As my photography turned from a casual interest into a serious passion, I found myself turning my lens skyward more and more. My previous blog, a 365 project called Photology, was challenging and extremely rewarding but this project I intend to continue until my eyes fail and I can no longer look through an eyepiece. Yes, waterfalls are still beautiful and macro shots of flowers still appeal but the grand scale of the ever-changing night sky is completely enthralling.
This blog is where I will focus on all aspects of learning and imaging the night sky in any and all ways possible. With my current limited knowledge, equipment, and even more limited budget I can still manage some fairly decent work. This should be a great starting point for the blog. As of right now, I have no specific astrophotography equipment, equatorial mounts, super telescopic lenses, etc. Hopefully I can prove the old saying, "It's not the equipment, it's the photographer".
Current equipment:
Nikon D90
Sigma 70-300mm f4-5.6
Nikkor 50mm f1.8
Nikkor 85mm f1.8
Ravelli tripod with "pistol grip"
intervalometer
Homemade Barn-door Mount (see http://www.garyseronik.com/?q=node/52)
-yet to be fully tested, some kinks to be worked out.
I recently joined the Erie County Mobile Observers Group, a great bunch of folks with a plethora of knowledge and eager to share. I'll frequently be utilizing equipment belonging to members of the group, such as the tracking feature of a Meade RCX 400 mount by simply "piggybacking" my camera on the telescope itself.
I'll explain, in as much detail as I know, my process and results. This should be quite an adventure.
Here's my best astrophotography images to date in reverse chronological order, Astrophotography.
We'll build from there.
Keep looking up,
Jared
