I've always loved photography. I taught myself how to take photos and how to process them, both black and white and color, becoming serious about it in 1963 when I bought a twin-lens reflex camera. I studied photography books and magazines and a university class. I carefully analyzed what makes gives some photos presence and not others. I have examined thousands of historic and modern images, including in museums, and I've collected antique photos since 1969. I have studied my own photos and learned what was good about them and what their flaws were; I've always had a good eye and my training over the past nearly 47 years has improved it. Many of my photos have been published in newspapers. This is all to say that photograph is extremely important to me. With astrophotography, what attract me are 1, the ability to see marvelous objects much better than I can through my telescope, yet they are the very views I wanted, not something in a book; being able to revisit these views later and being able to share them with others; the challenge of going through this very difficult process; the possibility of discovering something, like a supernova; having tangible evidence of the intangible feelings I have when examining the cosmos; and creating something of beauty. -- Joe ________________________________ From: Michael Vanopstall <opstall@math.utah.edu> To: utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com Sent: Mon, May 10, 2010 6:08:24 PM Subject: [Utah-astronomy] why photography? Hello, all -- Together with Chuck, I can take a little responsibility for the horrible weather. I bought a pair of Celestron 15x70 binoculars this week (yes, the price of $72 at Clark is good, but not as good as the price of $45 with free shipping that I got from Amazon). I'm going to be in the middle of nowhere for a lot of the month of May, but not able to take my scope with me. Now that the semester is over, I've been getting all reflective. I think I can explain why I like to go out and do astronomy related stuff. I'm not much into astrophysics, even though as a mathematician, I probably should be. I don't sketch. I really like being in the middle of nowhere, in the dark. I like meeting goals, working through lists. If you've read the ultra-saccharine "Hidden Treasures" by Steven O'Meara, I'm definitely the grab-and-run sort of sky pirate. None of my eyepieces is very good at all, and my 25mm one is the best, so I don't dwell on objects; just collect. The experience of the outdoors, and just finding things (like doing a puzzle) is fun for me. I'm curious if anyone (on these cloudy nights) could give a succinct explanation of what is interesting about astrophotography. I have not (and will not) been drawn in, and I'm curious about what interests others. Thanks. ---- Rev. Michael A. van Opstall Department of Mathematics, University of Utah Office: JWB 313 opstall@math.utah.edu _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com