Exploring the Cosmos: My Journey into Astro Photography
Hello there, fellow stargazers and photography enthusiasts! If you're anything like me, you love a good challenge, and what better way to push your creative limits than by diving into the fascinating world of astrophotography? Well, that’s exactly what I’ve been doing lately, and let me tell you—it’s been one heck of a ride.
After passing my second fellowship (yay!), I decided it was time to break away from my usual photography routine and experiment with something new. Enter nightscapes and deep space astrophotography. Now, I have a confession to make: about eight years ago, I bought a star tracker—super excited, thinking I’d be capturing the heavens in no time. I took it out of the box, gave it a look, and then... I put it in a drawer where it stayed, untouched.
Fast forward to after my photography convention, where I realised, "Hey, I can still give this star tracker thing a go!" After a deep dive into YouTube tutorials and various astro photography channels, I was convinced: it was time to make my dreams of capturing the night sky a reality. Sure, I could’ve sent one of my existing cameras for modification, but why mess with a perfectly good camera when I could just add another one to the collection?
I was already set up with a few trusty lenses, so I started practising indoors, balancing my camera and lens on the Sky Adventurer star tracker. My living room looked like a NASA testing lab, and my cat? Well, let's just say he wasn’t impressed by my new ‘toys’. But hey, practice makes perfect!
Finally, it was time to step outside and tackle polar alignment. And let me tell you, getting that thing aligned with the stars for the first time? It was like trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube blindfolded. After a lot of “wait, where did the stars go?” moments, I finally got the hang of it. And while I was freezing my fingers off, I knew this would be worth it.
The night I ventured out, February 22, 2025, the weather apps were on my side—clear skies from 7 p.m. to midnight. My excitement? Off the charts. I consulted the "Meet Stargazers" app (yep, that’s a thing, and it’s amazing) and Sky Safari Pro to decide what deep space objects to target. Now, I live in a Bortle 6 zone (if you’re not familiar with the Bortle scale, it’s a measure of light pollution, and let’s just say it’s not the ideal location for clear views of nebulae. Bortle 1 is dark sky bliss, and Bortle 9 is, well, basically an urban light show). I had planned to shoot the Heart Nebula, but I quickly realised that star hopping wasn’t as easy as the YouTubers made it look. So, I pivoted and decided to go for the Orion Nebula—one I could actually see with my own eyes (thankfully!).
I lined up my camera and began shooting 20-second exposures with my Tamron 150-600mm lens at 600mm, f/7.1, and ISO 800. Now, here’s where the fun starts: There was a clearing in the sky, but as the sky moved, my target eventually went behind a tree. Yeah, that tree! So, after a few minutes of "where did it go?" panic, I only managed to capture about 32 images before it drifted out of view. Just my luck, right?
Setup in my Garden
Sony Camera Mounted on the start adventurer.
After that, I took my calibration shots—bias, flats, and darks—because hey, they’re not essential for beginners, but they make a huge difference in image quality. I stacked the images in the free software Siril, but—plot twist!—I forgot to include the calibration frames. So, after a little bit of editing in Photoshop, I thought I had nailed it. Then I realised the mistake the next morning, fixed it, and re-stacked the images properly. The result? Much, much better.
This is the images without calibration images and with calibration images before i took them into photoshop for the final edit.
The Orion Nebula
This image is the final edit of my image without the calibration images added.
I have to say, the feeling of finally capturing something beautiful in the night sky after all that effort is indescribable. The steep learning curve was totally worth it, and now I’m even more excited about future astrophotography projects. (And maybe fewer trees in my line of sight next time!)
The Equipment I Used:
Sony A7R Astro-modified infrared camera
Tamron 150mm-600mm lens (Canon fit)
Canon to Sony MC11 converter
Optolong clip-in light pollution filter
Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer tracker
Editing Software:
Siril (image stacking)
Photoshop
RC Astro Xterminator plugin (for noise reduction, gradient, and star removal)
I hope you enjoyed this little behind-the-scenes look into my astrophotography adventure. As I keep learning and capturing the wonders of the night sky, one day, I’d love for people to hang my images on their walls and bring a piece of the cosmos into their homes.
