That's me on the right, along with a couple of my imaging
buddies Don Conrad and Bob Holzer. BTW, take a good look at all
this stuff before you think about jumping into this hobby!
I live in Norcross Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. The skies here are somewhat
light-polluted not too bad for bright objects. I am a member of the
Atlanta Astronomy
Club. We have an excellent club, very knowledgeable members, and several
darks sites away from the city lights.
To make a buck I work as a Practice Director for
Cerner Corporation, a
software development company specializing in clinical information systems. My team is
focused on the development and implementation of electronic medical record
systems. I have been involved in the development of some very exciting
products and I have worked at some of the most notable heath care facilities
in the world. I also speak frequently at industry forums about electronic
medical records and physician utilization of computer systems.
Astrophotography is my primary after-hours interest, one of my MANY hobbies (as my
wife would say). Golf, reef aquaria, woodworking, home theater systems, and
photography are a few of my other interests. It's interesting to meet others
in this field, seems I am not alone when it comes to many toys and hobbies.
I had spent many years admiring the works of such greats as
Robert Gendler,
Jerry Lodriguss,
and Piermario
Gualdoni. Until 2002, I had not taken the plunge into purchasing my own
equipment. This is not a hobby for most. It is very expensive and time
consuming. It takes a considerable amount of skill and patience.
My adventure into this hobby started in January 2002 when I purchased my
first 'real' mount and scope. I purchased a Losmandy G11 mount with a Gemini GOTO
option from a nearby resident in Atlanta. The G11, for many, is considered a
base standard for astrophotographers. My first scope was an APM 6" Quartz MN. I
was the first person to receive one of these scopes and I can't say enough
about its quality and optics. I learned a lot with this setup and produced some
pretty good planetary and lunar pics.
Things started getting
really fun, and expensive, when I upgraded to an Astrophysics setup and an
SBIG CCD camera. I continue to buy, upgrade, barter and trade
equipment. It seems there is always another gadget that one needs to
take that special picture. To see a list of my current stuff look at
my Equipment Page.
After several years of struggling to find darks skies nearby
Atlanta, me and a few friends decided to startup our own astronomy village,
Deerlick Astronomy Village. In
2004 we purchased a 96 acre tract of land in Taliaferro County (Central
Georgia). The skies there are very dark and development is very low.
This project has far exceeded our expectation. We have developed 25
lots where folks care building observatories and cabins. It is a
wonderful place to observe and socialize with like minded folks. In
addition to the lots of land we have sold, we developed a 10 acres special
use field for use by amateur astronomers and clubs. We have members
from all over the country who come on dark sky weekends and special events.
We have also made an agreement with the Atlanta Astronomy Club whereby they
will hold their annual Peach State Star Gaze at DAV for the next 10 years.
