’ve been seeing. As mentioned before, it’s so much fun imaging these objec
Six months ago I had no clue that such cool things are out there in our galaxy floating around! Then I bought a smart telescope and have been delighted with what I’ve been seeing. As mentioned before, it’s so much fun imaging these objects that are so appropriately named for what they resemble that we’re familiar with. Last night was cloudy so didn’t set up the telescope so I used the time to process this bit of interesting interstellar dust captured recently; Thor’s Helmet #astrophotography #thorshelmet #ngc2359
I was supposed to be on a road trip this week, but that got scuttled when we had the big ice storm last week and instead, I went to Padre Island on the Gulf Coast of Texas to stay warm and keep the delicate parts of my van from freezing. The road
I was supposed to be on a road trip this week, but that got scuttled when we had the big ice storm last week and instead, I went to Padre Island on the Gulf Coast of Texas to stay warm and keep the delicate parts of my van from freezing. The road trip is still in the works and I hope to be heading out sometime next week to either southern Utah, Arizona or possibly even as far west is Death Valley. Living the Van life, as I have for the past six years, I’ve learned to be flexible and just watch the weather and go where it feels like the right place to be in the moment. Meanwhile, I’m setting up my telescopes, gathering data every clear night I can get. I haven’t done much in the way of processing that data but this is one that I’m finished with for the moment until I can gather some more data to add to it. This is the Pleiades, sometimes called the seven sisters. So far I’ve had about eight hours of total time on this subject and I’m finding I need probably at least another eight hours to bring out more detail and all the fine dust that is still invisible in this frame. #7Sisters #M45 #pleaides #astrophotography
JOY is getting a new set of fresh batteries today!
JOY is getting a new set of fresh batteries today!
My little Dwarf Mini telescope arrived on New Year’s Eve and I posted pictures of how dinky this telescope is. Until we got clear skies last night, I wasn’t able to image anything with it. Even though the app interface is fairly intuitive
My little Dwarf Mini telescope arrived on New Year’s Eve and I posted pictures of how dinky this telescope is. Until we got clear skies last night, I wasn’t able to image anything with it. Even though the app interface is fairly intuitive, it still took me some tinkering with it to become familiar enough to begin capturing deep space objects. Here is my first photo from the Dwarf Mini of the Orion Nebula. There is a lot wrong with it but still, with only 75 minutes of integration time with the built-in duo band filter, it’s evident that beautiful images are in my future. It needs more integration time to crisp up details and smooth out the nebulosity, so next clear night I will gather more data but I also need to re-frame it because some of the nebulosity is cut off at the bottom of the frame. My bad. When I have a nicer photo I’ll post it. Thanks for looking! #astrophotography #dwarflab @dwarflab #orionnebula
I did something. Yup, bought the newest, smallest, lowest cost smart telescope available today. #dwarfmine from DWARF LAB! It’ll actually fit into a (large) pocket. Will be amazing to take with me in my travels. So, now I have two smart tele
I did something. Yup, bought the newest, smallest, lowest cost smart telescope available today. #dwarfmine from DWARF LAB! It’ll actually fit into a (large) pocket. Will be amazing to take with me in my travels. So, now I have two smart telescopes, this one and my lovely Vespera Pro which cost me 10x what the Dwarf Mini cost!! Yes, I know that it looks like a toy but it’s actually an extremely capable astro telescope for lazy lugs like me. Anxious for the next clear night sky to see what it can do! #smarttelescope #dwarfmini
After 9 days with my kids and grandkids in Colorado, I flew back to Austin to celebrate with my Texas family. One of the fun gifts in Texas was this Dr Seuss “Joy Ride” shirt, inspired by my van, JOY. I’m so grateful for all the
After 9 days with my kids and grandkids in Colorado, I flew back to Austin to celebrate with my Texas family. One of the fun gifts in Texas was this Dr Seuss “Joy Ride” shirt, inspired by my van, JOY. I’m so grateful for all the love ❤️ from both my families!
