Who am I?
My name is Patrick. I grew up in suburban Ohio. It was never possible to truly see the Milky Way, but I have always had an interest in astronomy. I remember looking at my first view of Saturn in a telescope and being disappointed, hoping to see these magnificent, colorful and huge objects. But I had been misled by the pictures on the department store telescope boxes. And even though I was looking through a university telescope, what I saw was a “small” image of Saturn, a suspended jewel of an object, beautiful, but nothing like what I was expecting to see.
Now I live in Southern California in an even worse urban light situation. A friend gave me a gift of a department store telescope and I took it out to the Southern California desert, where the sky is very dark. It was very frustrating to use, but it rekindled my interest in astronomy. So I went into a local telescope and camera store and said I wanted to buy a big telescope. The shop employee asked me what I planned on doing with the telescope. I wondered why that mattered. She replied that there are a number of considerations when picking a telescope. Did I want to just look at objects through the eyepiece, or did I want to photograph what was seen?
I knew I wanted to photograph objects. But there was even more to consider. Did I want to photograph solar system objects like planets, or did I want to photograph what are known as deep sky objects, like nebula or galaxies. I knew I wanted to take beautiful images like one might see in a magazine. I settled on a Meade 10 inch Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope (more on that later). And so began my journey into astrophotography.
Why I want to help:
Astrophotography has a steep learning curve. But with today’s technological advances, it is much easier than it used to be to get amazing images. Much of it can be accomplished with automation. But even if you can’t afford the most expensive equipment, there are many affordable options that can be used to obtain stunning images.
My goal with AstrophotoGuru.com
I have about 25 years of experience in this hobby. I don’t know everything about the hobby, but my experience has taught me much about what to do and what not to do, having learned a lot about telescopes, cameras, and probably most importantly about telescope mounts. I would argue that the choice of mount is every bit as important as the telescope, if not more so.
I hope to share some of my experience and advice to guide beginners, or even more experienced enthusiasts, in their journey in this fun and rewarding hobby.
If you ever need advice or have any questions, feel free to leave them below and I will be more than happy to help you out.
All the best,
Patrick
patrick@AstrophotoGuru.com