I have been dabbling in astrophotography since late 1974. At that time I was 14 years old, and all I had for a camera was a Polaroid camera with an F8 wide angle fixed lens. Fortunately, Polaroid had (at that time) some film with speed of ASA 3000 (ASA was used in those days, now the term is ISO). This super fast film allowed the slow F8 lens to actually record some stars! I had to fool the camera's "electronic eye" so that time exposures were possible. Looking back at those pictures today, they seem so crude. However, I will never forget the excitement of actually taking my very first pictures of the night sky.
Things have changed dramatically in terms of what the average amateur astrophotographer can do today. The single biggest improvement has been in the films that are now available. Using commonly available "off the shelf" consumer film, most anyone with some basic equipment can get some decent shots on their first time out! In short, astrophotography has never been easier than it is today. It should be noted that basic astrophotography is within the reach of most anyone, however getting high quality shots of deep sky objects is still a challenging area requiring expensive specialized equipment and years of experience.
I consider myself an "upper intermediate" astrophotographer. I do astrophotography as time, weather, work and numerous other activities allow. Also, I am an "east coast" astrophotographer, meaning that I do not have the pristine skies of those who live in the southwestern US. The best of nights here (even at a dark sky site) would probably be considered "marginal" by people who can photography from the top of a 5000 foot peak in the desert southwest. However, I do the best I can with what I have.
Thus far I have worked pretty much with "off the shelf" films (non hypered). There are several reasons for this: I do not have a color darkroom, I do not have film hypersensitizing equipment etc. I do astrophotography sporadically throughout the year... during this time photo chemicals go bad and new batches have to be mixed up. In short, I do not have the time or funds to maintain a professional color darkroom. Basically, I do the best I can with off the shelf consumer film. Due to the improvements in film, it is now possible to get shots that would have been the envy of the best astrophotographer of only 20 years ago. As a kid, I used to drool over the photos that appeared in a 1975 Celestron catalog. Back then I would have been thrilled to have taken shots as nice as those. However I recently looked at the photos in the catalog and I was shocked: today I can routinely beat the quality of almost all of those shots! Further, I now notice just how flawed some of those photos were (bad guiding, field rotation, grain, etc)!
As you look through the images on my site, do keep in mind that these are all amateur photos. Most everyone has seen the magnificent photos produced by the Hubble Space Telescope and other large professional observatory telescopes. No amateur can compete with images produced by these instruments. My photos are in a completely different class, representing those that can be obtained (with dedication) by the "average" person. In addition, most of my photos are nowhere near as good as those from some of the best astrophotographers in the world today (but I am making progress)!
My photos are arranged into two basic pages. The Showpiece Gallery has my very best images, this is the place you will want to visit if you are looking for the best images I have. Another Gallery contains a variety of images that are "good" to "not so good". The intent is to provide the beginner some idea of what to expect when starting out. Also included are images of astronomical related items such as equipment, light pollution, mistakes, etc.
My equipment has varied over the years. My first shots were taken in 1974 with the Polaroid camera as mentioned earlier. Today I use a number of cameras and telescopes depending on the subject to be photographed. The bulk of the major equipment is listed below:
The Celestron CG-11 scope serves as the "guiding platform" for cameras and the Vixen scope. I also have an F6.3 focal reducer for the 11" Celestron scope (equivalent to a 1760mm F6.3 lens).
I have B+W darkroom facilities, however I do not do too much with this medium anymore. Most of my image processing is done using the computer.
I am by no means a "professional" photographer. I have only a basic knowledge of chemical photographic techniques (I understand the lens side of thing pretty well however). I do have a strong background in the theory, mathematics and procedures involved with digital image processing, this has helped enormously in figuring things out regarding better images. Most of the images on my pages are film images (CCD images are on a page of their own). In most cases I have the film processed at a local one hour photo outfit (I realize this is not the best but it is the best option I have at the moment). Recently I have switched to having the images placed on CD. I can then import the images into a number of software packages (PhotoShop, PhotoStyler, and MATLAB) and process them to enhance the detail in the image. I strive to limit processing to that which enhances detail in an image, I do not like to process to the point where an image looks fake. I would greatly prefer to process the film myself and then scan it myself... however I do not have a film scanner nor do I have a color darkroom. In my opinion a film scanner capable of 3000 to 4000 dpi optical resolution is needed for truly high quality scans from film (prices of such units are out of my reach at this time). A number of my images are processed from scans of prints. I do not like to use this method, however in a number of cases it is my only option. I have recently been experimenting with "stacked" images with some surprisingly significant improvements.
As I mentioned previously, astrophotography has never been easier than it is today. That does not however mean it is easy. Most anyone can get some decent wide angle tripod shots without major effort and exotic equipment. However, planet and especially deep sky astrophotography represents a major jump in the amount (and cost) of equipment involved, not to mention the learning curve. Astrophotography can be very rewarding, but do not expect to get magazine quality photos after a few sessions! The best way to get involved is to start small and work up. There will be a lot to learn along the way. There are many good web sites that offer tips on how to get started (you will even find some articles on my site).
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