Orion Nebula (3)

This image was one of my early attempts at astrophotography. It was done using the old "analog" method on film, so no digital tricks, image layering, or other enhancement was done. Of course, images using these modern techniques are much better, but this one has historical interest!

I did this some time in the 1980s, so the details are a bit hard to recall, but I think this was some using hypersensitised Fuji 1600 ASA professional slide film which was then push processed. I used a 30 cm f/6 reflector with the camera at the prime focus with an exposure of about 15 minutes (yes, minutes, not seconds). The telescope was driven and I did some additional guiding using a 15 cm coaxial refractor.

The processing was done in a darkroom, in complete darkness (you can't use a red light for colour film), so the whole thing was quite challenging - things are so much easier today with modern digital techniques!