Field-Portable Astro-Imaging • Ken Tatum at AHSP 2012
Channel: Northern Virginia Astronomy Club
Date: 04/03/2013

So, you've been bitten by the astrophotography bug, but your backyard is next door to the bright lights of Dulles Airport?  Or maybe, like many of us,  you have so little horizon you can barely see straight up, and finding Polaris is out of the question?   This presentation, aimed at the urban or suburban-dwelling imager, is centered around how to optimize planning, packing, equipment, and procedures to conserve dark time in the field and get the most out of imaging when your only practical option for astrophotography is driving out to a dark site.

Ken Tatum is a member of NOVAC, a computer scientist by education, and technical analyst by experience.  Growing up in Ithaca, NY, Ken first gained his enthusiasm for the night sky from a weekly fourth-grade astronomy class sparked by the local filming of the original "Cosmos" series.  A self-taught astrophotographer, Ken learned his techniques mostly through trial and error, combined with a hefty dose of research on whatever approaches to the craft he could glean from books, friends, and the Internet.