Tag: widefield

Explore Scientific "Essentials" ED80 triplet apochromatic

Review: Explore Scientific “Essential Series” ED80

If you’re into astrophotography, chances are that a short focal length apochromatic refractor is on your “to buy” list if you don’t already own one. There are prized instruments for their elimination of chromatic aberration and high contrast, true colour images and the tool of choice for many astrophotographers. The problem the “common folk” face with apo refractors is they tend to be quite pricey for even small apertures. While there are several small aperture apochromatic telescopes available at comparable prices, they often significantly fall short in one department or another.

The Explore Scientific Essential Series ED80 (model # ES-ED0806-01) delivers the goods with solid construction and great optics. It has a few shortcomings and compromises that keep its price affordable, but overall, this fine instrument will fulfil the needs of the most demanding photographer without breaking the bank in the process.

Continue reading “Review: Explore Scientific “Essential Series” ED80″

Aurora Borealis

Aurora Borealis Forecasting

Over the last few months, I’ve been trying to come up with tools and resources that I would want to add to a web site that would be useful not only to myself, but to others. Product reviews and tutorials make up a large part of my posts, but I wanted something a bit more substantial – a resource that would have people returning to my site with a reason. And to that end, I’ve added a whole section on the Aurora Borealis. Continue reading “Aurora Borealis Forecasting”

Aurora over Camden Lake under an almost full moon.

A Shift In Focus – Widening My Horizons

Welcome to the new Dark Arts Astrophotography blog! It’s been a long time since I posted a real blog entry – barring yesterday’s announcement of my new site and blog. Now it’s time to get back into gear and start posting more regularly once again. I’ve been neglecting my blog over the last several months, partly due to being busy with photography and other stuff. But laziness has also played  a part in it, not to mention my frustration with the Blogger platform. But I digress. This blog isn’t about my lack of activity, but rather about what I’ve been doing over the last several months!

Continue reading “A Shift In Focus – Widening My Horizons”

Star Trails at Shawmere Cottages

Getting Started in Astrophotography

Getting Started

One of the questions I get asked the most often is how one gets started in astrophotography. More specifically, what kind of equipment is required in order to take images like I do. In this article, I’ll try to clarify that. Note that this won’t be covering technique or procedures in any way, but rather just what you need to get into it.

The first thing to mention is that there are 3 types of astrophotography:

  • widefield / landscape;
  • solar system; and
  • deep sky.

Each of these types will require vastly different equipment and techniques, as well as software and technique for post processing. I’ll be covering each of these 3 types and what is required to get the best results.

Continue reading “Getting Started in Astrophotography”