Welcome to Pluto’s Outback of Photography and Musings! Kevin Tieman (that’s me) has taken all these photos himself, with the exception of the main picture of Pluto shown above. He began photographing the Moon and deep-space objects like galaxies and nebulae in 2019. His deeper interest in both terrestrial photography and astrophotography stems from an incident in January of that year. There was a “Blood Moon” event (a lunar eclipse) of which he wanted to capture decent pictures. He learned the hard way that taking good photos required a certain amount of knowledge, particularly when using a DSLR camera (borrowed from his wife). After shooting hundreds of pictures that night, he realized that the slower exposure speed needed to capture the darker periods of the eclipse couldn’t be readily accomplished “handheld” without introducing blur. So, the unused tripod, which lay 50 feet away in the house, was the unadded spice that ruined the dish.
Thus began his journey toward learning the science and art behind photography and astrophotography. These skills are being learned in parallel, and Pluto is far from reaching the pinnacle in either. But he’s accumulated joy in the process. Becoming an admirer of photography that catches the eye, or perhaps the soul in some cases, he’s decided to share some of his own work in the hopes that others may enjoy it in at least some small way.
And he’s happy to say he did finally capture “Blood Moon” photos during a subsequent eclipse in May of 2022. A few of these can be found in the astrophotography section of this site.
Note that there are additional photos to add. And an eventual “Photo-of-the-Day” will make an appearance as well.
Finally, “Muse Drops” will include content from not only myself, but one or two additional regular contributors as well. And guest commentators will likewise offer their musings from time to time.
For now, this site is in the “ramping up” stage. So if you encounter any hiccups or false starts, I ask for your patience and forgiveness in advance.
Thank you for visiting!
The owner and administrator of this site is Kevin Tieman. The name “Pluto‘s Outback of Photography and Other Musings” is an outgrowth of a silly song he wrote entitled “Plutonian Gray.” He feels the theme also matches one of the main focuses of the site, which is showcasing astrophotography pictures.