We are lucky to have a sizeable group of experienced and talented astroimagers in our club. So picking the astroimager of the year is always a difficult decision for the awards committee.

However, after consultation with Abdur, and based on the frequency of submissions to Astroimaging Corner, quality of work, and variety of subjects, the Bryce Heartwell Memorial Award for Excellence in Astroimaging goes this year to Alan Hobbs.

Alan’s images are so well processed they don’t look like they have been processed. Everything about the images: the colour, contrast, sharpening, positioning, noise—is so balanced and well controlled that the images just look natural. The imager is behind the image, not in front of it. Which is how it should be.

Congratulations, Alan!

We are lucky to have a sizeable group of experienced and talented astroimagers in our club. So picking the astroimager of the year was in some ways a difficult decision for the awards committee.

On the other hand, as we started discussing the matter, it became apparent that this year there was a clear winner. Even though our choice hasn’t won the award since 2008.

A long time has passed since then, even though his work has earned 4 APODs. Four!

Although, to the Award committee’s credit, we made our selection before the fourth, and all the well deserved media attention.

You all know who I’m speaking about. This year’s winner of the Bryce Heartwell Memorial Award for excellence in astroimaging is the inimitable Luca Vanzella.

Congratulations, Luca!

I really had a time with this one. There are so many talented imagers in our centre. As some of you know in my younger days I use to make Super 8mm stop motion movies. I was no Steven Spielberg, They weren’t that great and the stories I put on film were kind of stupid, but it was something I enjoyed doing because it was something I could say I made.

Astroimaging in the digital age is something like making a film. Collecting the image is an important part but it’s the processing that really brings out the detail. This past year I have been very impressed by some wide field images made by our winner. Not only are they great images after posting them on Astro he’s gone to great lengths answering questions and explaining the process that created them, even if some didn’t quite grasp the concepts. So this year’s Bryce Heartwell Memorial Award for excellence in Astro Imaging goes to Arnold Rivera.

Astrophotography has advanced so much in the past twenty years, it’s hard to remember when amateur’s used film, or even the first generation ToUCam. Getting the image is important but it’s in the processing where the magic really happens. This year recipient has been producing stunning astrophotos for years. Some of his work is featured on the Astro-Cards we hand out at outreach events. Not only does he produce great pictures he freely shares his knowledge of how he does it with others. There are many fine astrophotographers in our centre but for 2019 the Bryce Heartwell Memorial Award goes to Rick Bramm.

Abdur Anwar

It’s always a treat to see our members’ astrophotography. Abdur has been doing some excellent work with lunar and planetary imaging. I’m looking forward to seeing more of his work!

One of the highlights (in my opinion) of our monthly meetings is Astroimaging Corner when we get treated to some outstanding astroimages captured by our members. As anyone who has tried astrophotography knows, it requires both patience collecting long exposures, and then patience behind the computer. There is an art to producing an outstanding image, without overprocessing. Tom Owen puts in long cold nights collecting the photons, and he has developed a great skill producing tasteful images with excellent colour balance and detail. It is a great pleasure to view his images (as we will later this evening) and to give him this award.

In December 2009, this member took a picture of the Orion Nebula using the SLOOH robotic telescope in the Canary Islands, all from the comfort of his home in Edmonton. The June 2010 issue of Stardust published the image along with an article written by this member, explaining how Centre members could do the same thing and how multiple such images could be combined to bring out details in both the outer regions and the core of the nebula. Thus began an odyssey of using his trusty iPhone to capture astroimages using robotic telescopes and to process the images with the FilterStorm app. Over the years, this member’s images have graced the covers and pages of many issues of Stardust and have been displayed on the dome of this theatre in many editions of Astroimaging Corner.

For demonstrating how astroimaging and image processing can be done by interested people without expensive equipment, just an internet connection an inexpensive subscription, and an image processing app that can be purchased for few dollars, it’s my great pleasure to present the 2016 Bryce Heartwell Memorial Award for Excellence in Astroimaging to Franklin Loehde.

I got back into astroimaging in 2007 because of a series of articles that this member published in our Stardust newsletter. At that time, he was already an old hand at imaging skyscapes, many featuring the Moon. Since then, this person has furthered many imaging techniques including timelapses, 3D stereo pairs, 3D timelapse movies, and High Dynamic Range techniques for lunar skyscape photography. He posts the results his of imaging work to various forums and always provides interesting commentary of the image and the trials and tribulations of the techniques involved. He has always been always generous with his time, and sharing his astroimaging knowledge, and offering advice to newby astroimagers. Of late, this person has started writing for our newsletter again on the topic of astroimaging. I know that my own astroimaging has benefited greatly by my collaborations with him over the years. You have all seen his work projected on the dome of this theatre in many editions of Astroimaging Corner. For his many fine contributions to the art and for keeping us well informed on his achievements, it’s my great pleasure to present the 2015 Bryce Heartwell Memorial Award for Excellence in Astroimaging to Alister Ling.