Time to turn my favorite hobby into a business.
For as long as I can remember, I have loved to take pictures. I think my first camera that actually belonged to me was a film camera I won in some online “contest” back in the last 90s. It wasn’t much of a camera, just a little off-gold color paint on the front with a flash, retractable lens cover, and… I think that’s about it! I took that little camera with me everywhere. I remember biking out to Utah Lake and watching a massive storm rolling in, and trying to capture the moment on film. I brought it with me to hang out with friends, on camping trips, and wherever I could go to take pictures. A few years later my parents got me a much nicer camera with a small optical zoom, and a few more features. This was a huge upgrade over what I had been shooting with, and I kept taking picture after picture with it, always excited to see them when they were developed at my local photo store. None of my pictures were really any good, and few of them have survived the years since. Fast forward to a decade or so later, and several other cameras, and my 30th birthday present to myself was a real SLR camera with removable lenses, a good ol Rebel T5 (with that Rebel squeak with every shot!). This began my true foray into astrophotography.
This was one of my first ever attempts at astrophotography. I knew literally nothing except to point the camera at the sky, and keep the shutter open longer than normal. I had tried various other shots at night, but this is the first time I really tried to capture the stars. I was so excited that you could kinda see blurry shapes, and even could tell there was a galaxy in there. The quality of this shot didn’t dissuade me at all, in fact, I was absolutely thrilled! I had taken a picture of the STARS! It even looked kinda like what I saw when I looked at the sky.
Over the next few weeks, I learned more about using a timer to reduce shake, and how to focus better on the stars. Every shot I took, every small bit of improvement I had, made me more excited to capture the night sky.
Almost a decade later, I have mixed emotions looking at these pictures. I also remember how hard it was, no matter how excited I was, when I saw other people’s pictures out there, and mine were nowhere close to measuring up. I knew nothing about processing, next to nothing about composing a shot, and had very limited equipment. However, I kept going. It took me YEARS to get to a point where I could look at my work with anything but dissatisfaction, but get there I did. Now, I am so excited to be to the point I am, but still see all of the little things I want to improve in my work, I see the places where there could be more clarity, where maybe my pictures don’t quite line up with reality, where I couldn’t quite get the color balance right in post processing, and see places I want to go back to and re-take the pictures again and again until I get it to the perfection I want it to be. However, now I look forward with unbridled excitement. I can finally start to feel like I have some modicum of skill at this, and I have now met dozens of people who absolutely love my work. I finally feel like I am taking that step from amateur to professional.
Till next time! I plan to continue the story of how I got to where I am, mixed with tips and pointers about how to improve your photography skills. I by no means see myself as perfect, or even close… but I can finally recognize that I do, indeed, have skill at this type of photography.
Welcome to my site! I plan to expand this greatly over the next several years, and am excited for this venture in my life! Leave a comment below with any suggestions or general feedback on the site. I would also love to hear about something you have worked for years on, and what kinds of struggles you have had.
hawkstargazing.com 