Art Blog #57: My History With Astrophotography by Ray Morris
29. October, 2024 - Reading time 8 Min. - Ray Morris
#Cosmos #Astrophotography #SpaceExploration #KidsDream #DSLR #Celestron
It all started back in the 70s for me. Yes, the 1970s! I was in grade school in River Grove, Illinois, a small, light polluted suburb of Chicago. I was always looking at the stars at night. I still to this day do not remember learning this, but I have always known what I was looking at. During school hours, I spent a lot of time in the library looking and Scientific American, Science news and Astronomy magazines. Yes, real paper and print magazines. I was amazed by the pictures that were being taken of the objects out there in the cosmos.
My name is Ray Morris and I've been asked to type a blog about Astrophotography. This will be my first, ever, blog so be kind.
It all started back in the 70s for me. Yes, the 1970s! I was in grade school in River Grove, Illinois, a small, light polluted suburb of Chicago. I was always looking at the stars at night. I still to this day do not remember learning this, but I have always known what I was looking at. During school hours, I spent a lot of time in the library looking and Scientific American, Science news and Astronomy magazines. Yes, real paper and print magazines. I was amazed by the pictures that were being taken of the objects out there in the cosmos.
Fast forward to the 80s, yes, the 1980s! I'm in high school now. A bit older and willing to take on more responsibilities. I spent a lot of time at a local planetarium. Even at 14, they trusted me to run the shows. I would answer questions people had about the presentations they saw. One of the directors there was an Astronomer. He had an old 6 inch Newtonian Reflector Telescope that he let me have in exchange for babysitting his child when he and his wife went out.
Even in those horrible, light polluted, skies I spent hours and hours every clear night using that telescope and sketching what I was looking at. Winter or summer I was out there. I still have all those observations and sketches in my possession to this day. Those are like sacred texts to me.
I graduated in 1985 and went straight to the military out of high school. I could not take the telescope with me. My first duty assignment was outside of Mesa, Arizona. I was treated to the most wonderous thing I have ever seen. Not only is it the very first time I'd seen mountains, the night sky was wonderous to behold! The Milkyway stretched from horizon to horizon. I had never seen so many stars!
This started my decades long journey in Astrophotography. All I had was a 35mm camera and a tripod. I was able to get constellation pictures and just a minor hint of the Milkyway. This was back in the day when cameras had to have film. I had to wait days to see if I captured anything good. I ended up throwing away more pictures than I kept. I could barely make out faint smudges of galaxies, clusters and nebulae. Still, the images I did keep were and are like treasures to me.
It wasn't until the early 90s that I acquired another telescope. Still in the military but I was able to get away now and then to do some observing and imaging. The telescope had a basic drive so it was not a good telescope for Astrophotography. I did manage some "piggy back" pictures by mounting the camera on top of the telescope to try to get some longer exposures of the constellations using the telescope as the tripod for guiding. Again, these were nothing to write home about, but I was very proud of them. It still left me wanting for more. The man I was still remembered the wonder I experienced as a child looking at those wonderful images of space.
Really fast forward this time to 2011. I was in a job where I could finally afford the equipment I needed for basic Astrophotography. I purchased an 8" Celestron Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope or SCT. I also purchased a Celestron CGEM or equatorial mount. I had a Canon d1000 digital camera and was ready to go. The first real image I did was the Great Orion Nebula. Since then I have imaged galaxies, nebulae, star clusters, super novas, pulsars, eclipses on Jupiter and the rings of Saturn.
Once I learned more of the art, I was able to photograph more and more. Even today I am still learning and trying to achieve more to get to the pinnacle of my art. I pride myself at showing the world the universe as I see it. Having said that, I know there are many out there that are much better at this than I am. I am proud of my work none the less.
My childhood dreams are fulfilled in the images you see here. I'm 58 years old now and still have my love for Astronomy and Astrophotography. I have never thought of my "story" before and appreciate the chance to tell it.
Ray Morris
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