Then and Now

© Greg Gibbs. You may not use, replicate, manipulate, or modify this image without my permission. All Rights Reserved.

*FULL VIEW PLEASE*

I have been meaning to do something like this for a while. I hope you like this look at how my astrophotography has progressed.

From left to right and top to bottom:
1: Fixed Tripod Then- This is genesis for my astrophotography. I was messing around with my first DSLR and I thought to myself "What would happen if I held the shutter button down for a long time? Could I capture a few stars?" So I did just that. I went outside put my camera on a tripod and just held the shutter down for about 45 seconds from memory. My reaction to the resulting image once it appeared on the LCD I wont repeat here due to censorship but it is fair to say I was instantly hooked and I wanted to learn as much as possible as quickly as possible.

2: Fixed Tripod Now- One of my latest fixed tripod astrophotos about a year and a half later.

3: Moon Then- One of the first moon shots I took with my first DSLR

4: Moon Now- Same camera about a year later but with the addition of a telescope and computerised mount

5: Star Trail Then- My first ever star trail. Stacked image of about 120 thirty second shots

6: Star Trail Now- My latest star trail image

7: Tracked Widefield Then- I built myself a barndoor tracker to take tracked shots of the night sky without star trails. This was the first test image.

8: Tracked Widefield Now- Same area of sky but this shot is tracking on the computerised telescope mount

9: Telescope Deep Sky Then- First shot taken through my astrophotography telescope setup of the Orion Nebula

10: Telescope Deep Sky Now- The Orion Nebula about three or four months later once I had the setup and my processing dialled in a bit better

11: Solar Photography Then- First light for my Coronado PST (Personal Solar Telescope)

12: Solar Photography Now- One of my latest solar images about two months after first light

So there you have it. From the oldest picture to the youngest it has been about a year and a half. This hobby has not been cheap and it will only get dearer, but I have had a blast learning and growing and I love what I do and that makes it all worth it.