Electronically Assisted Astronomy by Robert Colvert Apr 20, 2021
Robert Colvert, our club’s Program Director, talks about EAA (Electronically Assisted Astronomy). Besides addressing the finer points of this interesting subject, he shares his own experience, shows us samples of what he has done, talks about the challenges and fun of doing EAA, and provides guidance to those who may want to jump into this aspect of astro-imaging.
Basics of image calibration, registration, and stacking by Bernard Miller May 18, 2021
Bernard Miller, (http://www.azstarman.net) an accomplished Astro-photographer, has featured in Astronomy Magazine, Sky and Telescope, the NASA APOD website, and the Royal Observatory, Greenwich.
Bernard’s talk covers the basics of image calibration, registration, and stacking. Bernard uses Pixinsight to demonstrate the process. The objective is to get us knowledgeable in creating image masters in L and RGB, ready for finishing the images in software like Photoshop.
Key factors that affect image quality by Charles Bracken June 15, 2021
Charles Bracken, well known author and presenter, talks about basics of astrophotography. His “Deep Space Imaging Primer” is an excellent general purpose resource for Astrophotography, and his “Astrophotography Sky Atlas” is probably the most useful sky atlas for an astrophotography. His website Deep-Sky Imaging (https://digitalstars.wordpress.com/) details his on-going work. he has an incredible APOD image capture of comet c20020m3 in Orion with a wide angle lens. His other presentations of interest are “Understanding Signal, Noise, and Resolution in Astro-imaging”, and “Finding the Optimal Nights to Image an Object”.
Imaging Workflow by Bruce Barron July 20, 2021
Bruce Barron, a WVAC member, is a seasoned hand at both imaging and spectroscopy. In his talk on Imaging Workflow he gives a short intro to his equipment, software and how he does various tasks, followed by on-screen processing of a series of subs of M3 and M42. These tasks include calibration, plate solving, aligning, stacking, initial processing, color correction and integration of narrow band subs.
My journey into Astrophotography by Larry Matney Aug 17, 2021
Larry, a WVAC member, describes his journey into astrophotography and what he learned about cameras along the way. He started with an unmodified DSLR and now has a “real” astrophotography camera. The journey has not been smooth and is still a bit rocky (so he says!) but some of his experiences will be helpful to those just getting into astrophotography or considering moving from a normal DSLR or mirror-less camera to one of the dedicated astrophotography cameras. There are many paths that can be taken to get into astrophotography and this presentation is just one of them.
Post Processing Astrophotography Images by Bernard Miller Sep 21, 2021.
This is a follow-up to Bernard Miller’s (http://www.azstarman.net) June presentation on the basics of image calibration, registration, and stacking. In this presentation he takes us through and illustrates the process he uses to post process images in Photoshop.
Bernard is an accomplished Astro-photographer whose work has featured in Astronomy Magazine and website, Sky and Telescope Website, the NASA APOD website and at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. Bernard received the second place award in the Galaxy category in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year contest in 2017.
Astrophotography Made Easy by Peter Zelinka October 19 2021.
Peter Zelinka, is an amazing nature photographer who spent a few years teaching photography, and taking photographs while living out of his car and traveling across the country! For some years now he has been doing and teaching astrophotography and has developed tons of online courses and tutorials that are very popular.
“Astrophotography Made Easy” should appeal to a lot of folks who are either sitting on the fence thinking about doing astrophotography or want to get started without making heavy investments. If you love the objects in the sky and own a camera, Peter will have tips for getting you started and getting good results. Peter is a great educator, if you don’t know already – many of us got started watching Peter’s YouTube videos!
First Principles of Astrophotography by Richard S. Wright November 16, 2021
Whether you are just becoming interested in astrophotography or have been imaging for years, a review of the first principles of astrophotography will provide an introduction or refresher to the core principles and practices to getting your best results. How do telescopes and cameras work together? What kind of results are reasonable to expect for a given set of equipment? Richard talks about these things and more during an hour long review of the art and science of astrophotography. Richard is an engaging and enthusiastic presenter and the presentation should be interesting and fun whether you are interested in astrophotography or EAA.
Richard S. Wright Jr. has been an amateur astronomer for most of his life and a serious imager for over two decades. His images have appeared in numerous magazines, web sites, commercial advertisements, and NASA’s Astrophoto of the Day (APOD). Richard is a computer graphics and imaging specialist and a contributing editor at Sky & Telescope magazine where he also has a monthly web blog on astrophotography. You can visit his web gallery at www.eveningshow.com
Astro Imaging by Larry Matney March 2, 2022
Larry, a WVAC member, started his astrophotography journey about six years ago. He has found it to be the most demanding type of photography he has attempted because of the necessary equipment, knowledge that must be obtained, and skill that must be developed. Larry will show some of his astrophotography images taken over the last year and briefly describe the evolution of his equipment and processing.
Supernova Remnants – Astro-imaging targets by Amin Patani March 2, 2022
Supernova remnants are beautiful astro-imaging targets. Amin, WVAC member, will show images he has taken of some of the remnants and share what he has learnt along the way about these particular objects and search for supernovae.