2015-11-07 Astrophotography: The Bubble Nebula NGC 7635
Get up close and personal. For the longest time, as a wildlife photographer, I have been striving to get as close to the subject as I can. I have invested in lenses with long focal lengths to provide me with the ability to “zoom” in, and tried to perfect methods of “sneaking up” to get as close as possible to fill the frame with my subject. For me it was all about getting that close up portrait where you could, for example, count the hairs on the head of a moose, or discern the details in an eye. Photographers of many genres are obsessed with getting close, and while there is nothing wrong with this approach, it is easy to forget that a subject is part of the world that surrounds it. In recent years, as I have matured as a photographer, I have begun to appreciate the environment more, and have been making a conscious effort to include this natural world with my subject. To me this presentation is more appealing, and while the close up portrait certainly has it’s place, I am more moved by an image when there is environmental context with which to gain perspective. This same concept applies to astrophotography, where we can (more…)