Last year I took a class in Astrophysics, and it blew my mind. After that I decided to take a class in Astrophotography, it always fascinated me. As a child my dad also had a fondness of the stars, he purchased a telescope from Edmund scientific. It was not just a cheap one like the ones you see on sale for under a hundred dollars, but one with a motorized star tracker. He also purchased an adapter for the 35mm camera (Pentax Spotmatic) so we could take pictures, we already had a dark room in the basement to develop them. Without the necessary training, time commitment to work on it the interest slowly faded away.

After taking the class, I wandered into my local astronomy club a few Fridays and just listened to others who were deep into the hobby. One night a good friend came with me, and when we left be both felt we brought the average IQ in that room seriously down. What I learned was that astrophotography could be an expensive hobby, but you could start out a lot simpler. That the technology to create a stunning nebula photo like the ones seen on APOD was much more attainable than in the 1970s.  

I turned to the internet and started searching. From the years of photographing my daughters in their activities (hockey, lacrosse, figure skating and cheerleading) I had purchased a few Digital cameras (DSLR) and some lenses. I was wondering, based on what I learned, could I just start with equipment that I already had. My mistake was taking the class towards the end of the spring and into summer. In the northern hemisphere the amount of nighttime starts to shrink, and one needs to be up late to take pictures of the stars. My ADHD kicked in and the hobby again was put on the shelf.  

It is now November, and I had a few bad weeks mentally. I will not go into details; it could be that it is getting dark out at 4:30pm. I noticed sitting on a chair in my office was my photography bag, I thought dang it is getting dark out early now is the time to shoot. I had already saved a whole bunch of YouTube videos and articles, and I learned even since the spring other techniques improved so on Saturday night, I went to take some trial photos from my street. The first night shots were horrible, the second night was light years better. Last night was the third night and it was too cloudy to shoot.   

Last night though I had an epiphany. I was writing my yearly giving thanks post, and though it was littered with the usual b.s. that one spills it felt calculated and not real. In a conversation with someone I they said something that made me scrap it all and start over. One of the reasons for my languishing was that I was looking at what I did not have. I saw the glass was half empty.  But more important, the last few days my languishing had gone away as I was deep into my new hobby.   

The connection was made, I simply was enjoying what I had, I was not concerned about what I did not, and other people have. A camera, a tripod, a lens, and a lot of computer power allowed me to see stars that I could not see with the naked eye. The sheer amount of light pollution makes it hard to really shoot astrophotography. What I learned I actually get amazing shots with the cameras I already owned. I was very thankful at that moment. I was thankful for everything that led me to the moment I created my first decent stacked photo. From my parents nurturing my love of astronomy, to having a job that let me afford some good camera equipment, to my kids who without them I would not have bought said camera, to having a roof over my head, and to being alive to shoot photos. I am truly lucky and there are other people who do not have a place to live, do not have the choices we have for food and who are not in great health. A first world hobby taught me something about giving thanks in a way I did not expect.  

In a time where there are a lot of problems, I am thankful that I live in this country, have shelter, food I choose to eat, and the basics of life are not a struggle. I am thankful for family, friends, coworkers, people no longer with us, people who are just no longer in my life (some I wish still were) people I never met who had an impact on me and the way of life that we take for granted every day.   I am also thankful for people taking the time to read my blog, you do not have to, it is a choice. My wish is that everyone finds that something or someone that is already in their life and cherishes it just a little more today. 

This opinion is mine, and mine only, my current or former employers have nothing to do with it. I do not write for any financial gain; I do not take advertising and any product company listed was not done for payment. But if you do like what I write you can donate to the charity I support (with my wife who passed away in 2017) Morgan Stanley’s Children’s Hospital or donate to your favorite charity. The fundraising site had to be restarted and NYP Hospital made changes to their donation sites. I pay to host my site out of my own pocket, my intention is to keep it free.  You are welcome to comment, but note it is moderated and all spam will be removed.

This Blog is a labor of love and was originally going to be a book. With the advent of being able to publish yourself on the web I chose this path. I will write many of these and not worry too much about grammar or spelling (I will try to come back later and fix it) but focus on content. I apologize in advance for my ADD as often topics may flip. I hope one day to turn this into a book and or a podcast, but for now it will remain a blog.  AI is not used in this writing other than using the web to find information. Images without notes are created using an AI tool that allows me to reuse them.