2005 ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY CAMP - TAUPO, NZ

(News flash: for info re the 2006 camp click here)

New Zealand's first inaugural astrophotography camp was a ripper! Held near Taupo due to its central location (for the North Island anyhow) under dark skies and a fairly high altitude, about 30 people attended the two night (Fri 6th - Sat 7th May 2005) get together that focused on astrophotography. Both nights offered clear skies - with some patchy cloud at times (which did cover the sky for temporary periods). During the nights people imaged (and even looked) through an array of telescopes and lenses, during the day lectures were given on various facets of astrophotography.

The brainchild of Rob Beck (Palmerston North) and John Drummond (Gisborne), the idea was to get interested astrophotographers to a dark sky to image and discuss imaging techniques. Topics included piggyback basics, guiding, focus, image processing, etc. People came from mainly the North Island but we even had three Australian 'imports' for the weekend (Paul, David, and Dave's son).

The positive comments after the event have been amazing - everyone was buzzing. The only negative was the occasional deer pooh stuck on the sole of some shoes (hey, we're on a farm!). Accommodation was 'roughing it' style with either tents, camper vans, or accommodating in the nearby town of Wairakei. Meetings were held in a farm shed - slightly basic but cozy. Many thanks to Bruce and Pat for letting us use their farm.

We plan to make this an annual event and hope to make it earlier in the year in 2006 (possibly around the New Moon in February or March - when it's warmer to tent and when the weather is settled).

The following are some images from the weekend - my apologies if your face or image is not on this page - I may have missed some people in my photographic wanderings. (Unless stated, all images are by John Drummond and are copyrighted)

Some of New Zealand's (and Australia's) creme-El-la-creme astrophotographers at the astrophotographers camp in Taupo - 2005		Ghostly silhouettes against the town lights of Taupo (which were negligible and only seen from this angle). There's something about scopes under a night sky...
The lecture theatre - Kiwi style. Some great talks went down.		Rob, giving a rather unorthodox lecture at the front
Camp panorama - the cloudy day that I took these exposures doesn't do justice to the good weather we had		One of the aspects that organisers Rob and John wanted to bring out was the informal discussion about astrophotography - as seen here
Organisers Rob Beck (left) and John Drummond (right) - "smile!"		NZ astrophotography legend and celestial object genius - Ian Cooper
Some of the Gisborne boys, "Is Gissy that way?" Note 2797m Mount Ruapehu in the distant backdrop. (Dudley, Paul, Hamish)		Malcolm showing Dave how a dyslexic seagull flies
What more could you want? Deckchair, tent, and telescope under a dark sky... Kenric and his 25cm (10") Meade SCT		Dave Moorehouse's 8" binos were a hit (his 16" binos got together and out popped this 8" pair). Dudleys about to smack Dave in the head with them.
International Australian jet-setters Dave (left) and Paul (right)		John (Gisborne), Andy (New Plymouth), and Glen (Auckland)
Chris and Jennifer from Masterton		Paul's son Hamish wanted to be on a webpage so that he could be 'famous' - here ya go Hamish! He's a keen budding young astronomer...
Mark, Rachel, and baby		Saturday night's barbecue - Rachel's cooking, Dudley's ready to attack!
Sponsorship prize - John B winning a copy of Images Plus image stacking / manipulation software provided by IP ( see http://www.mlunsold.com/ )		Sponsorship prize - Andy winning a copy of K3CCD imaging / guiding software provided by K3CCD ( see http://www.pk3.org/K3CCDTools/ )
Nighttime. "Thanks John, there goes the night vision!" (Paul (Oz), Rob, Kevin)		The Beale boys - father and son, colour coordinated. Paul looks on...
Jupiter imaged by Kevin Barker. This weekend was Kev's first attempt at webcaming and stacking images of this giant planet. We were all stoked for him!		The Tarantula Nebula (NGC 2070) in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Rob Beck imaged this through his newly acquired 9.25" Celestron SCT and a Canon Digital SLR 300D
Barnard's 'S' (Snake) imaged by Professor Mark Cannell with a Canon 10D		The Sagittarius region imaged by John Burt with a modified Canon 300D (the IR filter has been removed)

For details regarding the 2005 Taupo Astrohotographers Camp see -

http://www.star-mate.com/astrophoto2005/