Photos of the year 2009 (many of which are for sale)

Purchase a print | Barack Obama delivers his inauguration address after being sworn in as president on Jan. 20. Full post


Purchase a print | A crowd is gathered on the National Mall on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20. Full post


Purchase a print | Seen from Palm Shores, shuttle Discovery lifts off after sunset on March 15. Full post

Purchase a print | A tree casts its shadow onto an outside wall at my apartment complex on April 29. Full post

Purchase a print | Venus and the moon rendezvous for a close conjunction on April 22. Full post


Purchase a print | Traffic moves across Pineda Causeway in Brevard County as Venus and the moon rendezvous for a close conjunction on April 22. Full post


A boy, impersonating a soldier, laughs next to his father at a "tea party" protest against government spending at Wickham Park in Melbourne on April 19. Full post


Purchase a print | An Atlas V rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral with a military communications satellite on April 4, as viewed from Melbourne. Full post


Purchase a print | An osprey chows down on a fish at Viera's Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands on April 30. Full post


Purchase a print | A palamedes swallowtail spreads its wings on top of a fern deep in Melbourne's Wickham Park on May 2. Full post


Seen through palm fronds, a cardinal carries a bug as it hops along on a house fence on May 4. Full post


Purchase a print | The sun breaks through a cloud over Space View Park in Titusville just before the liftoff of shuttle Atlantis on May 11. Full post


Purchase a print | A strong thunderstorm moves over the Indian River in Palm Shores and brings needed rain on May 18. Full post


Purchase a print | Lightning strikes in the Atlantic off south Cocoa Beach on May 19. Full post

Purchase a print | A killdeer scurries away from oncoming traffic at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on June 1. Full post

Purchase a print | The sun sets over the Indian River in Titusville on June 1. Full post

Purchase a print | Shuttle Atlantis rides on a 747 as the cargo transport flies along Patrick Air Force Base beach on June 2. Full post


Purchase a print | The underside of a shelf cloud over Sebastian appears wind-torn on May 26. Full post

Purchase a print | A thunderstorm moves over U.S. 1 near FLORIDA TODAY headquarters on June 5. Full post

Purchase a print | A spiraling tail cloud is lit at sunset on June 5. Full post


Purchase a print | Ducks stand by the water at Wells Park in Melbourne on June 11. Full post

Purchase a print | A rainbow arcs over the green Atlantic off Indialantic on June 11. Full post

A thunderstorm, which had brought funnel clouds earlier to Central Florida, moves off Patrick Air Force Base on June 13. Full post


Purchase a print | An egret grabs a fish in the Indian River in Titusville on June 15. Full post


Purchase a print | Clouds light up with color at sunset over launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center on June 17. Full post

Purchase a print | A trio of lights - the moon, the shuttle's launch pad and Jupiter - highlight a rib of clouds over launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center on June 17. Full post

Purchase a print | A thunderstorm moves over a house on Harlock Road in Melbourne on June 18. Full post


Lightning strikes offshore near the Cocoa Beach Pier on June 22. Full post


Purchase a print | The skies get stormy over a deserted part of Palm Bay on June 23. Full post


Purchase a print | A Delta IV rocket lifts off through layers of blue, as seen from Palm Shores on June 27. Full post


Purchase a print | A gust front moves over Lake Washington in Melbourne on June 29. Full post


Purchase a print | The sky over Melbourne produces a rare display of mammatus clouds at sunset on July 3. Full post

A storm moves over Patrick Air Force Base Beach on July 4. Click for full panorama. Full post


Purchase a print | Fireworks explode during a show off Cocoa Beach's Shepard Park on July 4. Full post

Purchase a print | A small alligator lurks in Crane Creek off Promenade Park in Melbourne on July 6. Full post

Purchase a print | The sun rises over a flooded church parking lot near Wickham Park in Melbourne on July 9. Full post

A few details of the International Space Station can be seen during a flyover on July 9. Full post

A nearly full moon is seen on July 9, as the Apollo 11 anniversary nears. Full post

Purchase a print | A shelf cloud moves over Cape Canaveral beach, scrubbing a shuttle launch attempt on July 13. Full post

Purchase a print | Lightning strikes near the parking lot of FLORIDA TODAY on July 24. Full post

Purchase a print | Toy cows with parachutes are dropped from a helicopter during a promotion for a new Chick-fil-A location in Viera. Full post


Seen from Space View Park in Titusville, shuttle Endeavour lands on July 31. Full post


Purchase a print | A Delta II rocket streaks into the pre-sunrise sky at Jetty Park in Cape Canaveral on Aug. 17. Full post


Purchase a print | Contrails from a Delta II rocket are lit in a pre-sunrise sky at Jetty Park in Cape Canaveral on Aug. 17. Full post


Purchase a print | Contrails from a Delta II rocket are lit in a pre-sunrise sky at Jetty Park in Cape Canaveral on Aug. 17. Full post

Purchase a print | A shelf cloud moves over Pineda Causeway on Aug. 20. Full post