Terre has been wanting some of my art up on our walls for quite awhile now. So the first one to go up, I posted a few days ago and then this one arrived from Germany two days ago. I’m super happy with the way it turned out, both the printing on
Terre has been wanting some of my art up on our walls for quite awhile now. So the first one to go up, I posted a few days ago and then this one arrived from Germany two days ago. I’m super happy with the way it turned out, both the printing on archival Fuji metallic pearl paper and the beautiful framing job they did. Honestly, I don’t think I could’ve had it done as nicely if I’d had it printed and framed in the USA. I chose this piece because it is my favorite photo from last year! It captures a fleeting moment in time with great light, dramatic clouds, great detail, and I couldn’t have asked for a better composition to capture that lightning strike between the mittens of Monument Valley in the Navajo nation. And the other thing about it is the shape of the lightning strike itself reminds me of Kokopelli, the fertility deity of the native tribes of the Southwest. You know, the guy with the flute. It was not inexpensive. At almost 2‘ x 4‘. It is definitely a significant piece for our home and it supports the Southwest motif we are going for. I’m definitely proud of this one and can offer one to you as well if it speaks to you the way it speaks to us. Please DM me if you are interested because it’s not available yet on my website. #landscapephotography #arizona #navajonation #monumentvalley #MonsoonMagic @beloveapparel
My last excursion over to West Texas was about three months ago and I have another trip planned for next week, again to Davis Mountain State Park along with Big Bend National Park for some more Astro photography under some really dark skies. Wish me
My last excursion over to West Texas was about three months ago and I have another trip planned for next week, again to Davis Mountain State Park along with Big Bend National Park for some more Astro photography under some really dark skies. Wish me clear skies, please! While I was in Big Bend during that trip, I was on a drive and encountered a field of oddly scattered rocks. So I pulled over the van, grabbed my camera and started looking for a composition. Mind you, I was just on the side of the road and did not take time to thoroughly explore this tiny little anomaly in the local geography. That being said, I like the lines of this image and the uniqueness of these rocks that were nowhere else in Big Bend that I’ve ever run across. #bigbendnationalpark #landscapephotography #westtexasadventures
I took a drive today from home out to Caddo Lake State Park in far East Texas. It was 300 miles so took a good part of the day, but I got here in plenty of time to grab my campsite, then my camera and caught a few blue hour images. Since I’ll
I took a drive today from home out to Caddo Lake State Park in far East Texas. It was 300 miles so took a good part of the day, but I got here in plenty of time to grab my campsite, then my camera and caught a few blue hour images. Since I’ll be kicking around here for a few days, my plan is to rent a canoe for at least one or two days just looking for different compositions of these magnificent bald cypress trees and just being out in nature. #caddolakestatepark #landscapephotography #texasfallcolors #baldcypress
A couple of weeks ago, I pulled the trigger and bought one of those smart telescopes so I can photograph deep sky objects like galaxies and nebulae.  Also with a couple of comets flying through the sky this month I’ve tried catching them too w
A couple of weeks ago, I pulled the trigger and bought one of those smart telescopes so I can photograph deep sky objects like galaxies and nebulae.  Also with a couple of comets flying through the sky this month I’ve tried catching them too with mixed results. Processing Astro photography is quite different than what I’m used to processing my landscape photography. They have specialized software for it, which is super complicated. So complicated that I kind of gave up and just went to Photoshop to pull the detail out of this file from the telescope. Luckily, there have been clear skies the last few evenings so I’ve set up the telescope on the back porch that has a pretty good view of the western sky and over three nights I collected data of this crescent nebula and some dust surrounding it.  #astrophotography #heart #crescentnebula #lookuptothesky #vesperapro #backyardastronomy #smarttelescope #igspaceshots
Had wonderful adventures the last two weeks driving up to Denver for my grandson‘s first birthday and some planned stops along the way for some milky way photography. I’ll post some of those later. On my way home, three days ago I drove
Had wonderful adventures the last two weeks driving up to Denver for my grandson‘s first birthday and some planned stops along the way for some milky way photography. I’ll post some of those later. On my way home, three days ago I drove the million dollar highway (US 550) between Ouray and Silverton, Colorado.  I’ll also post some more of those later, but this one is what they call the most photographed cabin in Colorado. A little research was involved to locate it but not too difficult to find. It’s at an unmarked dirt pull off, and I did have to scamper around the hillside a little bit to get a different perspective with a composition featuring more colorful trees and better framing than you can photograph from from the pull out itself. #fallvibes #landscapephotography #colorfulcolorado
Today I drove down Colorado 285 not really expecting to see any fall colors yet. But a major surprise, it was really beautiful! Tomorrow I’ll be heading over to the San Juan mountains to try to get a nice photograph of Mount Sneffels in full fa
Today I drove down Colorado 285 not really expecting to see any fall colors yet. But a major surprise, it was really beautiful! Tomorrow I’ll be heading over to the San Juan mountains to try to get a nice photograph of Mount Sneffels in full fall foliage.
