I don't do astrophotography for several good reasons. I do photography of birds, sunsets, bunny rabbits, even rocks and trees, but I won't do astrophotos beyond a 1 minute time exposure on an DSLR. 1: It's all been done before. Google up and NGC number and you will have a few excellent, dozens of good, and hundreds of fair photos of any object that lends itself to photography. The Messier and Hershel catalogs have been covered. There is nothing new to photograph except an occasional comet and then the internet will bring you those with a vengence. 2: It's very expensive. Photos that I find interesting these days are of obscure galaxies. These are done with 20" RC's and one use cameras on megabuck mounts with exposure times of 30 hours plus. So the cutting edge is "out there" in the expense range of a 30 foot sailboat. A good visual system that will keep you involved for years comes in at the price of a row boat. 3: It's not portable. I remember going to the mountains with an astrophotographer. At midnight after I had visually seen dozens of objects, he was still struggling with cords, balky software and alignments. He lamented, "I've been here 4 hours and I haven't even started taking picture yet." 4: Photoshop. The pictures aren't reality any more than an advertisement is a accurate picture of the product or the sexy model holding it. Her mole has been removed, her bust enlarged, and her hips slimmed down. Everyone has the tools to make convincing lies. Reality it is not. DT --- On Mon, 5/10/10, Michael Vanopstall <opstall@math.utah.edu> wrote:
From: Michael Vanopstall <opstall@math.utah.edu> Subject: [Utah-astronomy] why photography? To: utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com Date: Monday, May 10, 2010, 5:08 PM Hello, all --
Together with Chuck, I can take a little responsibility for the horrible weather. I bought a pair of Celestron 15x70 binoculars this week (yes, the price of $72 at Clark is good, but not as good as the price of $45 with free shipping that I got from Amazon). I'm going to be in the middle of nowhere for a lot of the month of May, but not able to take my scope with me.
Now that the semester is over, I've been getting all reflective. I think I can explain why I like to go out and do astronomy related stuff. I'm not much into astrophysics, even though as a mathematician, I probably should be. I don't sketch. I really like being in the middle of nowhere, in the dark. I like meeting goals, working through lists. If you've read the ultra-saccharine "Hidden Treasures" by Steven O'Meara, I'm definitely the grab-and-run sort of sky pirate. None of my eyepieces is very good at all, and my 25mm one is the best, so I don't dwell on objects; just collect. The experience of the outdoors, and just finding things (like doing a puzzle) is fun for me.
I'm curious if anyone (on these cloudy nights) could give a succinct explanation of what is interesting about astrophotography. I have not (and will not) been drawn in, and I'm curious about what interests others.
Thanks.
---- Rev. Michael A. van Opstall Department of Mathematics, University of Utah Office: JWB 313 opstall@math.utah.edu
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