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Dust and Starlight

@dustandstarlightco

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Real places across Utah and the mountain west — landscapes, night skies, wildlife. Prints in the shop.

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Pack a snack and cruise on over, friends 🚙✨ Our new website and print shop is finally open, and you’re going to want to take a look around.

Years of back roads, early alarms and chasing the light, all in one place.

$10 from every print sold this fall goes to protecting public lands 🌲

Link in bio, or comment PRINT and I’ll send it your way 🔗

#sawtoothmountains #stanleyidaho #5thgen4runner #idahomountains #landscapeprints by @dustandstarlightco

Nature can’t vote, but you can. 🌎

Zion’s Narrows, where the river is the trail. Places like this belong to all of us, and how well they’re protected and cared for is decided by the people who show up to vote, from local ballots to federal races.

Tomorrow is Election Day. Make a plan, and vote with public lands in mind.

Find your polling place: vote.gov

#PublicLands #VoteForPublicLands #NatureCantVote #ElectionDay #Vote2026 by @dustandstarlightco

Sam spotted them first 👀

A band of pronghorn working through the autumn sagebrush near Red Rock Lakes, maybe 40 or 50 feet from the road, on our Centennial Valley loop in Montana this September. A few minutes earlier: a ranch horse in a golden pasture.

Have you driven the Centennial Valley? 👇 Link in bio for prints.

#centennialvalley #montana #pronghorn #wildlifephotography #fallvibes by @dustandstarlightco

Our kind of Halloween night 🦇✨

The Windows Section of Arches after dark: North and South Windows at blue hour, then the Milky Way rising beside North Window and over the trail. And for anyone wondering what it looks like by day: Turret Arch, two mornings later.

Happy Halloween from the desert 🎃 Prints in the shop, link in bio.

#archesnationalpark #milkyway #halloween #nightsky #moab by @dustandstarlightco

One night on the White Rim 🌌

Last light on Candlestick Tower from camp. A couple of hours later, the Milky Way standing straight up over the rim, with one of us at the edge and a headlamp on the pale sandstone. Then about three minutes of color behind the tower at sunrise before the clouds closed in.

Sunset, stars or sunrise? 👇 Link in bio for prints.

#whiterimroad #canyonlands #milkyway #astrophotography #moab by @dustandstarlightco

Two Octobers ago ☄️

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS between the clouds after sunset on October 12, 2024, over the valley towns from Skyline Drive in central Utah, with Mount Nebo on the right.

Did you see it? Tell us where you were 👇 It's now on the site, link in bio.

#comet #tsuchinshanatlas #astrophotography #utah #nightsky by @dustandstarlightco

7K of you are here and I’m screaming 😭 Thank you. Truly.
If you’re new, hi, I’m Sam. I live in Salt Lake City with my husband Brian, and most weekends you’ll find us in the 4Runner heading somewhere with dark skies and not much cell service. He’s usually behind the camera or flying the drone, and I’m the one planning the route and finding the spots. Together we run @dustandstarlightco, where his landscape and night sky photos are available as prints.
Here’s what you can expect if you stick around:
• National park spots and places across the West, with the real details (when to go, where to park, what’s worth it)
• Cozy stays and cabins we find along the way
• Night skies, drone views, and a lot of road trip moments
• Honest takes on what’s crowded, what’s overrated, and what’s worth the drive
• Why protecting our public lands matters to us, and how you can help
I started this to share places I love, and you all showing up for it means more than I can say. Tell me where you’re following from, and what spot you’d want me to cover next 👇
#utah #nationalparks #4runner #roadtrip #publiclands by @dustandstarlightco

Capitol Reef's quiet side 🏜️

Cathedral Valley sits in the far north of the park, down dirt roads, and it's pretty empty out here except on some weekends.

1. The Temple of the Sun, a lone tower of red Entrada sandstone
2. The view from the Upper Cathedral Valley overlook
3. Two pale-capped monoliths, a year later

We've gone back two Aprils in a row. Have you been? 👇 Prints in the shop, link in bio.

#capitolreef #cathedralvalley #utah #desertsouthwest #landscapephotography by @dustandstarlightco

Spring and fall, same park 🦬

Lamar Valley in May: the herd spread across the green flats by the oxbows of the Lamar River. Mallard Creek in September: one bison standing mid-channel, then crossing with a geyser plume rising behind it.

Spring or fall? 👇 Prints are on the site, link in bio.

#yellowstone #bison #lamarvalley #wildlifephotography #publiclands by @dustandstarlightco

Fall came early up high this year 🍂

Late September in the Wasatch and the Uintas: gold aspens under the granite at Guardsman Pass, and a dirt road curving into Soapstone Basin off the Mirror Lake Highway.

The highway usually closes for winter in November, so these will have to hold us until next fall.

Which one would you hang? 1, 2, 3 or 4 👇 Prints of all four are on the site, link in bio.

#utahfall #fallcolors #aspens #mirrorlakehighway #wasatchmountains by @dustandstarlightco

We spent last weekend in Bluff, Utah as guests of @desertrose.resort , and before bed we left a camera pointed at the sky. This is what the night looked like while we slept. ✨

Desert Rose was the perfect base camp. We spent the days exploring, then came back to soak in the hot tub under the stars. On-site dining kept things easy, and Canyon Smokehouse in town was our go-to for dinner and late-night bites. 🍖

If Bluff isn’t on your list yet, it should be. Within a short drive you’ve got:
🏜 Valley of the Gods
🌀 Goosenecks State Park
🪨 The Sand Island petroglyphs
🛶 Floating the San Juan River
⛰ Bears Ears and Cedar Mesa

Thank you, Desert Rose, for having us. We’ll be back. 🌌

#bluffutah #desertrose #startrails #utahskies #darkskies by @dustandstarlightco

Every star, twice. ✨

The lake went completely still and the whole sky doubled. We stood there way too long, but we would do it again.

Save this for the next time you need a quiet moment. 🌌

#nightsky #astrophotography #lakereflection #stargazing #nightphotography by @dustandstarlightco