Topics

Landscape Astrophotography

Landscape astrophotography allows you to capture the awe and scale of a nighttime landscape framing the infinite beauty of the cosmos.

Despite the impressive subject, landscape astrophotography doesn't need expensive, heavy and complicated equipment. Most standard consumer cameras coupled with a tripod and the right lens are more than capable of capturing the grand sweep of the Milky Way.

At the Space Safari you'll learn how compose and combine shutter speed, ISO and aperture settings to capture great shots the night sky framed by the unique Pilbara landscape.

We will also explore some more advanced techniques, such as using lights to illuminate landscape features and using long exposures to create star trails.

Deep-Sky Astrophotography

Deep-Sky astrophotography uses long exposure and high magnification combined with tracking mounts to reveal stunning objects of the cosmos, sights that would otherwise be far too faint for the human eye to see.

With recent advances in technology and reductions in equipment costs, there has never been a better time to get into deep-sky astrophotography. Despite the challenges involved, the results speak speak for themselves.

With us you will cover topics including from choosing telescopes and mounts, polar alignment techniques, cooled cameras, narrowband imaging and guiding.

Join us at the Cheela Space Safari for a practical introduction to the state of the art in the field.

Image Processing

Taking photos is only half the story. You need to make use of the plethora of amazing image processing software around to get the best out of your images.

Day-time tutorials will delve into the world of photography and astrophotography software. We will work with you to demystify the more confusing aspects and help you perfect your photos.

Subjects covered include:

• Basic astrophotography processing in Lightroom and Photoshop
• Photo stacking using DeepSkyStacker, AstroPixelProcessor and PixInsight
• Handling dark, flat and bias calibration frames
• Processing narrowband images

Astronomy

Watch in awe as we use live astrophotography to explore the hidden wonders of the universe. Get a sense of the astounding scale of the cosmos above your head while also gaining an understanding of what is up there.

We will also cover how to find your way around the night sky and how to use planetarium software to quickly locate objects of interest and plan your astrophotography.