Astrophotographer Ajith Everester
Doha: Astronomy photography is becoming popular in Qatar due to the younger generation’s increased interest in astronomical imaging.
In a workshop organised by the Ministry of Culture’s Qatar Photography Centre at Katara recently, Ajith Everester, an astrophotographer spearheaded the event where he discussed the ways how to do astrophotography.
Currently, there are less than ten astrophotographers in the country, said Everester who has his own observatory called Everester Observatory located in Al Wukair.
Speaking to The Peninsula, he said, “The response for the workshop is good, we had over 120 registrants and most of them are young people. The youngsters are taking more interest in it and they need to have proper guidance. What I have observed is most of them stopped when they captured the Milky Way – but with added gears, they can explore more of the sky.”
Compared to other photography genres, the gears of doing astrophotography are almost the same: a camera, DSLR, CMOS sensor or complementary metal oxide semiconductor, tripod or tracking mount. All of the gears according to Everester cost around $700 to $800.
The Elephant Trunk’s Nebula
Before doing astrophotography, Everester was a wildlife photographer. He narrated how the switch happened from capturing animals to imaging of astronomical objects, celestial events, or areas of the night sky. “Since 2011, I photograph birds and animals, and one fine morning my daughter asked me for a telescope to see the planets, so when I saw the planets from the telescope, I asked why can’t we photograph it instead? And from there I started astrophotography.”
He revealed that “there are more things to explore than the Milky Way.” Everester also underlined the basic requirements for astrophotography during the workshop: passion, patience, planning, camera, telescope or lens, sturdy mount or a tripod or tracking mount.
Highlighting the ‘patience’, he said that capturing the planet and stars take time and effort. “To see the actual results of the photography, it depends on your target. If it’s an Andromeda Galaxy or a Nebula [as both are bright], it will take five to six hours, but say for example Squid Nebula – it will take you 40 to 50 hours of exposure.”
The Qatar Photography Centre is also planning to hold future workshops of this kind in the future, revealed Everester who has been doing such for years. He has also been invited to conduct the same event internationally, including his home country India, and neighbouring countries Bahrain and Oman.
