December 5th Public Lecture
"Photographing the Stars: A Beginners Guide to Astrophotography"
By Frank Ryan Jr from the Shannonside Astronomy Club
Frank Ryan Jr is a native of Ballycasey, Co. Clare, He became interested in space around the time of the first shuttle launches in 1981. This interest soon turned into a lifelong obsession with all things astronomical & today he is an avid astronomer and member of the Shannonside Astronomy Club. Five years ago he took up astrophotography and since then lots of his images have been printed in astronomy magazines including Sky & Telescope & Astronomy Now.
In his talk Frank will explain how you can get started taking beautiful astrophotos like his amazing Milky Way photo shown here with your DSLR camera with simple and easy techniques that anyone can learn even if you don't know anything about astronomy or astrophotography. He will show you how it is easy to take great pictures with very modest equipment and basic methods that are within everyone's reach. It will show you how to get the best out of the equipment that you already have.
You will learn how to use your camera in manual mode and all of the correct settings to use for astrophotography, as well as easy ways to focus and how to determine the correct exposure to get great pictures. The magic of long exposure astrophotography is that it reveals the beauty and wonder of the Universe in things that are too faint to be seen with the eye, even with a telescope. Here you can learn the secrets of astrophotography with a DSLR camera.
The talk takes place at he Westwood House Hotel starting at 7.30pm and is open to the public.
Ronan Newman
www.galwayastronomyclub.ie
  