Venturing into the Unknown
Photography and space have always been deep passions of mine, and last year, while visiting Kauai, I found myself under the clearest and darkest skies. As someone from Washington, where clouds often obscure the heavens, I was awestruck as the usually hidden wonders of the universe revealed themselves. I could finally make out the visible arm of our Milky Way, arching gracefully over the magical and serene Hanalei Bay.
Enamored with the view and equipped with all my photography gear, I decided to embark on a journey into astrophotography—something I had never attempted before. Over the course of three days, I immersed myself in learning everything I could about this scientific art. By day, I absorbed knowledge; by night, I put it into practice. Through a lot of trial and error, on the third and final night, I felt a sense of accomplishment, believing I had achieved what I set out to do.
However, when I returned home and uploaded my efforts, I quickly realized that capturing the images was only the beginning. The real challenge lay in the meticulous process of bringing those photos to life. It took about 40 hours to expose all the information the camera had captured - details hidden from the naked eye but waiting to be revealed. Removing unnatural light, correcting aberrations, addressing overexposed areas, and stitching together four separate images became a labor of love. With each new insight, I found myself starting over, determined to incorporate every improvement from the beginning (Iterative Design!).
The finished image is one I am deeply proud of—not just for its visual impact but for the journey it represents. For me, it is a testament to the opportunity taken, the lessons learned, and the persistence required to realize a vision. This experience has fundamentally changed my perspective on our place in the galaxy and the glory that surrounds us, often unnoticed.
As I reflect, I see parallels between this journey and the opportunities we encounter in business and life. These opportunities are often imagined or just barely visible, and it’s all too easy to miss out on exploring their full potential. It takes curiosity, determination, and creativity to bring them to life—and sometimes, that simply means saying, “I am going to do this.” Venturing into the unknown, even without expertise, and taking those bold first steps, can lead to something surprising and truly exceptional!
Milky Way Over Hanalei
Amazing
Do you see the brightest little pink dot in the center of the galaxy? That circle is called the Lagoon Nebula and relative to what we can comprehend, it is enormous. On a dark night if you are fortunate enough to live somewhere with reduced light pollution, you can actually see it with the naked eye. In the northern hemisphere, August is the perfect time too!
The nebula spans over 100 light years across. To put this in perspective, our entire solar system is close to 2 light years across (12 trillion miles). Now look how small that nebula is in comparison to this arm of the galaxy. Just an arm, by the way, as our galaxy is 100,000 light-years in diameter – and it is only of one of trillions in the known universe! It’s just incomprehensible.
For more information on the Lagoon Nebula and some of the Hubble pictures go to the Nasa site HERE