Basic + Intermediate Astrophotography Workshops

Beginner-friendly — no experience needed

BASIC:
July 9 & July 16
(same workshop offered twice — choose one date)

Learn the fundamentals of astrophotography + hands-on night sky shooting (cellphone, cameras, telescopes).
Cost:
$20 per person

INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED:
August 6 (Data Capture) & August 13 (Image Processing)
(2-part series — both sessions included)

Deep dive into capturing and processing astrophotography images.
Cost:
$50 for the complete workshops (three sessions, one night of the Basic Workshop plus both nights of the Intermediate/Advanced Workshop)

Details:

This summer, the Gunnison Valley Observatory will be offering a series of workshops looking at doing Astrophotography using various techniques and methods from cellphone photography of the Milky Way through using conventional astrophotography equipment and the latest generation of “Smart Telescopes”. Have you ever wondered if you could take some images of the night sky? Well, the easy answer is Yes, you can! Sign up for either the beginning workshop (to be held twice in the month of July) or both the beginning workshop in July and the in-depth workshop (2 different sessions) in August.

Experience level: none required, just a desire to see the unseen wonders of the night sky.

These workshops will be a combination of classroom time to introduce the concepts of Astrophotography and time under the stars to see and practice using your own cellphone, simple camera/tripod combinations, Smart Telescopes and traditional Astrophotography systems.

Equipment required: none, but if you have your own equipment (such as a Smart Telescope) then you may have a chance to work with it and have questions answered by the workshop leaders.

Topics:

What is Astrophotography?

What equipment do I need?

How do I get started?

Processes used in Astrophotography

Planning

Equipment setup

Data Collection (capturing images with the telescope)

Data Processing (making raw images into amazing final images)

Workshop leaders:

David Clayton – member of the GVO Board of Directors and volunteer for Public Nights at the observatory, demonstrating Astrophotography. David is an avid photographer and started doing Astrophotography about 5 years ago.

Christopher Ashford – Chris is a volunteer at GVO and is also involved with Fort Worth Astronomical Society. Chris has been involved with astrophotography for numerous years and has experience building and using numerous types of telescope systems.

When:

Beginning Astrophotography Workshop - July 9th and July 16th (Thursday before and after the July New Moon). This will be one session repeated on two nights and cover the more basic aspects of Astrophotography with ample amount of time under the stars for demonstration and practice.

Intermediate/Advanced Astrophotography Workshop – August 6th and 13th (Thursday before and after the August New Moon). These are two sequential workshops (both included in workshop cost). You must take a Beginning session to take the Intermediate/Advanced section.

The first session will go into the detail of collecting data (images) of deep space objects using numerous telescopes/cameras. Classroom session will discuss types of telescopes/cameras/mounts/controllers, how to set the equipment up and get it ready for imaging, how to plan targets/exposures, and collecting the data. After the classroom session, the workshop will adjourn outside to work with the telescopes. Participants will learn the steps in taking a telescope set up and imaging and will participate in doing the steps themselves.

The second session will examine the process of taking the raw images and combining them to create a full color image of the deep sky object. This session will include how to stack the raw images to get a better final image, stretching and manipulating the image to bring out the details of the deep space object while creating a image that is pleasing to the eye. There will be a discussion of the software available, ranging from free to paid professional level products. The second half of this session may be divided into an indoor session and an outdoor session. The indoor session will process some data from start to finish while the outdoor session will allow more time with the telescopes for those that want that option.

Cost:

$20 for the Basic Session (choice of either night of Basic Workshop)

$50 for the complete workshops (three sessions, one night of the Basic Workshop plus both nights of the Intermediate/Advanced Workshop)

Each session will be limited to 12 attendees.