Astrophotography by Anthony Ayiomamitis

Hall of Shame

Having toiled with photography off and on for over two decades and, more recently, with astrophotography, there have been numerous occasions where practice and reality somehow seemed to diverge. What may have seemed a perfect photo in the camera's viewfinder or at the eyepiece was "somehow" significantly different when the film was developed and printed or the CCD image(s) processed.

Aside from needing deep pockets, for this is an expensive hobby once all of the proper accessories have been accumulated (and incessantly upgraded), one must also have a fair amount of patience, tolerance and, especially, sense of humour (probably a GREAT sense of humour).

Patience is required since the astrophotographer is not only dealing with VERY faint objects (at this level, we are talking about photons!) but long exposure times and multiple images (for stacking) are often the norm. In addition, automated or manual guiding is also a frequent prerequisite since a mount's tracking cannot be expected to be perfect during the course of the night in spite of the fact the instruction manual congratulates you for having purchased an expensive mount with PEC (periodic error correction) and TVC (time-variable correction).

Tolerance? Why does one need to have a fair amount of tolerance (and perseverance)? Well, who would be stupid brave enough to withstand chilling weather and winds during a winter night so as to shoot the Orion Nebula? Similarly, who would be stupid brave enough to endure incessant swarms of mosquitoes during a hot and humid summer night feasting on your neck, ears, arms and anything else they seem to find attractive for dinner while you must capture an image of the Andromeda Galaxy overhead?

We now come to the third prerequisite for successful astrophotography: A sense of humour. How many people do you know who will spend a couple of hours connecting and testing everything but only to misfeed the roll of film into the camera's spooler so that it will not advance (and to keep taking "photos" unknowingly during the night and, of course, in the company of the above-mentioned mosquitoes)? Of course, this is not to mention to forget to load film into the camera on another occasion. Or what seems to be perfect focus with the eye turns stars into doughnuts when the CCD images are processed! Of course, the show must always go on!



Remember to click on any image to view a larger rendition ... and don't laugh too hard!

Item
Image
Description
1
The summer solstice represents a unique opportunity to observe the motion of the sun across the sky when it reaches its northernmost declination. Not wanting to miss this one-time opportunity (or otherwise I would have to wait a year to try it again), I conducted a trial of the complete process 24-hrs earlier so as to ensure that all of my calculations with respect to exposure, f/stop, range in azimuth and altitude, interval between exposures and FOV were correct. However, during this test four-hour multi-exposure I overlooked one of the most basic assumptions, namely, that of a perfectly stable camera and tripod. One accidental bump and we have a candidate for the Hall of Shame (aside from wasting 4 hrs). During actual summer solstice the following day, extreme caution with respect to contact with the camera led to a successful photo for this one-time shot (see here and here).
2
Some of the most intensive preparations are those involving the photography of Iridium flares, particularly when the satellite trajectory is low in the sky and few stars are available as a frame of reference due to sky glow and/or light pollution. Having studied and prepared everything very thoroughly - or so I thought - I set the camera and tripod up so as to have the flaring satellite record at the centre of the 35mm frame (typical procedure). However, when the satellite did flare, it was immediately obvious that something went grossly wrong. To make matters worse, this was a very rare and unique -8.5 magnitude flare. Two years later (and counting) and I am still waiting for a similar opportunity. For examples of properly centered Iridium flares, click here.
3
Now for a double blunder with yet another flare (Iridium 55). When the time came to trip the shutter, nothing happened. I checked the film advance lever but the film had already been advanced. I then checked the camera lock and there lied my problem. By unlocking the camera, the shutter tripped immediately (first blunder) since I had pressed it a few seconds earlier. Having forgotten that I had the "B" setting for the extended exposure already on and the flare was being recorded, I attempted to advance the film (second blunder). Late shutter release + camera motion = Hall of Shame honors! Fortunately, it would take only three days to successfully capture Iridium 55 at a similar magnitude. For a proper Iridium flare photo, click here and here.
4
My OSCAR award for the mother of all blunders! Although the imaging of the analemma may be one of the most demanding and difficult astrophotography projects one may undertake, the calamity to the left should not have occurred at all and was painfully identified at the completion of the twelve-month imaging session! The objective of the exercise was to image the motion of the sun across the sky over a period of twelve months on the same piece of film. In order to trick my Canon AE-1 to emulate multi-exposure mode and, thus, fulfill the requirements of the challenge, I pressed the film rewind button at the baseplate of the camera while simultaneously advancing the film lever. Rather than me tricking the camera, it was the &(@$#^!* camera tricking me and to do so for a complete year with very slight movement of the film within the chamber. For proper analemma photos using cameras with proper multi-exposure capability, please click here ... and, yes, all of the failed analemmas were (painfully) restarted with proper camera gear in Jan/2003.
5
The very detailed and thorough analysis of the rising moon over three months was about to reach climax when I set up my camera for capturing the moon rising against some trees in the distant foreground which had burned down about twelve months earlier and whose bare skeleton had remained, thus making for a very unique and interesting photo at the prime focus of my 14" SCT. Of course, detailed calculations were performed for the proper exposure which, of course, was not only not even close but I also made the cardinal sin of failing to bracket by a few stops on either side of the computed "optimal" exposure. Yes, I may have saved a few inches of film emulsion by foolishly thinking I would nail the rising moon with a single photo but I am still waiting for the same opportunity and have been doing so for eighteen months ... and counting ... and still counting?! The poor composition, of course, made for a further mess.
6
Close but no cigar! I drove over 4 hours to reach a location in southwestern Greece where skies are easily 7th mag and where one of my objectives was to shoot some star trail photos around the North Celestial Pole. However, once everything was unpacked and setup there was a "slight" problem ... the number of tripods did not match up with the number of cameras and, to be more specific, I was one tripod short?! Of course, within minutes I found the solution (or so I thought) ... after physically destroying a number of branches on an olive tree so as not to obstruct the field of view, I would hang the camera onto the now only protruding branch and use one of my shoe laces to prop up the lens so as to get the proper elevation/angle by pulling and tying the ends of the shoe lace around the same branch. During this sixty-minute exposure, the slight breeze would make sure I would never get the photos I wanted so much! As to the mystery object above the NCP, I have yet to determine what it was, for it appeared on other exposures as well (for example, see here).
7
Thank you, Grigori! After driving northwest of Athens to reach Mt Parnasso for some star trail photos (yes, again!), I was excited with the locale chosen for the all-nighter as I was most impressed with the shear physical beauty I was about to exploit for composing my star trail photos. No more than ten minutes into this exposure, fellow amateur Grigoris Maravelias thought he would try his new flashlight batteries and only to ruin a masterpiece in the making. To make matters worse, humidity became uncharacteristically noticeable as the evening progressed, thus prohibiting repeated attempts to capture the immense physical foreground beauty with the setting stars to the west ... yes, red light at night may preserve our eye's sensitivity to darkness but film is impartial! At least the three-hour drive including lots of dangerous turns up the mountain was interesting as well?! Eighteen months later and atop Mount Kithairona, a successful photo was to follow!


Copyright © 2001-2005, Anthony Ayiomamitis. All rights reserved.