A few musings

Folks, I thought I'd share a few astrophotography musings with you.

1. Has anyone noticed how much astrophotography is going on here compared to say two years ago? I have to say that not only has the quantity gone up but, in my opinion, the quality of imaging is not far off as good as it gets in the UK. In some case, its better. Evidently, a good few folks here are good enough to be (rightly) published. Hip hip...

2. Have you notice how many people take images of the same thing? I don't know how many hundreds of lunar shots, M42's or globulars we've had here. Recently, I took my umpteenth image of M51 and wondered "with billions of objects out there, why the heck do I keep coming back to you?" The penny dropped tonight (a Homer moment). For me, at least, if I re-image the same object, I get a good sense of how far I have come and how much my skills have hopefully improved (and how much the bank balance has disimproved...).

A case in point (though embarrasing to an extent) - I shot M3 14 months ago and was like the cat with the cream. I though "move over Jim Misti". I shot it again just the other night ago and was relatively pleased. Comparing the two though, I should have been extremely pleased. They're both side-by-side on my website - take a look. But I really didn;t get that mad urge to post the image within two minutes of finishing the processing...

Do we (have I) become far more discerning, self critical, driven even to the extent that I always know I can do better? Add in other images of M3 (or M13) from other folks and we end up driving each other... How do you see it?

3. How competitive are we? And is any of it negative? Certainly, folks here have posted images that have spurred me on to do better - not in a competitive way but for my own 'sanity' check. "If Joe Bloggs can do that, then heck, I should be able to." I have actually been guilty of taking some images and not even posted them - simply because it was never taken to be a "look how big *my* M42 is". I know in recent months, I have become more critical of other folks' images. Not in a negative sense, but to instil some drive (hopefully) and get someone to be more critical of themselves. Again, in the hope of raising that bar just a little more.

My, haven't we come a long way.

One final muse - where will we be 12 months from now, do you think?

Dave

In a short sweeping musing (well, short compared to yours Dave! ), I am amazed at the level to which we can achieve such fantastic images and movies from groud zero. I mean, when I look back through 10-odd year old Sky and Telescope magazines (well, June 1995 to be precise), and see a 640 X 480 "digital astrophotography camera" for about $330.00, I just think heck, I can buy that in Argos for €30 now! So much positive change in such short periods of time...

We've come a long way baby!

What strikes me is the range of shots we get now. From stunning milkyway shots with fancy beaches in the background to detailed looks at planets to the perls of the deep skies. Even people armed with nothing more than a digital camera and an eye for a shot can take astronomical images that are really cool. In particular I'm thinking of the recent one of the statue with arms raised to Venus in a clearing sky.

So we have this vast variety (even if a lot of objects get re-visited a lot) but we have lost something too. Something I think it was good to loose. People don't just post ok images any more, they only share the cream of their particular crop. We don't get vast dumps of images from users but just the ones each user is personally proud of and has picked out as among their personal best.

We also get images from absolute beginners to truely seasoned pros. And what's really great is that the pros don't scoff at the beginners but advise and encourage them. It's like a mentoring scheme! As a community we all help drive up the quality of astrophotography in Ireland.

I really think this site has played a signifficant role in driving up the quality of Irish astrophotography and in encouraging more and more Irish astronomers to try to capture what they see, and not just with cameras but also with scketches and drawings. Long may this continue I say!

Bart.

I really think this site has played a signifficant role in driving up the quality of Irish astrophotography and in encouraging more and more Irish astronomers to try to capture what they see, and not just with cameras but also with scketches and drawings. Long may this continue I say!

Bart.

Hear hear!

2. Have you notice how many people take images of the same thing?

I spent about a two months constantly going back to M31 using different scopes.
As for competition, I would say it is as much self driven. I know that I have still to be comletely satisfied with any image I've taken. When I see other members images and I know what equipment they have I strive to push myself and my gear to meet the current standard. I think at this stage IFAS has become a site that would rival or better others world wide.

well said Kieran,
How many images of M42 have I taken over the years?, I'll stop when I get an image I'm completely satisfied with, until then, I'll keep at it, but I wont put all of them up on the site, only ones I feel bring something new to the scene.