Barry Schellenberg Astrophotos

This website is the result of many, many hours of learning how to take photos of the night sky. The learning curve since starting this hobby in 2007 has been quite steep and challenging and I thank my wife for allowing me to venture down this journey of learning. She has been quite patient with me during my late nights of acquisition, only to find me on the computer the next day processing and developing the photos.


My interest in Astrophotography was inspired by Jack Newton with whom my wife and I stayed with at his bed and breakfast in Osoyoos, BC. www.jacknewton.com/ Ever since that very late night in July of 2004, I have wanted to take photos of the night sky. Jack was very patient in teaching me the basics of using a telescope with a camera. Our results were so good I thought how difficult could this be?

The next year we took our children to Jack and Alice's place to "get them inspired". Unfortunately they didn't get the bug as badly as I did. Although, Chrissy has taken a bit more interest since attending her first "Star Party" in August of 2009. She also won a telescope kit which really put a spark into her. It then took 2 years for me to make the decision and plunge into the abyss of learning that I was going to go through. I bought myself a Meade 10", LX200r telescope. Conveniently, I had purchased my wife a DSLR that very same year. So I thought put the two together and presto, Astrophotography. The next 2 years were an absolute nightmare. I couldn't figure anything out or get any results worth sharing. I nearly gave up. Then I joined the Astronomical Society of Canada, Calgary chapter. From there I had access to people who had gone through exactly what I was going through and so I learned from their mistakes and experiences. I have also read many books and joined many Astronomy groups on Yahoo. It's a small yet very supportive community.

What you are about to view is the culmination of 3 years of building inspiration and another 3 years of figuring out what to do with all the equipment everyone said I needed. Thank goodness for AstroMart. http://www.astromart.com This is a website for classifieds dedicated to Astronomy. I have bought stuff, tried to figure it out and subsequently sold it. I now have what I think I need to make those "pretty pictures" you see in the magazines. The majority of these photos were taken with a Borg 101ED, f/4.1 telescope using a modified Canon 50D DSLR, mounted on an Atlas EQG telescope mount.

I still have so much to learn in order to get the most out of my photos, but I am finally ready to share them and feel a sense of accomplishment. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

I dedicate this website to my wife and daughters.

My very best regards,
Barry