About Me
Hey there!
I'm Mike, and this is my corner of the internet to share my passion for the night sky. I created this space to both showcase my astrophotography work and record my journey in this hobby, so that I could go back and see the very first images I've taken, and how the quality has (hopefully) improved over time.
You can reach me at iss@mkl.dev.
The Journey
I've always been fascinated with the night sky and the photos other people take, and finally have decided to pull the plug and give it a go myself in late Fall of 2024. Mostly with the stuff I already had: a Sony camera and a long telephoto zoom, aside from the entry-level Skywatcher GoTo mount.
Currently based in the UAE, I'm fortunate to have access to dark skies and clear nights most of the year, even if I have to drive pretty far out of the city.
My primary locations are the test site at the Salt Lake near Abu Dhabi, a light poluted place, but close to home, and the main shooting site at Abu Qrayn Desert, the darkest place in the country.
I'm always looking for new places to shoot, so if you know of any good spots in the UAE, please let me know!
The Setup
For now, it's a Sony A7IV full-frame camera with a GM 100-400 f4.5-5.6 lens, the SkyWatcher GTi tracking mount, on top of a Peak Design tripod.
The brains of operation the holy Ktulhu of wires and a Windows 11 mini-PC running N.I.N.A.
I also got a n Anker battery, that, with some power target tweaking of the PC, can support up to 7 hours of shooting. If switched to 12v output via car plug, potentially I can extend it even more, but I'm yet to give that a try.
