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Stargazing Therapy with My Daughter: A Father’s Astrophotography Journey
Stargazing Therapy with My Daughter: A Father’s Astrophotography Journey
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Ravinder Krishnan
My Journey with SVBONY
Part 1: The Beginning – First Steps into Astrophotography**
* What sparked your initial interest in getting astrophotography equipment?
<I had an interest in astronomy and astrophotography since my schooling years. However, I always thought
astrophotography was only done by experts with expensive equipment. I never paid much thought about
astrophotography until the Covid lockdowns came. Since I was not working during the lockdown, I was doing
a lot of reading and watching videos on astrophotography. From these, I gathered that any ordinary guy with
some patience and dedication can do astrophotography. It was then I thought of getting some astrophotography
equipment. I started saving for these equipment and purchased my first set of equipment in late 2022.>
* What was the defining moment that made you think, "I have to try this"?
<I joined a local astrophotography interest group via FB. When I saw some of the fantastic images that our local
talents were producing, I thought to myself "Hey, when they can produce excellent images, why not me? Let me
try also." That motivated me to try my own hands in astrophotography.>
* Tell us about your very first shoot—the excitement, the challenges, the result.
<My first shoot was the Rosette Nebula. After days of testing and tinkering with my astrophotography
I was ready for my first light, the Rosette. Since it was my first session ever, getting the polar alignment
was a huge challenge. I think I spent almost an hour doing polar alignment. Tweaking the altitude and
azimuth was giving me a headache. Sometimes I would go too much in one direction and then again
in the opposite direction. Finally, after getting the alignment within certain acceptable limits, I slewed the
the telescope to the Rosette and began imaging, one minute exposures. As the images are being captured
and live stacked on my tab screen, I just couldn't believe my eyes as the faint image of the Rosette slowly
began to appear. I was ecstatic. I had always seen the image of the Rosette Nebula in some book or some
website, and now the same Rosette Nebula is appearing in my tab. I did this!>
**Part 2: The Progress – Leveling Up Your Craft**
* As you grew, how and why did you decide to upgrade your gear?
<My initial equipment was an 80ED combined with the 533MC camera. This combination gives you a limited
field of view. I wanted to do wider field shots. I purchased a 61mm APO (275mm FL) combined with a 2600MC
camera. This provided me with great wide field shots which I prefer. This combination became my main imaging
combination. I use the SV220 filter with this combo.
Recently, I decided to upgrade my old 80ED scope with the SV550 80mm APO which is expected to provide
sharper and better contrast images. However, I haven't had any clear nights yet to test this scope yet at the
time of writing.>
* Walk us through one specific, memorable shoot from start to finish.
<There was this one quite unforgettable imaging session I had with my daughter. She had started working
for approximately 3-4 months after graduation. It was a crystal clear night after a heavy evening downpour.
I finished setting up and performing polar alignment. I was imaging the Fighting Dragons (NGC6188). In the
midst of imaging (around 2am), my daughter who couldn't sleep joined me for the session. She was a bit
stressed out from work and her mind seemed restless. I just told her to look up at clear night sky and take
a deep breath. She actually was amazed at the number of stars that were visible to the naked eyes on that
particular day. Then our conversation turned to me explaining about why we need tracking in astrophotography,
how the images are captured and stacked to provide the final image etc..We just sat in the backyard staring at
sky until the imagining session was done. The following morning, my daughter thanked me for the excellent
stress reducing therapy we had. Yes, looking out at the immensity of what's out there makes our problems seem
so very small and insignificant.>
* Were there any key moments or breakthroughs that significantly improved your skills?
<The key breakthrough in my imaging skills came when I purchased the dedicated astro image processing
software called Pixinsight. I was using Siril as my main processing software prior to Pixinsight. This is not to
say Siril is inferior, it's just that Pixinsight is one level ahead of Siril. Pixinsight combined with Russell Croman's
AI tools brought my image processing the next level.>
**Part 3: The Passion – Your Perspective on the Art**
* What personal standards do you hold for your astrophotography work?
<For me personally, astrophotography is 40% image acquisition (shooting) and 60% processing. For image
acquisition, I just make sure my polar alignment is < 20 arc seconds and focusing is precise. As for image
processing, I use only the best subs (selected through the subframe selector in pixinsight). Also, I process
the finished stack 4-5 times using different processing steps, sequence and tools until I get a finished image
that is satisfactory>
* What is the driving force that keeps you invested in this hobby?
<The main driving force for me is to photograph all the wonders of the universe. All the challenges and
hard work seems worthwhile and satisfying when the final image is revealed. Looking at the final image
and thinking "I did that!" is an incredible feeling. The bonus is when family and friends praise your work.>
* At its core, what does astrophotography mean to you?
<Astrophotography has given me something to look forward to, a purpose. There are days I can't wait to get out of bed and start my image processing cycle. I eagerly look through the weather forecast for the
next clear night. Once a clear night is forecasted, I become restless, checking my equipment 1000 times
to make sure that everything is in perfect working order. Cloudy nights are spent watching astrophotography
related videos or processing my old data to see if I can make the final image better. Overall, astrophotography
has given me a fulfilling meaning to my existence>
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