Welcome to Dark Sky Exploring

I have a Science and Engineering background and by day, I am a water resource engineer.  

My passion is adventure photography and capturing the beauty of nature near and far. I have been an avid visual astronomer for the past 30 years and have much interest in photographing objects I typically enjoy viewing with an unaided eye through various telescopes in the darkest skies.  When photographing the nightsky, you are automatically reminded of the  awe-inspiring beauty and humbling vastness of the cosmos.  I use a DSLR, or a cooled CMOS astrophotography camera by ZWO, Sony A7ii, and Pentax.  Telescopic Equipment by Celestron, GSO, Televue, William Optics and Explorer Scientific

My approach to astrophotography and visual observing is to have fun while keeping things simple.  You don't need 10s of thousands of dollars worth of gear to take great photos. As with many things and especially with astrophotography and telescopic visual observing, it takes time to learn to navigate a telescope to find what you you want to observe or to successfully photograph and frame an object in the darksky.  As with anything, time is needed to invest to set you on the right path. 

My goal is to shorten that learning curve and share my passion of the night sky with you.  If you are just getting started into this hobby and would like to book a workshop or working session, I can tailor something to your specific need.  Whether or not if you have your own telescope or camera, learn how to photograph the night sky or just explore it using telescopes.

How To's, or a simple viewing experience seeing galaxies, planets and other fascinating objects in the night sky through a telescope.  Or maybe you want to capturing the milky way and other out of this world photography with your camera.  In my workshop or personal sessions you’ll learn:

• What equipment to use and how to correctly setup your camera for composition in the field 
• How to find your focus and exposure in the dark 
• How to capture the Milky Way and create striking photos of the night sky. 
• If just getting started, some recommended equipment
• Appreciation of actually seeing what we photograph through telescope.
  

You wont need to worry about asking to look through a telescope. There will at least two for your use.  I put together a lesson plan that you walk away with.  Preferably, its best to demonstrate in the field sessions away from city lights.  However, my workshops or sessions can be arranged to take place on site (school, facility, or park) with small to medium sized groups.