Saturday, March 31, 2012

A Big Beginning...

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