I came from a professional photography background. I travelled the world shooting fashion, music & corporate projects. I made magazines & billboard posters etc. None of that prepared me for astrophotography. I used to be able to control most of my environment, lights, background, setting, hair, makeup etc. In astro I lost all of that. It was like god was messing with me every step I took. I was spending night after night being tired, frustrated & aghast at the massive learning curve in front of me. After all of that, many years down the road, several scopes & equipment, own observatory & wireless remote control...... I'm sitting at home watching it rain. I absolutely love it 😂 The one tip I have for any astrophotographer, as a back up plan for weather, start beekeeping 😊
“Get laid” 🤣 Tip 11 - get a red light head torch. Best £5 I ever spent for astrophotography. Tip 12 - watch Chris’ videos (and subscribe). Super helpful guy.
Haha I don't think I have a filter between my brain and my mouth :D Yes, a red light head torch is a very good shout, I pretty much always wear mine. That's super kind of you to say! thanks mate : )
Great advice. My biggest lesson was becoming more patient and taking copious notes so that I narrow down a particular issue. And, yes, rule 1, take the lens cap off. We've all done it. Lol. Great video
Great video. Echoes with my own experience although I have only been 'at it' for less than 5 yrs. No point throwing money at it as that isn't going to cure impatience! The best results are not 'lucky'. We are currently in, or at the beginning of a huge revolution for 'home' astronomy' with the arrival of digital astronomical devices. Let's make it easy for all and that includes me!
I bought an AZ Pro Mount that I can put two telescopes on. I bought the ADM Saddle DUAL-CW20 for the left side as that little saddle isn't going to hold anything longer than a 102mm Maksutov or 5SE. I put my 6" f5 Newtonian with a 1/12th wave primary mirror on the right and my carbon fiber 102mm triplet on the left with the new and bigger saddle that holds it solid. I do very little photography, but found stacking videos of planets works quite well. I live in Las Cruces New Mexico and depending on who you ask we average 310 to 330 sunny days a year. I'm partial to the lower number as our rainy season is the months of June, July and August with late May and June being the wettest months. It can rain all year long though and it did a while ago and after a brief rain transparency and seeing condition can hit all dark blue on the Las Cruces-Clear Sky Chart, although seeing right now is down on account of high winds. I get a lot of good seeing days here and Bortle 2 skies are only thirty minutes away and Bortle 4 is 15 minutes to my son's house at 5400 feet elevation. I like to search for binary/multiple stars and iOptron's Go2Nova 212,000 object library has the Hipparcos catalogue plus all the regular catalogues like Messier, Caldwell, NGC etc. (it's also the easiest one I've used IMHO). So I can find all the double stars listed in the Cambridge Double Star Atlas. Double star study is quite interesting and if you want to do citizen-science and fill out some blanks for the US Naval Observatory who is in charge of the Washington Double Star or WDS database, they can give you some binary systems that need more study done on. Also you do not need an expensive setup to seriously study most binary systems. I know someone who uses a 10" Dob. My astronomy club has some folks who search for and have found many Near Earth Objects or NEOs as well, but that takes a bit more knowledge and some more aperture. Indeed one of our founding members was Clyde Tombaugh who discovered Pluto.
Thanks for this very helpful information. I am a total newbie to astronomy and astrophotography. I've watched a lot of youtube videos to educate myself. I did not grasp the differences in planetary and DSO photography, and the gear needed for each. For the most part I've made some pretty good choices, for a beginner. I purchased a 102mm Skywatcher refractor on the go-to AZ mount. I also purchased a couple of decent quality eyepieces. Right now I am using my iPhone camera but am researching info for my first dedicated astro camera. Surprisingly, I've actually captured several pretty nice images of Jupiter, the moon, and the Orion nebula. Fortunately, I live in a small community in Texas with relatively low levels of light pollution. The most difficult part for me, so far, is learning how to use the various types of software to capture and process my images. I'm excited to learn more about this fascinating hobby.
Interesting advice, so far I have done most of what you advised, I did something rather different than most. I learned the processing part first. I have a background in photography so I jumped right into the software. I learned pixinsight first and practiced with images that I got from remote imaging sites. It was very exciting to see my progress. I decided to go with the zwo route from mount to scope to camera with ASI air plus.
Off the shelve DLSR/Mirrorless cameras have a harsh filter in front of the sensor which blocks much of the light from emission nebulae. Fuji mirrorless let the most nebulae in from my testing. Astronomy cameras are even more sensitive to Nebulae. Also, a lot of astronomy cameras have cooling for low noise on long exposures. DLSR and Mirrorless are pretty good for capturing galaxies though :)
Thank you for putting this together and well done on the single take! Buying second hand (with advice from local astro club members) for your first setup would be my contribution. Avoid Ebay!
Great video Chris … you always come across very well on RU-vid , with clear and concise content. Also whenever I ask a question on FLO I am really happy when you answer mate . Thanks for the advice.
My biggest and easiest advance in astrophotography was when my friend talked me into buying a ZWO ASIAir plus. although it comes with its own learning curve and frustrations.
I third that! The ASI Air made a big difference to my work flow too. In hindsight I should have done 12 tips and included the ASI Air and a red light head torch.
As in eyepiece lens? You would need to wear cotton gloves, take it apart and remember the order and orientation of each lens elements, then clean each with something like Baader wonder fluid before re assembly: www.firstlightoptics.com/astronomy-optics-cleaning-protection/baader-optical-wonder-set-cleaning-fluid-and-cloth/ref/astrolavista/
Excellent advice Chris and I would definitely recommend people join the local astronomy society, I used to be the chairman of the Nottingham astronomical society and we would always welcome new members and you will get the chance to use lots of different kit and everyone is only to willing to help with any questions you have before you start spending any money
These advices work because re-sell values of astro equipment are really good. However, these advices will still bring to loses. My advice are “don’t start astrophotography without at least 10K to spend for rig”; “start from EAA” and “start from as expensive mono imaging rig as possible”.
