April 2014
My Turn
BG Boyd
My Turn
BG Boyd
BG Boyd
My name is BG Boyd; I am a photographer based in Tucson, AZ. I enjoy photographing just about anything, but my passion is the night sky. I've had DSLR's for many years now, but one day about two years ago I walked outside, looked up, and wondered to myself, "Why am I not photographing this?"
Tucson has fairly dark skies considering the size of the city, so for telescope work I will usually just stay in my backyard. In order to capture truly dark skies and beautiful desert landscapes, I have to drive significantly out of town. Even then, I can’t photograph towards the city because of the light pollution.
Tucson has fairly dark skies considering the size of the city, so for telescope work I will usually just stay in my backyard. In order to capture truly dark skies and beautiful desert landscapes, I have to drive significantly out of town. Even then, I can’t photograph towards the city because of the light pollution.
Taking photos of the night sky only requires a camera with manual mode, a tripod, and an intervalometer. I need a tripod to keep the camera steady, because to capture the light of the stars one must use a long exposure. The human hand simply cannot hold a camera still long enough for such a timely exposure. The camera also needs to support manual mode because autofocus will not work for this purpose, and you need to be able to adjust the shutter speed, aperture, and ISO to suit your needs.
The intervalometer is used for holding the shutter down (when using bulb mode on your camera) and for taking multiple successive photos without having to manually press the shutter each time. It also helps if you have jittery hands and don't want to risk accidentally moving the camera when pressing the shutter. Once I have all my equipment packed, I just go out and find a nice landscape and get to work!
The intervalometer is used for holding the shutter down (when using bulb mode on your camera) and for taking multiple successive photos without having to manually press the shutter each time. It also helps if you have jittery hands and don't want to risk accidentally moving the camera when pressing the shutter. Once I have all my equipment packed, I just go out and find a nice landscape and get to work!
I have a 6" telescope and a Canon T1i with multiple lenses ranging from 8mm to 300mm. To photograph solar system objects (the sun, moon, planets) and deep sky objects (nebulae, galaxies, star clusters), I hook up my camera to the telescope. For doing wide shots of the sky with some stars and landscapes I generally shoot at 18mm on a tripod. Please note, that to take photos of the sun, you must have a filter for your telescope and/or camera, and you should never look directly at the sun, as it can cause permanent damage to your eyes.
Thank you, and good luck trying your hand at astrophotography. For more information and photographs, my website is http://www.bgboydphoto.com/ and my facebook page is http://www.facebook.com/bgboydphoto
click on images to enlarge
Thank you, and good luck trying your hand at astrophotography. For more information and photographs, my website is http://www.bgboydphoto.com/ and my facebook page is http://www.facebook.com/bgboydphoto
click on images to enlarge
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