Customer Reviews

Splendors of the Universe: A Practical Guide to Photographing the Night Sky

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The photograghs of the deep sky objects in this book are as amazing as they are gorgeous. Especially, when one relalizes that the photos were done by "amateur" astronomers. But this is NOT a practical guide to astrophotography. This is a coffee table book which is why it is so deeply discounted.

For the very beginner in astrophotography( like me) it is all you need( at least for a while).Dickinson and Newton used a clear text adding their expereance. The book begins talking about the universe, then goes to the basic camera on tripod( comets, moon and Earth shine, star trails, etc). To follow the Earth's movment(for those 10 minutes exposures), I learned and built my on Star Tracker - It is very precise and useful because I could find the south celestial pole in my first try as I learned from page 70. As I still didn't buy my own "good telescope", I am not the best person to say about Part 3: Probing Deeper- through the telescope; but it covers all the inicial steps,adaptation, films and filters for lunar /solar photos.The last part tell us how to use the CCD tecnology:choosing a CCD camera,how to color the image and to process it.For the one who want more detail on digital imaging, this is not your book. Bad points are: it does not teach you where(all) the "subjects" are ,missing on CCD shoftware; almost anything on Southern emisfere sky. Good point: a lot of amateurs photos, showing that you can do it. Finally, this is a very good inicial book FOR THE BEGINNER ASTROPHOTOGRAPHER.

This is an excellent book - both inspirational and educational. The bulk of the book focuses on simple techniques for photographing wide-angle Milky Way panoramas, conjunctions, and constellations. The best part is that the authors really focus on using simple and commonly available cameras and equipment and provide plenty of stunning examples using these techniques. While the first reviewer is correct in that this book is not really a comprehensive guide for guided telescopic astrophotography I think this book stands on its' own as a much-needed intro for those who have always wanted to take night sky pictures without getting in over your head and being burdened with expensive and complicated equipment. I took some great Milky Way photos this summer after reading this book and now friends are asking me for enlargements!

The cover claims "A Practical Guide to Photographing the Night Sky". The book is essentially a vehicle for displaying the authors' remarkable photographs. The discussion on equipment and methodology is shallow and incomplete.

Really nice book. It has a remarkable number of photos taken by amateurs of all kinds of night sky objects from comets to star trails and even deep space objects. Good solid advice, tips and help for amateurs who want to venture into taking night time pictures. Escpecially if you have an older (non digital) 35mm camera that uses film. Tells you about f stops, films to use and exposures to make.
It has pros and cons of manual and digital cameras and help with using both types. There is also a nice section devoted to making up your own jigs to help you track stars for longer periods of time. It gives you instructions on how to make the jigs but doesn't have any drawings or blueprints on them which is a bit of a minus.
Lots of information about piggy-backing a camera on a telescope too.

Overall it's a great book for somebody who wants to adventure into the world of amateur night sky photo taking. Even if just to make star trails with earth bound object in the foreground.

I really like everything about this book. It offers great, practical advice on learning how to take "astro"photos. Many beautiful pictures also. I am currently building my own camera mount based on guidelines in book. Anyone interested in astronomy and/or photography should get it!

Outstanding book on Astro photography. Well written, easy to follow and has outstanding pictures and images alike. A must for anyone thinking about pointing a camera at the sky.

NEVER BEFORE HAVE I SEEN A BOOK SO WELL THOUGHT THRU AND SO WELL WRITTEN MR DICKINSON HAS SHOWN US AGAIN HOW WELL HE WRITES. I RECIEVED THIS BOOK AS A CHRISTMAS GIFT FROM MY PARENTS, AND I LOVE IT. IT SHOWS WONDERFUL DIAGRAMS AND EVERYTHING YOU WOULD NEED TO KNOW. THANK YOU GEOFF NASH

The book is great. Terry and Jack did a wonderful job. By the way I am on page 64 with the camera tracker. I noticed a typo on this web page under table of contents. You have Sides versus prints and should be SLIDES verses prints.

Clear skies Gary Boyle Observer's Group Chairman Ottawa Centre, Royal Astronomical Society of Canada