⌁ Location: Borrego Springs, CA
⌁ Date: June 18th, 2017
⌁ Camera: 
⌁ Lens: 
⌁ Filter: 
⌁ Tripod: @manfrottoimaginemore 055 & 410 Geared Head
⌁ 20 Seconds
⌁ f/2.0
⌁ 24mm
⌁ ISO 3200
⌁ WB Auto
⌁ 21 photo pano blend
Back in March of last year I decided to buy my very first digital SLR, a Canon 7D, to fulfill an interest in photography I have always had but often neglected due to other hobbies and activities. At first it was a tool I would use to snap some photos of my wife on vacation or photos of my rock climbing buddies on one of our weekend trips. Needless to say looking back my expectations weren't through the roof. But living in LA there are cool things I always wanted to capture that I just felt my iPhone was holding me back from. Here I am, happy-go-lucky Steve walking around the streets with his flashy DSLR, yay. What occurred next along this journey I never expected.
I have always had a deep fascination with stars. I grew up in Connecticut where it seemed on a clear night you could see every star in the universe. I had become so accustomed to this that I just figured it was the same anywhere in the world. After moving to San Francisco at 19 years old I learned this couldn't be any further from the truth. I swear in the 4 years I lived in San Francisco for college it was overcast and gloomy the whole time. A beautiful city when it wasn't this way, but that was like seeing a unicorn underneath a rainbow. Upon graduation I moved to LA and it was the same ol thing but this time with light pollution and June Gloom.
When I moved to LA in 2009 my grandparents had just moved to Palm Desert. I remember the first time I drove out there and how dark the desert skies were. I felt as though I was seated in a spaceship flying through space on some of the roads. It was absolutely stunning to me. I hadn't really thought about how much my field of view in CT was obstructed by trees until visiting the desert and having nothing in your line of sight. It was incredible. So when I bought my camera I knew one spot I was going to visit to try out some Astrophotography.
Behold my first Astrophotography shot!
Looking at my settings now I had no idea what I was doing.
⌁ Location: Palm Desert, CA
⌁ Date: March 30th, 2016
⌁ Camera:
⌁ Lens:
⌁ Filter: N/A
⌁ Tripod: Cheap POS
⌁ 2335 Seconds WTF?!?!?!
⌁ f/4.0
⌁ 19mm
⌁ ISO 100
⌁ WB Auto
⌁ 1 photo
For a first Astro shot ever, not bad! But this was only the beginning to what has become quite the religious experience. What I wasn't expecting my camera to do was buy flight tickets, put 20,000 miles on my car and invest in MORE camera equipment on my behalf. After 10 years of living in California and only seeing San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego I started following my camera all up and down this state. Fort Bragg, Bishop, Bridgeport, Lake Tahoe, Bodie, Lone Pine, Big Pine, Mount Laguna, Joshua Tree, Anza Borrego, Malibu, Santa Ynez... the list goes on and on and I am not even done exploring! Here are some more shots from my adventures and the progression:
⌁ Location: Bombay Beach, CA
⌁ Date: June 14th, 2016
⌁ Camera:
⌁ Lens:
⌁ Filter: N/A
⌁ Tripod: Cheap POS
⌁ 15 Seconds
⌁ f/4.0
⌁ 17mm
⌁ ISO 1600
⌁ WB Auto
⌁ 1 photo
⌁ Location: Gualala, CA
⌁ Date: September 3rd, 2016
⌁ Camera: 
⌁ Lens:
⌁ Filter: N/A
⌁ Tripod: Cheap POS
⌁ 20 Seconds
⌁ f/2.8
⌁ 14mm
⌁ ISO 3200
⌁ WB Auto
⌁ 3 photo
⌁ Location: Bishop, CA
⌁ Date: April 5, 2017
⌁ Camera:
⌁ Lens:
⌁ Filter:
⌁ 20 seconds
⌁ f/2.0
⌁ 24mm
⌁ ISO 6400
⌁ 16 frames, 4 for foreground 12 for MW
⌁ Location: Joshua Tree, CA
⌁ Date: April 30, 2017
⌁ Camera:
⌁ Lens:
⌁ Filter:
⌁ 25 seconds
⌁ f/2
⌁ 24mm
⌁ ISO 6400
⌁ 15 photos stacked and Pano stitched
⌁ Location: USA
⌁ Date: June 2nd, 2017
⌁ Camera:
⌁ Lens:
⌁ Filter:
⌁ 25 seconds
⌁ f/4.0
⌁ 16mm
⌁ ISO 4000
⌁ WB Auto
⌁ 43 photos stacked with StarStax
This story can go on and on and on but I will spare you all that. In the time since I took my first shot I now host workshops on teaching others astrophotography. My gear has multiplied so much that my wife now refers to photography as "the most expensive mistress a man has ever had", and she's right. It's a sick obsession, but I can't get enough of it and I love teaching others what I have taught and been taught myself!
If you are interested in my work and want to find out more you can see more at the following:
Website http://www.stevenjmagner.com
Instagram http://www.instagram.com/stevenjmagner/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/stevenjmagnerphoto/
Hope you enjoyed my story!