Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #72604 in Books
• Published on: 2007-12-15
• Released on: 2008-01-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 162 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781933952161
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

About the Author
Currently living in Stuttgart,Germany, Stefan Seip works as a professional fine art photographer, an IT consultant, and a science writer. His enthusiasm for the activities and objects of the cosmos dates back to his early adolescence. Driven by his innate desire to capture beauty in images, it was only natural to combine his two loves; astronomy and photography.

It is only recently--decades later--that Stefan started to grasp what he had gotten himself into. Although, he still enjoys visual astronomy, astrophotography has gained the upper hand, requiring his full commitment. He said, "Had I foreseen the amount of time, perseverance, technology, know-how, and (in the end) money would be necessary in order to produce first-class images, I would have had second thoughts about it--only to pursue the same path again!"

Astrophotography grants him many unforgettable hours under the night sky, while it allows him to produce aesthetically rewarding and lasting results. His love for this challenging craft is evident in his many spectacular images.

To learn more about Stefan Seip, and to see his stunning astrophotos and fine art images, visit his website at http://www.photomeeting.de.

Customer Reviews

A great primer for astrophotography
Astrophotography is an area in the hobby where most beginners feel a measure of intimidation- from the high cost of equipment, the myriad jargon tossed around in amateur astronomy forums on the web, and a seemingly confusing and endless selection of knobs, plates, adapters, scopes, mounts, tripods, cameras, etc. available in the market place. But most folks are hooked the moment they take a photo of the moon or a planet through a small digital camera or even a cell phone cam.

Seip's book is concise, highly readable and an up-to-date book on amateur astrophotography. It is clear and well written and perhaps the best primer to read when one is contemplating delving into this area of the hobby.

I would have liked to see a little more elaboration on guiding (manual and auto), on focusing a DSLR (that's what most people start dabbling in), and on the importance of a good mount-perhaps an appendix guide on mount recommendations, stability considerations, the concept of PEC and maybe on drift alignment (a proper mount is the biggest success factor in astrophotography), but this information can be easily found elsewhere on the web and in books (Ron Wodaski has an excellent section on telescope and mount selection and considerations in his book that bears reading). All in all, an excellent book. I enjoyed reading it very much.

Lastly, if you see Seip's astrophotography photos on the web, you will realize how spectacular his photos (and skills) are. Perhaps it is a reflection of his humility that he avoids showcasing his jaw-dropping photos in his own book!

An Ideal Intro and Much More
Many of us have been impressed by the images made by Stefan Seip, an astro-photographer based in Stuttgart Germany. His shots of Comet Machholz against the Pleiades and Venus at inferior conjunction framed by wispy clouds are stunning examples of what digital imaging technology can produce when directed by a discerning eye.

So, even though I'm a committed visual observer, when Seip's "Digital Astrophotography: A Guide to Capturing the Universe" became available (It was first published in German under the title "Astrofotografie digital") I thought what better photographer to acquaint me with what's become such a huge part of the astronomy hobby. And I was right. As an intro, it's superb.

His book is an attractive soft cover volume, profusely illustrated in color and printed on a heavy weight glossy paper with lots of open margins for notes. It enjoys two clear advantages over some other digital astrophotography texts. First, it does not limit itself to one particular type of digital tool/photography and two, being published this year, its camera and software references should be up to date.

A short introductory chapter, "Before You Start" addresses some basics and presents some terms and concepts which will figure in later discussions.

Then comes the heart of the book: four chapters, each treating a type of camera available to today's digital astro-imager:

- Compact Digital Cameras
- Webcams
- Digital Single Lens Reflex Cameras (DSLR)
- Charged Coupled Device Cameras (CCD)


Within each chapter, Seip

- explains the characteristics of the specific camera type and
mentions its advantages and disadvantages

- mentions the types of photographs suited to it, e.g., only
webcams are recommended for planetary imaging while CCD cameras
are unsurpassed for deep sky objects.

- gives tips on purchasing, e.g., webcams with a CCD sensor are
better than those with a CMOS sensor for astrophotography

- recommends accessories, e.g., his chapter on CCD cameras
mentions software, autoguider connections, filter wheels, focal
reducers, portable power supplies, etc.

- takes the reader, step by step, through the process of capturing
an image and processing it. Understandably, to do this, Seip
necessarily uses specific equipment and software in his
explanations, e.g., his webcam chapter is geared to the Celestron
NexImage camera and Registax software. The CCD chapter utilizes
MSB's Astroart software. Adobe Photoshop is used throughout the book.


As Seip progresses from simpler to more complex cameras, the discussion of digital imaging itself becomes more sophisticated and the reader's grasp of the whole topic becomes deeper. Later chapters discuss topics that definitely would be of concern to intermediate level imagers, e.g., thermal noise, spectral sensitivity, format conversion, field flatteners, coma correctors, etc.

I was impressed that the book was able to educate me about a seemingly complicated subject in a painless way. Plus, I kept thinking should I ever decide to take the plunge into digital imaging, I'll have what amounts to a "cookbook" reference.

The book has an internet tie-in to Stefan Seip's web site. The actual images used to illustrate software photo processing techniques can be downloaded, so the reader can duplicate the steps shown in the book. Also three documents, one on how to treat dust and pixel defects, another telling how to remove a satellite trail from an image and the last listing selection criteria for a CCD camera are available as PDF's.

There is an appendix containing some useful information, a glossary (which comes in handy for a visual observer when a term such as "resolution", for example, takes on a definition which differs from the one that applies to telescope optics alone), a list of resources and reading suggestions and last, but not least, entries giving the exposure info and equipment used for each of the images used to illustrate the book.

Finally! An Understable Book on Astrophotography
I've quite a few books on astrophotography in my astronomy library and they've all followed the same course: They start with extreme basics and then jump into using a $[...] camera to gather 800 6 hour exposures and how to stack and process the singles into an image better than the Hubble could capture. You'll need a $[...] mount.

Since I am an observer, my interest in astrophotograhy is not deep enough to entice me into spending the time to do all the work that most books teach. This book covers the middle ground nicely. If you want to go beyond holding a camera to the eyepiece but don't care to build an observatory dedicated to electronics, this guide book will have you producing beautiful images---on any budget. And if you want to go "all the way" there is plenty of material for that too.

I was very pleased when I got the book and am more pleased every time I open it.

Chris Reich,
TeachU.com
EtnaAstros.com