Astrophotography for Advanced Learners by Daniel Nimmervoll

Hello fellow stargazers, today's post comes from

beautiful Austria. We wish you a wonderful Sunday and hope you enjoy reading. Be sure to check out Daniel's YouTube channel on astrophotography, which is linked in this post.

Hello Daniel, it's great that you've taken the time to introduce yourself to our readers. How did you get into astrophotography?

Hello Rudi and Karl. Thank you so much for having me here. I'm from northern Upper Austria, at an altitude of 720 meters, near the Czech border. Here, the nights are still quite dark at magnitude 21.7. 🙂

Photography has fascinated me my whole life. I bought my first DSLR camera in 2008. Initially, I bought a Sigma 150mm macro lens to hunt for insects at a local biotope in the early morning hours. This allowed me to gain my first experience with aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and the effects of light.

Later, I got into high-speed photography, specializing in water droplet photography. Where I've been offering workshops and individual coaching sessions for years.

I've now written the third edition of my book "High-Speed ​​Photography," which has been available in English on my online shop for some time. It's currently being translated into Italian and will likely be available as an e-book by the end of this year. I also do ballistic shooting (with an air rifle and light barriers).

I'm still very new to the astrophotography scene. In February 2019, I bought my first telescope, the Lacerta 72/432 APO. Shortly after, I got the Skywatcher 200/1000 PDS, with which I've now been able to gain my first experiences.

Astrophotography is quite similar to high-speed photography. You photograph subjects that are ubiquitous but invisible to the naked eye. And that's precisely what makes it so appealing and fascinating. When you spend hours focused on a distant galaxy to collect photons that have traveled for millions of years, only to then fall into my telescope and onto the camera sensor... Incredibly amazing!

Space has fascinated me since childhood, and the countless stars have captivated me. Around the age of 15, I had a small telescope. I still remember going from window to window, trying to "see" the stars in every direction. That was 23 years ago now! 🙂

All beginnings are difficult, and it was quite challenging for me to get started. I wanted everything to be as automated as possible. Words like "guiding" were foreign to me. My English isn't very good, so I found very few helpful YouTube videos.

I then read through various forums and gained my first experiences through trial and error. I wanted to give something back from all the knowledge I had gained from others. I already had a YouTube channel with many videos, thanks to my water droplet photography. Helping others with my knowledge has always brought me joy.

Therefore, it seemed natural that as soon as I knew a little more than a beginner, I would produce videos and upload them to YouTube. I now have many videos online, and the feedback has been phenomenal. I think the videos are particularly well-received precisely because I'm still a beginner. I still remember very clearly what I didn't know just a few months ago 😉

But I also learn a great deal by producing the videos. Every time I make a video, I immerse myself in the subject.

My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/Empire4191/videos

I'm sure that astrophotography will be a part of my life for many years to come. That's why I recently set up a small website where I can present my latest photos: https://www.astro-fotografie.at

I would also like to extend a huge thank you to my wife, Kerstin. She's very supportive of my hobby and rarely complains when I want to buy some expensive astronomy gear again 😉
At the end of last year, we built a small observatory in our garden together. We had to paint the wood three times before setting it up.

Thank you all for reading 🙂 And I'd be delighted to welcome some of you to my YouTube channel or Facebook page.

Best regards and clear, starry nights,
Daniel

Daniel's Equipment:

TRACKING
Skywatcher EQ6-R PRO

TELESCOPE
Lacerta APO 72/432 flat
Skywatcher 200/1000 Newton PDS

CAMERA
ZWO ASI 183 MC Pro
Canon 5D Mark IV unmodified

ACCESSORIES
1.25" 3x Barlow Lens
GPU Coma Corrector
APM 2" 1.5x Coma Correcting Barlow Lens
Pierro ADC Mark III
Lacerta Flatfield Box

FILTERS
Astronomik L2 UV-IR Block 2"
Optolong L-Pro 2"
TS-Optics 2" UCF Moon Filter

GUIDING
ZWO ASI 120mm-s
Lacerta OAG
ZWO OAG
60mm Guide Scope
PHD2 on Laptop