Overheard someone at the observatory say my Jupiter photo was 'almost pro'

I was packing up my telescope at the local astronomy club night when a guy I didn't know pointed at my screen and said 'that's almost pro quality'. It made me realize all those late nights fiddling with stacking settings in the cold actually paid off. Anyone else get a random compliment that made them feel like they were finally getting somewhere in this hobby?

3 comments

3 Comments

parkera2228d ago

Read an article the other day about how amateur astronomers get a huge confidence boost from random compliments like that. It said most people don't realize how much work goes into stacking and processing, so when a stranger calls it "pro level" they're seeing the final result without knowing the struggle. That feeling of being validated by someone who doesn't even know what a histogram is, that's pure gold. You spend so much time alone in the dark tweaking curves and fighting with light pollution, and then some random person just gets it. Makes you wonder how many other folks out there are secretly building up their skills and just waiting for one good comment to push them further. Honestly, those little moments keep me going when I'm fighting with guiding errors or clouds roll in right after perfect alignment.

felix_lane9929d ago

Last month I was shooting the Orion Nebula at like 2am freezing my butt off and this random jogger stopped to check out my setup. He said my image on the laptop looked like a NASA press release. Honestly I almost choked on my coffee because I'd spent like 3 hours that week just tweaking the gradient removal in Photoshop. That stuff really boosts your confidence when you're still learning the ropes.

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ben_ross5128d ago

And that random validation hits different when you're out there alone at 3am with frozen fingers. It's like all those hours fighting with Photoshop sliders finally pay off when someone who doesn't even know what light pollution is calls your work "NASA level." Makes you wonder how many other people out there would get into this hobby if they just had one good interaction like that.