A surfer crashes into a wave as Hurricane Bill sends swells toward Cocoa Beach on Aug. 22. Full post

Purchase a print | A wave from Hurricane Bill nears me as I swim off Patrick Air Force Base on Aug. 22. Full post

Purchase a print | Lightning flashes inside storm clouds over the Indian River in northern Melbourne on Aug. 23. Full post

Purchase a print | Lightning, seen from Titusville, scrubs a shuttle launch attempt on Aug. 25. Full post

Purchase a print | Shuttle Discovery streaks into space in this time-lapse image with a police cruiser's lights in the foreground on Aug. 28 and 29. Full post

Purchase a print | Lightning crawls near Trinity Towers in downtown Melbourne on Aug. 31. Full post

Purchase a print | The Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay is seen under a haloed full moon on Sept. 4. Full post

Purchase a print | Lightning strikes along Interstate 75 in South Florida on Sept. 4. Full post


Purchase a print | A storm hangs low over Interstate 75 in South Florida on Sept. 4. Full post

Purchase a print | Key West and Disney's Magic are seen from the top of an old lighthouse on Sept. 6. Full post

Purchase a print | A prairie warbler browses for bugs in a pine tree on Smathers Beach in Key West on Sept. 6. Full post

Purchase a print | Fish swim under the pier at Smathers Beach in Key West on Sept. 6. Full post

Purchase a print | The International Space Station passes by a thunderstorm over the Gulf of Mexico and into the lights of Marathon on the other side of Seven-Mile Bridge in the Florida Keys on Sept. 6. Full post


Purchase a print | A fisherman watches the sun set over Lake Washington in Melbourne on Sept. 9. Full post

Purchase a print | A great blue heron is caught snoozing at my workplace on Sept. 14. Full post

Purchase a print | A rainbow arcs over Pineda Causeway on Sept. 23. Full post

A Delta II rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral, as seen from Jetty Park, on Sept. 25. Full post

The solid rocket boosters separate from a Delta II on Sept. 25. Full post

Anticrepuscular rays appear in the sky opposite the setting sun in Rockledge on Sept. 25. Full post

Purchase a print | The International Space Station makes a pass of the moon over Pineda Causeway on Sept. 28. Full post

Purchase a print | Pilot Jason Newburg's Oakley-sponsored Viper biplane is seen through beach grass during the Cocoa Beach Air Show on Oct. 4. Full post

Purchase a print | A rainbow appears over the Penobscot River in Lincoln, Maine, on Oct. 5. Full post

Purchase a print | Storm clouds move over Stump Pond in Lincoln, Maine, on Oct. 5. Full post

Purchase a print | Clouds float over the Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge on Oct. 6. Full post

Purchase a print | Fall turns blueberry fields red in Meddybemps, Maine, on Oct. 8. Full post

Purchase a print | A photographer shoots a moose in Stump Pond at Maine's Baxter State Park on Oct. 9. Full post

Photographers wait for moose to appear in Sandy Stream Pond at the foot of Mount Katahdin in Maine's Baxter State Park on Oct. 9. Full post

An amateur photographer from New York City takes exposures of the low-level cloud cover over Maine's Mount Katahdin on Oct. 9. Full post

Dark clouds move over a house along a backwoods road off Route 6 in Washington County, Maine, on Oct. 10. Full post

Purchase a print | A lone red maple leaf sticks out in a sea of gold in Princeton, Maine, on Oct. 11. Full post

Purchase a print | Stars of the Milky Way shine brightly above the treetops in Princeton, Maine, on Oct. 11. Full post

Purchase a print | Pileus - the horizontal, wispy clouds that often form over cumulonimbus clouds during strong updrafts - also appear over plumes from forest fires, such as this controlled burn at Kennedy Space Center on Oct. 21. Full post

A child reacts after hearing that the Ares I-X test launch was scrubbed because of cloud cover on Oct. 27. Full post

A shock wave forms around the Ares I-X rocket in a test flight for NASA's next generation of spacecraft on Oct. 28. Full post

Purchase a print | Shuttle Atlantis lifts off from Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39A, as seen from the NASA press site on Nov. 17. Full post

Purchase a print | An Atlas V rocket carrying several communications satellites blasts off from Cape Canaveral on Nov. 23. Full post

My new Harley-Davidson Sportster is seen in the setting sun and wildfire smoke on Nov. 30. Full post

Purchase a print | The launch of a Delta IV rocket lights up the Indian River in Palm Shores on Dec. 5. Full post

Purchase a print | A roll cloud moves swiftly over Cocoa Beach on Dec. 14. Full post

A meteor appears during the Geminids shower on Dec. 14. Full post

Purchase a print | A floodlight is filtered through a tree and shines on fog in Melbourne on Dec. 16. Full post

Purchase a print | Comet pops his head through the railings in a live reindeer exhibit in Viera on Dec. 19. Full post

Purchase a print | An egret sticks its head under the water in search of fish while flying along at full speed at the wetlands in Viera on Dec. 29. Full post