The Journey
Astrophotography has become as much about learning as it is about the finished image. I started with relatively simple equipment and quickly discovered how much there was to learn—acquisition, tracking, guiding, filters, calibration, stacking, and eventually the much deeper world of image processing.
The S30 Pro became an important part of that learning process, particularly while traveling in Greece. Its simplicity let me spend more time exploring the sky and learning what makes a good image. Back home in Michigan, larger dedicated rigs opened another level of the hobby, with better optics, cooled cameras, guiding, narrowband filters, and much greater control over acquisition.
Processing has evolved along with the equipment. PixInsight became a major part of the journey, from learning basic calibration and stretching to working with masks, starless processing, noise reduction, deconvolution, and narrowband color palettes. I still approach each image as an experiment: try something, understand what worked, and carry that lesson into the next target.
This site documents that progression—the successes, the experiments, the equipment changes, and the images that came from them.
Early Deep-Sky Imaging
One of my early attempts at M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy.
From First Light to Today
From early deep-sky experiments to dedicated imaging rigs and advanced processing, the images tell the story of what I've learned along the way.
Current Deep-Sky Imaging
NGC 6888, the Crescent Nebula — a recent example of my deep-sky acquisition and PixInsight processing.