I am coming up on my 6th decade on this planet and for at least 5 of those decades, I have been enjoying the hobby of amateur astronomy.

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Professionally, I hold a Bachelor's Degree in Education, majoring in physical sciences, and I taught high school sciences and computer science, including astronomy prior to transitioning to my present career in Information Technology.

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I started out doing visual astronomy as a youth, spending nights out under the stars learning the constellations. I did lots of visual astronomy first with the naked eye, then later with binoculars and telescopes, but soon my love for astrophotography began. In 1977 at the age of 14, I got my first 35 mm film camera, and from then on, astrophotography was what I enjoyed the most in astronomy.

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I learned black and white darkroom techniques in middle school, as well as color film techniques like C41 and E6 later on when I worked in a professional photo lab. I got to enjoy astrophotography in the classical sense with film, picking up tips and tricks from Sky and Telescope magazine, as well as my astrophotography friend, John Leader.

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I have been involved with a few astronomy clubs over the years, but my home club and the one I am most involved with, even today, is the Medicine Hat Astronomy Club, where I first joined in 1985.

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Today I enjoy astro imaging using my Skywatcher EQ6 Pro mount and a Celestron Ultima 8 with a Hyperstar Conversion kit and using a Hyperstar 8 V4, as well as an Explore Scientific ED80 APO refractor. I do my imaging with a ZWO ASI533MC Pro, although I also own planetary cameras and Canon DSLR's to go along with it all. I have collected a bit of equipment over the years. I added the ASI533MC Pro and the ASIAir Pro back in 2021, and the two together are a revolution in my abilities to gather starlight. I am taking images today that far exceed even the best from those early days in 1977.

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The purpose of this site is to provide a place to share my love for the hobby that I can grow with, as well as help provide some guidance and information for people practicing the hobby through the blog articles that I write, and even share some of my "controversial" ideas on science.

 

Please feel free to interact with me anytime and also please watch on my producst page where items appear from time to time.

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Clear skies to you all. 

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James