Why do I do this?
Imaging the night sky gives me great pleasure and a sense of accomplishment to master the ability to capture these images and know a small portion of our universe. Like many, I am fascinated by the night sky from earth. My fascination started many years ago when I was a kid with dime store telescope looking at the moon from our backyard with my Dad. I don't know what is really out there; no one does, but using these tools and studying what experts have written, I have a better understanding. I am one of those people who would volunteer to travel into space. Had things been slightly different when I was younger, I may have had an opportunity. Our visual universe was created by a higher authority to be magnificent in every sense. I have my own beliefs about creation of our universe, yours may differ. There's no doubt God had a big hand in all this. The truth will be debated for decades to come. As you might imagine, these images are often difficult to capture. In most cases, it takes experience, a boatload of patience and the right equipment. I and many of my fellow astrophotographers, capture these images from our backyards with amateur equipment and Rube Goldberg like set-ups to make things work correctly. Gizmos, widgets, wires, electricity, physics, algorithms, etc.--true nirvana for many people and certainly for me. It is fun and very challenging. It is the Zen of my night. Finally, sharing these images with you is really wonderful. The Internet offers people like me a reasonable opportunity to share my photography of the universe with others. Many people have offered compliments--I am grateful for every one. Perhaps some day I will capture an image of something not seen before, or find a comet I might name. It's more likely I will simply continue to capture images, share them on the Internet in the quiet of the night in my small observatory. That too would be fine. Find your place in the universe. Thank you very much for visiting the site. If you would like to visit and watch this process in person or see the universe with your own eyes, call me. You are invited to share my experience. Jeff |
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