HEY ALL! FIRST AND FOREMOST, I CANNOT EXPRESS MY GRATITUDE IN YOUR INTEREST IN HAVING ME SHARE MY EXPERIENCE WITH YOU WHEN IT COMES TO SHOOTING THE STARS. SECONDLY, I WANT YOU TO KNOW HOW I AM EXCITED FOR THIS UPCOMING WEEKEND, AS IT WILL BE THE FIRST 'CLASS' I'VE EVER TAUGHT.

JUST TO GIVE YOU A LITTLE BACKGROUND, MY LOVE FOR ASTRONOMY STARTED AT A FAIRLY YOUNG AGE. I REMEMBER AS A CHILD USING MY DAD'S BINOCULARS ON THE BALCONY OF MY HOME IN CAMPBELL TO LOOK AT HALLEY'S COMET. HE BOUGHT ME A TELESCOPE A FEW YEARS LATER AND THAT ONLY ADDED TO MY INTEREST IN ASTRONOMY. I'VE ALSO TAKEN A FEW ASTRONOMY CLASSES FOR HIGH SCHOOL CREDIT AT WEST VALLEY AND DE ANZA COLLEGE, NOT KNOWING THAT PHOTOGRAPHING THE NIGHT SKY WOULD END BEING ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS TO DO. TO ADD TO THE NERDINESS, I WATCHED TONS OF STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION WITH MY OLDER SISTER. WHILE STILL FAIRLY PRIMITIVE WHEN IT CAME TO CG ANIMATION, SOME OF THEIR DEPICTIONS OF STARS, GALAXIES, NEBULAS, AND OTHER ANOMALIES MADE SPACE ALL THE MORE FASCINATING FOR ME.

WE ALL HAVE TO START SOMEWHERE!

OCTOBER 6TH 2011. IT WAS MY SECOND TRIP TO MAUI. I DIDN'T GET TO CATCH THE SUNRISE ON MT. HALEAKALA THE FIRST TRIP, BUT ON MY SECOND TIME AROUND, I KNEW IT WAS SOMETHING I WANTED TO EXPERIENCE. I SET THE INTENTION OF MAKING IT OUT WITH THE FAMILY TO THE SUMMIT BEFORE SUNRISE TO PHOTOGRAPH THE STARS, SO I SPENT THE PRIOR NIGHT ON THE BEACH TRYING TO 'SHARPEN' MY SKILLS. I HAD NO IDEA WHAT I WAS DOING. ALL I KNEW WAS, SHOOT WIDE OPEN TO ALLOW AS MUCH LIGHT INTO MY CAMERA, AND SHOOT A LONG EXPOSURE. THAT WAS ABOUT IT.

THE MORNING WE WENT UP TO HALEAKALA, THE SUNLIGHT WAS GETTING BRIGHTER AND BRIGHTER ON THE HORIZON AS WE PARKED. THE VIEWPOINT WAS PACKED WITH PEOPLE AND THERE WASN'T REALLY A CLEAR SPOT FOR ME TO GET THAT 'SHOT' THAT I HAD ENVISIONED. I KNEW I HAD TO FIND A CLEARING SO I CHECKED THE MAP AND RAN AS FAST AS I COULD UP A TRAIL TO A MORE ISOLATED LOCATION. FORGETTING I WAS AT 10,026 FEET, AND COMPLETELY OUT OF BREATH, I MANAGED TO SET UP MY TRIPOD AND CAMERA. I TOOK A COUPLE OF PHOTOS WITH THE LITTLE TIME I HAD BEFORE THE SUN STARTED PEEKING OVER THE CLOUDS. I WAS ABLE TO GET ONE PHOTO THAT I ENDED UP FALLING IN LOVE WITH. AFTER BRINGING IT INTO PHOTOSHOP AND DOCTORING IT UP A LITTLE, I WAS BIT BY THE ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY BUG AND KNEW I WANTED TO SHOOT MORE.

