The Story Behind the Images

Photographing what we cannot see

My name is Ren, and I created Astro Artisan Art around a passion that has gradually become a bigger and bigger part of my life: astrophotography.

I've been practicing astrophotography for nearly 10 years. When I first started, I was working with fairly basic equipment, a long way from the setup I use today. At the time, I was simply trying to understand how to photograph the night sky and find a little more detail with every new image.

Over the years, the passion stayed with me, but my standards grew along with it. I wanted to go further: capture fainter objects, reveal more detail, and understand how to get the most out of the data I could collect.

My current setup was therefore not built overnight. I put it together little by little, over several years, upgrading my equipment as my skills and ambitions evolved. Today, it represents an investment of more than €10,000, but more importantly, it is the result of ten years of learning and constantly looking for ways to improve my images.

I love the idea that a photograph can show us something that actually exists, sometimes thousands or even millions of light-years away, yet remains invisible to our eyes.

A nebula, a galaxy, or a cloud of interstellar dust may appear almost invisible in the night sky. And yet, its light is there.

My work begins with collecting that light and turning it into an image.

An image begins long before processing

I photograph the night sky using equipment specifically designed for astrophotography and for capturing very faint sources of light with precision.

But the equipment is only a tool. What really interests me is what I can do with the light it allows me to capture.

Every photograph begins with one or more imaging sessions. I choose my targets, monitor the conditions, set up the equipment, and let the camera collect light through long exposures.

Some images require only a few hours of exposure. Others take several imaging sessions. The exposure time is only one part of the process.

My Equipment

Today, I work with a setup dedicated entirely to astrophotography, which I have gradually chosen and built up over the years as my experience has grown:

Telescope: Askar SQA85 Pro
Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC Duo
Mount: HEQ5 Pro
Filters: Antlia Dual Band Ha-OIII · Antlia Dual Band SII-Hb · Antlia Triband RGB Ultra II
Imaging: focuser, filter wheel, and ZWO mini computer
Processing: PixInsight

Each part of this setup was chosen over the years to help me capture more detail and make the most of the light collected.

Most of the work comes afterwards

Once the imaging is finished, I have a large amount of individual data that needs to be calibrated, selected, and combined.

Then comes the processing: bringing out faint structures, balancing colors, working with contrast, and revealing details without losing what makes the object feel natural.

This is one of my favorite parts of the process.

Two astrophotographers can photograph the same target with similar data and end up with two very different images. Processing becomes a form of interpretation: deciding what to reveal and how to reveal it.

Every photograph I offer here represents at least ten hours of work, from capturing the data to creating the final image.

Why print these photographs?

At first, I mostly printed my photographs for myself, and later to share them with family and friends.

Seeing these images leave the screen and become large-format prints changed the way I looked at them. Some were hung in their homes, and over time, people would mention them again and tell me how much they enjoyed having them on their walls.

Those reactions made me want to share my work more widely and give other people the opportunity to bring a piece of the night sky into their own homes.

That's how Astro Artisan Art came to be: a way for me to share my photographs as large-format prints, created to be lived with and enjoyed every day rather than simply viewed on a screen.

The choice of material is part of that process. Aluminum, acrylic, or a matte finish can each give the same photograph a different presence.

What I want to show

Astrophotography allows us to reveal details that remain invisible to the naked eye. Long exposures collect light over time, and processing allows me to extract the information contained within that data.

But I don't want to push saturation and color to the limit simply to create a more dramatic image.

Instead, I try to preserve natural colors and a faithful representation of what the captured light reveals, while showing more detail than our eyes could perceive on their own.

For me, processing should serve the image, not replace it.

Behind every photograph is light that traveled for hundreds, thousands, or sometimes millions of years before reaching my camera.

That is what fascinates me.

And that is what I hope to share through Astro Artisan Art.