As winter’s quietly fading footsteps still press gently on the doorstep of another year, a group of quietly curious sky watchers gathered in Nanaimo — not with hurry or clamor, but with the soft breaths of wonder that come whenever we turn our eyes upward. There is something in the early darkness of a new calendar that invites us to recall old questions, to ponder what lies beyond the ordinary sphere of our daily lives. And so it was, in late January, that the Nanaimo Astronomy Society welcomed both longtime members and those new to the night sky for its first meeting of 2026, focusing on the art of capturing the heavens through a lens.
In a community hall warmed by gentle chatter and the promise of shared discovery, veteran photographers and amateur stargazers alike spoke not just of cameras and telescopes, but of stories — stories of patience beneath dark skies, of long exposures that bind time and light, and of moments captured that remind us how the universe can feel simultaneously immense and intimate. Two presenters, seasoned in both technical skill and quiet enthusiasm, guided the room through how a simple camera on a tripod might be the first step toward photographing constellations, star trails, and comets with modest equipment before progressing toward more advanced gear.
There was laughter — gentle, reflective, the kind that rises when someone realizes you can begin with what you already have, even a cellphone under the right conditions — and there was attentive silence as questions came forward about tracking mounts and deep-sky imaging. The ease of beginning with basic tools was likened to learning a new language: at first, simple phrases — star trails, constellations — and later, the poetry of more specialized equipment.
Another chapter of the evening focused on so-called “smart telescopes,” devices created to ease the friction of setup and orientation so that newcomers might feel less daunted by the technical barriers that can sometimes cloud the joy of discovery. It is this blending of gentle accessibility and quiet encouragement that gives gatherings like this their soft, luminous charm — a reminder that curiosity need not be solitary, nor complex to be magnificent.
By the time the evening drew to its close, mugs were emptied, stories were shared, and plans were quietly made to look again toward distant galaxies and nebulae. In a world that often rushes past the night sky without notice, this small assembly of seekers lingered just a little longer — gazing upward, cameras in hand, hearts open to what tomorrow’s darkness might reveal.
Gently, the meeting concluded — an invitation to all to continue learning, to keep asking questions, and to discover not only how to photograph the heavens, but why we forever return our gaze to the stars.
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“Visuals are created with AI tools and are not real photographs.”
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📚 Sources
Nanaimo News Bulletin