TEXARKANA MAGAZINE
Riddle’s motorcycle parked at the Baker Archaeological Site in Great Basin National Park, during the park’s annual Astronomy Festival in September 2024.
Stars over Delicate Arch in Arches National Park, Utah.
D on 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
12
COMMUNITY & CULTURE
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs