Cosgrove’s Cosmos Update #2
August 3, 2021
Time for another Cosgrove's Cosmos update!
Hi Folks,
I wanted to share what is new at Cosgrove’s Cosmos.
1. The Portfolio is complete! It's taken me about 10 days, but I have now completed the task of migrating the remainder of my portfolio into the website! There are now 78 images there, along with their stories and background. And I do mean they are all there - the good ones, the not-so-good ones, and even a few awful ones. They represent the journey I have been on, and I want to share a somewhat unvarnished view of this. In addition, I want others on their own journeys to see what the learning curve might look like. In some cases, I have re-taken images of some targets at different times. In those cases, I present side-by-side comparisons so you can see how things have changed over time. I don't know anyone else who is doing this - people tend to show only their best work - but I think this may be instructional.
2. Cosgrove's Cosmos continues to grow its audience. We have now had visits from 30 states and 10 countries. Now that the portfolio is fully in place, I will be enhancing the search engine optimization to bring in more traffic.
3. Looking back at your own work can be humbling. When I started, I was so happy to have any image at all. I was not very decerning about them. But over time, you learn. You learn how to collect and calibrate data to maximize the quality. You learn how to use the processing tools at your disposal better. Finally - and perhaps most importantly, you begin to develop an "eye" for what makes an Astro image look good. Developing this inner "eye" is really important. I will be writing another article about common mistakes that beginners make so that you can more quickly get around these. As a side comment, it took all of my power to take older images and post them as they are - rather than re-working the data with what I know now.
4. What's Next? Good question.
a. A Tips & Tricks Section. I will be adding a blog that will be focused on tricks & tips, and methods.
b. Computer and Storage Strategies. In the Gear section, I will be adding some computer and networking schemes that I use. I had to build a reasonably powerful computer to help with the processing, and I plan to cover that and the storage strategy for projects that can take up to a quarter of a terabyte of storage.
c. A Resource Section. I will be sharing a group of links for free online resources that I use when researching and planning my projects.
d. Image Processing. This is a huge topic - I am not just sure how to address this, especially since I am still learning every day, but I found some things that work, and I would like to have a way to share those.
e. New Projects are Coming! We have had a terrible summer for Astro Imaging, but despite that, I have 4 projects in the data-gathering stage, and I will be sharing those once they are complete.
Thanks again for your interest and support! I appreciate the feedback I have gotten so far and have tried to act on it quickly. If you have any thoughts or suggestions, please drop me a line. Use my personal email address if you have it, or you can always use Contact@CosgrovesCosmos.com.
May your skies be clear,
Pat
