All Those Years Ago......... Cygnus

All Those Years Ago......... Cygnus, a photo by Nightfly Photography on Flickr.

Twenty eight years ago today, on August 17, 1984 I exposed Ektachrome for the first time and accomplished my very first astrophotos. These are certainly not my best work, but they are still fondly remembered. I still recall the excitement of viewing the slide for the first time and proudly projecting it at family gatherings.

It was a pivotal moment. It fueled the dreams of a young astrophotographer yearning to capture the magnificent fields of the Milky Way. This photographer is no longer sixteen, but I still get a thrill of exposing the night sky. And when the film comes back, poring over the fresh images, I’m realizing the completion of the dream of that midsummer night.

Pentax Spotmatic II with 50mm f/1.4 SMC Takumar and 10 minute exposure on Kodak Ektachrome 100 slide film from my front yard in Ellsworth, Maine