Astrophotography by Doug Clapp

Until recently, I knew Doug only by reputation: a member of the North York Astronomical Association and a very fine astrophotographer. That all changed on a November evening when we met in the flesh. The HAA had a large gathering of about forty people at Kelsey's (a local watering hole) after one of our club meetings. I sat next to Doug and was promptly blown away by the man and his collection of astro prints. Not being a shy type, I asked if I could display them on the Web. Well ... Doug has kindly donated a couple of dozen images to this project. Instead of showing them all at once, I will tantalize you over the next few months with an ever-changing gallery of his images.

These following photos were taken over a short period of time (less than three weeks). They were taken in Tweed, a dark site 200 km. northeast of Toronto. Doug uses an LX-200 Meade 10 at f6.3, an ST-6 and guides with an ST-4 and CCDTrack. Typically, he does integrated exposures for black and white with a total exposure of 10 to 15 minutes. His exposures in colour are between 20 and 30 minutes. After the images are taken he works with a collection of software (CCDops - SkyPro - Hidden Image - PhotoShop 3.0 - Photo Styler 1.0) to get the effect he is after. The photo display I first saw was printed with an Epson Stylus II Printer.

Wander through the links and enjoy Doug's images, and then return later to see different pictures!

Drop a note to Doug Clapp

Images

Hyakutaka: March 23 50mm lense
NGC4038/37: Ringtail Nebula
M109: in Ursa Major
NGC253: a tough one to find in Canada
M20: Trifid Nebula
M27: Dumbell Nebula

Last updated September 3, 2001