Biography

Following a life-long interest is astronomy, Chris has been an astro-photographer since 2005. He enjoys the challenges of capturing data from objects where the light has travelled through the universe for thousands or millions of years. He is interested in investigating the cosmos through the language of art as an alternative to the language of physics. 

He sees both physics and art to be equally valid descriptions of reality. His art taps into the human urge to contemplate the universe, with its themes of the vastness of distance and time and the smallness of mankind who, despite his ingenuity, will never tame or fully explain the cosmos. 

Chris is passionate and dedicated in his pursuit of an outstanding photograph as a starting point for his art. Beautiful art in its own right, each piece comes with a fascinating story. Such art makes the cosmos more accessible and brings these wondrous distant objects closer to home.

Synopsis

From battling frosted equipment, cloudy skies and light pollution from nearby Watford, Chris has now migrated to the exclusive use of remote equipment, beginning in Spain and more recently, in Australia. But is remote imaging for everybody and what of his experiences? 

Chris will cover the advantages and disadvantages of using such facilities and what to look out for if you are tempted to venture to clearer skies in order to capture those rare photons we all crave! He will then take you on a journey through space and time, illustrated with his images from a few hundred light years away to more than a billion light years distance.

Chris will also illustrate how it is possible to study exo-planets using amateur equipment at a remote site. Finally he will connect live to the remote site in Australia for a real time image capture of a deep space object.