By JUDY A. TOTTS

Editorial Staff

Shivering slightly as he adjusted the camera strapped to the telescope, George Gajdos stopped to squint through the telescope. The full moon, looking like a tarnished silver coin, floated in the center of the lens, and Gajdos hurried to capture the image and rush the film to the basement darkroom.

That was one Tasco telescope, box camera and about
35 years ago, but for Gajdos, the thrill of capturing the drama of the night sky hasn’t dimmed.

“It was one of those department store telescopes, a 4½-inch reflector, and I strapped on an old box camera,” he said. “But I was thrilled to get a shot of the moon.”

His current equipment, considerably more sophisticated, allows him to photograph night sky images only dreamed of when he was a teen.

“Space was ‘hot’ in the ’60s and ’70s. When they landed on the moon, I was sitting there watching like everyone else.”

Fascinated with the night sky, he poured over magazines like Sky & Telescope and Astronomy. Although not much for joining clubs, he admitted to membership in his high school photography club. Once he paired up the hobbies, he was hooked.

Like a waning moon, his interest dimmed for a long stretch, until the comet Hale-Bopp appeared in 1997. He dug out his old equipment, but soon decided to invest in something better.

“And now,” he said with a grin, “I have credit cards.” For the serious hobbyist, he added, the quality of the photos is related to the amount of money you sink into your equipment. “Today, your computer is your darkroom. Half of the work is the artistic techniques in processing. You accumulate and process data.

You’re taking raw images and processing them, tweaking them, enhancing them to bring out the best. But it’s still a learning curve.”

He makes a list of the objects he’s trying for, deep-sky objects like galaxies, clusters and nebulae, but the best-laid plans in astrophotography still depend on clear skies. April to October, Gajdos, who lives in the Akron area, heads southwest of Cambridge, Ohio, to shoot, away from light pollution.

“I live for clear nights when there’s not a full moon. It’s sunset to sunrise, then I start packing up the equipment,” he said, adding that he usually doesn’t shoot in the winter months unless there’s a spectacular event like an eclipse. During the eclipse of the moon in February, when temperatures dipped below zero, he set up his equipment in his backyard and ran in and out to get the shots he needed.

“It’s very addictive. You keep comparing your current work to previous shots and keep pushing the envelope.” Gajdos paused. “When you look at the sky or into a telescope, you’re seeing something that’s not computer generated. Seeing that first meteorite or a comet like Hale-Bopp, hanging there in the sky, can change your life and set you on a path that will last a lifetime. It’s magical.”

His Web site, which features details of his equipment and a photo gallery, is georgegajdos-astrophotos.com.

Totts may be reached at 330-721-4063 or religion@ohio.net.