HOW HIGH THE MOON

Welcome to my latest blog entry which takes a brief look at one of my other interests... astronomy and astrophotography.

I have been a freelance photographer for more than seven years and during that time photographed many subjects including landscapes, architecture and wildlife. However, my main interest is working with models, both hobbyist and semi-professional. Over the years I have covered many styles... fashion, portrait, cosplay, swimwear, horror, pin-up, vintage, retro, lingerie and boudoir. I have worked with some wonderful models, most multiple times, and have been fortunate to have been published in a number of magazines. Other articles on my blog cover this in more detail.

A couple of years ago I purchased a new 150-600mm f5-6.3 Sigma lens which gave me the opportunity to pursue a new hobby, astronomy and astrophotography. Although only a beginner and with a lot to learn I have been pleased with my efforts so far.

My early attempts were images of full-moons, with mixed success and the three images below, all taken using my Canon EOS 77D and Sigma lens, are examples of my early efforts.

Flower Moon - May 2020

Full Moon - 30 November 2020

Snow Moon - 27 February 2021

I soon realised I needed to expand my knowledge of astronomy and astrophotography. One of the earliest pieces of information I discovered was that taking images of full-moons wasn't the best option, due to the fact that there is not much detail in the images and they looked very flat.

I wanted to achieve a well-exposed image where you could make out craters etc and soon learnt that to achieve this I should photograph the moon during other phases, such as crescent and half-moons, when it is less illuminated by the sun and when shadows help exaggerate the surface.

I bought a couple of books and magazines on astronomy/astrophotography from which I learnt a lot more about the night sky and capturing great images. 

Last year I purchased a telescope, a Celestron Nexstar 4SE, which would give me the opportunity to expand my interest, learn more about the night sky and capture better images by fitting my DSLR camera to the telescope.

My main interest is the moon and I knew when I purchased the telescope that it was more suitable for planetary rather than deep space imaging.

It took a while to understand how to use the telescope and I found alignment an uphill struggle, although it was made easier by the fact that I was only viewing the moon. It wasn't long before I had all the necessary pieces of hardware to connect my camera.

Having learnt about the different phases I avoided full-moons and started photographing at different times of the moons cycle... Waxing Gibbous, First Quarter, Waxing Crescent etc.

I made several attempts and most ended up being deleted but I soon took the image below which, although not perfect, I was very pleased with. It received many positive comments when I posted it on social media including some from members of a local astronomy club which I recently joined.

27 August 2021

At the present time I have only used the telescope to view and capture images of the moon. It is a steep learning curve and in the future I hope to improve my skills and attempt to capture images of other planets.

Recently I connected the telescope to my laptop making alingment much easier and I'm sure in the future I will be adding to my astrophotography kit.

My latest image, and personal favourite, was taken at twilight on 14 April 2022 and once again I was pleased with the results and the comments it received.

14 April 2022

I will never be an expert at astrophotography but will continue to watch the night sky and take photographs and hope one day to take that amazing shot that will make people go wow!