“The Maharaja’s Palace “  13 or 14 years ago, I went to India on a yoga retreat. It was with a group of yogis from California and we also visited lots of cool places like a fabulous ashram, an amazing five star hotel,  and this p
“The Maharaja’s Palace “  13 or 14 years ago, I went to India on a yoga retreat. It was with a group of yogis from California and we also visited lots of cool places like a fabulous ashram, an amazing five star hotel,  and this place, among others. This photo has always been a favorite of mine and has always gotten noticed favorably when I put it out on social media. Today, I was notified that it’s up for an award in another competition that I entered a couple of months ago. It seems that now that I’m getting older and not getting out in the field as much to photograph that I’m starting to enter these competitions. I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how well my photography is being received in these competitions. This is the fourth photograph of mine in the last three months getting chosen! Because I have a huge library of photos, it’s fun going through some of the really old ones to see what might be appropriate. Of course, obviously with more than 250,000 photos in my library, I can’t go through all of them each time. It’s fun though to see some old favorites pop up that I hadn’t seen for quite some time.  This was an actual palace where the maharaja still lives and I remember having to pay an extra $20 or $25 for a permit to photograph. Definitely worth it because of this amazing architecture that you just don’t see every day.  #maharajaspalace #bangalorelife
The lungs of the desert, or something along those lines is what I’ve heard about this crypto biotic soil. When I visited the Lybrook fossil area in northern New Mexico recently, I ran into a lot of it! We also know not to walk on it, right? # This is what “drill, baby, drill” looks like in practice—and it is devastating. 💔 I arrived in Northern New Mexico yesterday, camera in hand, ready to document the raw beauty of the Lybrook Badlands. Instead, I found a landscape u The New Mexico landscape has such a timeless, almost alien quality to it. On my recent road trip I spent two days camping at Ghost Ranch, the 40 year home of Georgia O’Keefe. “I found I could say things with color and shapes that I could Six months ago I had no clue that such cool things are out there in our galaxy floating around! Then I bought a smart telescope and have been delighted with what I’ve been seeing. As mentioned before, it’s so much fun imaging these objec I was supposed to be on a road trip this week, but that got scuttled when we had the big ice storm last week and instead, I went to Padre Island on the Gulf Coast of Texas to stay warm and keep the delicate parts of my van from freezing. The road JOY is getting a new set of fresh batteries today! My little Dwarf Mini telescope arrived on New Year’s Eve and I posted pictures of how dinky this telescope is. Until we got clear skies last night, I wasn’t able to image anything with it. Even though the app interface is fairly intuitive I did something. Yup, bought the newest, smallest, lowest cost smart telescope available today. #dwarfmine from DWARF LAB! It’ll actually fit into a (large) pocket. Will be amazing to take with me in my travels. So, now I have two smart tele After 9 days with my kids and grandkids in Colorado, I flew back to Austin to celebrate with my Texas family. One of the fun gifts in Texas was this Dr Seuss “Joy Ride” shirt, inspired by my van, JOY. I’m so grateful for all the Terre has been wanting some of my art up on our walls for quite awhile now. So the first one to go up, I posted a few days ago and then this one arrived from Germany two days ago. I’m super happy with the way it turned out, both the printing on My last excursion over to West Texas was about three months ago and I have another trip planned for next week, again to Davis Mountain State Park along with Big Bend National Park for some more Astro photography under some really dark skies. Wish me I took a drive today from home out to Caddo Lake State Park in far East Texas. It was 300 miles so took a good part of the day, but I got here in plenty of time to grab my campsite, then my camera and caught a few blue hour images. Since I’ll A couple of weeks ago, I pulled the trigger and bought one of those smart telescopes so I can photograph deep sky objects like galaxies and nebulae.  Also with a couple of comets flying through the sky this month I’ve tried catching them too w Had wonderful adventures the last two weeks driving up to Denver for my grandson‘s first birthday and some planned stops along the way for some milky way photography. I’ll post some of those later. On my way home, three days ago I drove Today I drove down Colorado 285 not really expecting to see any fall colors yet. But a major surprise, it was really beautiful! Tomorrow I’ll be heading over to the San Juan mountains to try to get a nice photograph of Mount Sneffels in full fa “The Maharaja’s Palace “  13 or 14 years ago, I went to India on a yoga retreat. It was with a group of yogis from California and we also visited lots of cool places like a fabulous ashram, an amazing five star hotel,  and this p