My introduction to astrophotography began accidentally. In 2015 I was living in a small town away from bright city lights (though such things did not concern me at the time) and began to consider the purchase of a telescope. A neighbor down the road who owned a 90mm Orion AstroView offered to his up for me to see if Astronomy would be something I enjoy. Jupiter and Venus were out in the humid Summer skies and after viewing them for a short period of time I tried taking photos with my smartphone. These crude first results were unimpressive, though at the time I was excited at having been able to capture the Galilean Moons circling Jupiter. Overall the photo was unrecognizable as anything astronomical, but I wanted to share what I had seen. Soon after my own 200mm Celestron SCT arrived in the mail.

This started the hunger for better images which required better equipment - I sought out images posted online from other astronomers with their own backyard equipment; photos showing expanses of glowing hydrogen, bright glowing galaxies, shockwaves of long-dead stars, and I knew with time and patience I would be able to achieve similar results. Since that summer in 2015 I have continued to gather a collection of optical and imaging equipment capable of photographing the night sky with increasing proficiency.

Through this journey I have experienced numerous frustrations, equipment failures, and inaccurate weather forecasts. Ask any night sky photographer and they will have their own stories - the camera slipping a few millimeters out of focus, the dead battery, an unexpected approach of clouds and haze. With persistence & patience, the practice of night sky imaging can produce other-worldly results which show us objects in our sky we never thought could exist. As with any artistic passion, perfection is always right in front of us but never quite achievable, but I am doing my best to move what I can achieve another step forward through every night under the stars. These days I periodically capture anything from deep sky nebulae thousands of lightyears away to the International Space Station transiting the Sun. If its above the atmosphere then its fair game, though I will target storm clouds and aircraft if convenient as well,