PICTURED ABOVE ARE MY RAW UNEDITED PHOTOS FROM THAT SECOND TRIP OF MINE TO MAUI. SOME WERE BLURRY, UNDER EXPOSED, OVER EXPOSED, AND A FEW HAD STARS THAT WERE TRAILING. BELOW IS THAT ONE LUCKY SHOT THAT I GOT. HEY, WE ALL HAVE TO START SOMEWHERE. AMIRITE?!

CHECKLIST FOR WORKSHOP

HERE'S A FEW THINGS YOU'LL NEED FOR THE TWO DAYS. THESE ARE JUST SUGGESTIONS TO MAKE YOUR EVENING A LITTLE BIT MORE MANAGEABLE. ALSO, BEFORE THE WORKSHOP I'M GIVING YOU A LITTLE HOMEWORK. PLEASE READ THE ARTICLE LINKED HERE:

https://petapixel.com/2015/01/06/avoid-star-trails-following-500-rule/ 

IT COVERS A FORMULA THAT IS SUPER HELPFUL WHEN IT COMES TO PHOTOGRAPHING THE STARS. THE BASIC FORMULA IS: THE NUMBER 500, DIVIDED BY THE FOCAL LENGTH OF YOUR LENS = SHUTTER SPEED TIME. THIS WILL ALLOW YOU TO SET YOUR SHUTTER SPEED TO A DURATION BEFORE THE STARS BEGIN TO TRAIL IN YOUR PHOTOGRAPH. FROM THERE YOU CAN ADJUST YOUR ISO AND/OR APERTURE TO GET THE RIGHT EXPOSURE. LIKE I SAID, SUPER HELPFUL! SO TAKE A SECOND TO READ UP ON IT! THE ARTICLE CAN GET A LITTLE TECHNICAL, BUT IF YOU FOLLOW THE BASIC RULE OF THE FORMULA, THEN YOU SHOULD BE GOOD! WE'LL COVER THIS MORE ON FRIDAY NIGHT IF YOU HAVE MORE QUESTIONS.

DAY ONE: SEPTEMBER 14, 2018
LOCATION: DAVENPORT / PESCADERO, CA

DAY ONE WILL RUN BETWEEN 6:30 PM AND 10:30 PM, OR HOWEVER LATE YOU GUYS WANT TO STAY OUT! WE'LL INITIALLY BE MEETING AT VERVE COFFEE IN SANTA CRUZ, AND THEN WE CAN ALL CARPOOL TOGETHER UP HIGHWAY 1 NORTH TO OUR SHOOTING LOCATION. WE'LL BE SHOOTING AT EITHER DAVENPORT BEACH OR THE PIGEON POINT LIGHT HOUSE IN PESCADERO.

For those in the east bay, meet at my residence aT
5877 Highwood Road, Castro Valley
at 4:00 PM to carpool to Verve Coffee 

6:30 PM: Meet at Verve Coffee
1010 Fair Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95060

7:00 PM: Depart Verve Coffee

7:00 - 7:40 PM: Travel time to shooting location
DAVENPORT BEACH/PIGEON POINT LIGHTHOUSE

7:20 - 8:00 PM: FFA sunset photographs
8:00 - 8:30 PM: Short lecture

8:30 - 10:30 PM: Shoot stars

10:30 PM: Depart shooting location

DAY TWO: SEPTEMBER 15, 2018
LOCATION: CASTRO VALLEY, CA

DAY TWO WILL RUN BETWEEN 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM. I WILL COVER MY PROCESSING TECHNIQUE AS WELL AS MY WORKFLOW WHEN IT COMES TO EDITING MY ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY PHOTOGRAPHS. WE WILL ALSO BE UTILIZING TIME SO THAT YOU CAN EDIT YOUR PHOTOGRAPHS AS WELL AS ASKING ANY QUESTIONS TO PICK MY BRAIN. BREAKFAST AND LUNCH WILL BE PROVIDED!

10:00 - 10:30 AM: Breakfast

10:30 - 11:00 AM: EDITING DEMONSTRATION

11:00 - 12:00 PM: Participant Photo Processing

12:00 - 1:00 PM: Lunch

1:00 - 2:00 PM: More Photo Processing

2:00 PM: WRAP UP!