A Life in Focus
Don Riddle, a retired Marine officer and former business owner, now finds his greatest inspiration in the night sky. Photographing the Milky Way above the rugged landscapes of America’s national parks has become his life’s pursuit. For Riddle, photography is about more than creating beautiful images. It is about encouraging others to pause, look up, and recognize that the universe is vast, breathtaking, and that our parks are worth protecting.
Riddle spent his early years serving his country as a Marine officer, a role that taught him both discipline and leadership. After his military service, he transitioned into entrepreneurship, running a successful business until 2019. He and his wife, Dr. Laura Riddle, the director of instructional technology at Henderson State University, also formed a band called Ms Mac and the Groovetones, which they played in for ten years. Retirement could have meant rest, but for Riddle, he saw it as an opportunity to keep moving.
“I was once told that when I retired, no one would blame me if I just sat around and did nothing,” he said. “But that didn’t sound like me. I’d always worked hard to achieve my goals, and I didn’t want to just stop. I wanted to get out there and continue to live life, to learn new and different things, and keep enjoying my life with my family and friends.”
That drive led him to rediscover a former interest, his fascination with the night sky. It was a curiosity awakened inside him years earlier during his Marine Corps service when he stepped off a helicopter and looked up to see a magnificent, star-filled sky. Thinking back, he said, “I thought to myself that someday I was going to learn how to take pictures of the night sky.” Years later, that promise to himself would shape the next season of his life.
Much of Riddle’s love for the outdoors came from his father, who, after retiring from the Army, would take a portion of his leave every summer to travel with his family, taking them camping across America’s national parks. “My dad loved to camp and visit the parks. I guess you could say my love for the national parks was just a continuation of my dad’s love for them.”
Over the past eight years, Riddle has volunteered with the National Park Service, teaching introductory Milky Way photography courses at locations such as Great Basin, Mesa Verde, Capitol Reef, and Bryce Canyon National Parks, as well as Cedar Breaks and Devils Tower National Monuments. His classes draw students from around the world, ranging from ages 12 to 85, many with no prior experience in photography, arriving with brand new cameras and little knowledge. “The majority of my students just want to learn for fun,” he explains. “They’re not looking to be professional photographers. They just want to take pictures and enjoy doing it. For me, that’s what it’s all about.”
Riddle’s teaching style blends patience with technical instruction and storytelling. Classes typically begin with a lecture on camera settings before moving into the field for hands-on practice under the stars. He emphasizes not only techniques such as shooting in RAW, working with moon phases, and preparing for weather, but also the art of slowing down and simply experiencing the night. “I always encourage my students to put the camera down at some point and just look at the Milky Way with their eyes,” he said. “That moment of connection is just as important as the photo.”
For Riddle, teaching is about the look on a student’s face when they succeed. “It’s what I call the ‘I got it’ moment,” he said. “When a student gets their first Milky Way picture and they call me over and say, ‘Look at this!’ that always sticks out to me. It doesn’t matter how young or old someone is. The smiles and the looks on their faces are always the same. It’s pure joy!”
Sometimes those moments show up in unexpected ways. One former student from Capitol Reef National Park recently had her Milky Way photograph chosen as the cover for the 2026 Colorado National Monument calendar, a proud milestone for both teacher and student. “That’s a pretty big deal for me,” Riddle admits. “To be able to say I taught someone who had a photo published—that’s really cool!”
While teaching is central to his retirement, Riddle also fuels his passion through an annual solo motorcycle journey out west. For him, riding is not just a means of transportation, but it’s true freedom. “We’re lucky to live in a country where you can travel all the way across the United States and not be stopped at borders asking why you’re going somewhere. I can get out and ride, meet different people, and enjoy all this country has to offer.”
Traveling by motorcycle, Riddle says, connects him to the landscape in ways a car never could. “You can smell the sage grass in the desert or the pine and fir trees in the mountains. The colors of the aspen trees and the ground just appear closer as you ride a bike. You feel the cold and heat on a bike more than you ever do in a car, and you come to understand a little bit more about nature, I believe.”
That solitude also gives Riddle space to reflect. “There are times I go days without talking to anyone,” he shares. “It’s just me and the road. That quiet allows me to think about my life and the decisions that I’ve made over the years. I know I can’t change them, but it allows me to relive both the good and the bad, and I hope it makes me a better person.”
Through his teaching, Riddle hopes to inspire not only photography skills but also a commitment to conservation. Dark skies become rarer as light pollution spreads, and he emphasizes the importance of preserving them for future generations. “Being able to stand under the night sky is not something everyone gets to do,” he says. “We need to work hard to make sure more people have a chance to see the Milky Way.”
His advice to others is simple. “Never stop learning. Never stop pushing yourself to try new things.” “I never imagined I’d take up a camera and start teaching photography in national parks,” he shared. “But here I am! Life keeps opening new doors if you let it.”
For all his accomplishments, Don Riddle’s connection to the parks and to the night sky is deeply personal. The stars have become not only a source of wonder but also of healing. “I never knew just how important it would be for me to have that peace until four and a half years ago when we lost our youngest daughter,” he added. “As I travel to the national parks now, I take her spirit with me. I can stand under the night skies and know that she is there. As I take those pictures of the Milky Way, it offers me a little peace and comfort. I can both feel and hear her, at times, telling me, ‘It is okay, Dad. I am here, and I love you.’ That is what the national parks and the night skies mean to me.”
