"My images tell a story of art, science and culture all in one frame," says astrophotographer Josh Dury

My astrophotography career began at the age of seven when I had a growing curiosity about life on other planets and I started photographing the skies. Documenting a visual record of our solar system and gaining a new perspective of the universe through photography ignited my passion for astronomy, but it was later on during my education that my photographic style evolved into the form of landscape astrophotography.

I found creating these images – photographing the night skies as a backdrop to places such as Stonehenge or Glastonbury Tor – a real challenge in a positive way and also the equipment required was more affordable.

In my career as an astrophotographer, I have been fortunate to travel the world to witness these events. For me, it is the pure magic of witnessing celestial mechanics and making a personal connection with the universe. The images I create tell a story of art, science and culture all in one frame.

The visual elements of this talk will introduce visitors to the world of astrophotography, showcasing images of phenomena such as eclipses, the Northern Lights, meteor showers and comets. I will also highlight some of my more recent projects, including the Great American Eclipse in April last year, which I captured from Dallas, Texas, and the Pacific Ring of Fire solar eclipse, which I shot on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) in October 2024.

This talk will also give me an opportunity to showcase my first title as a published author, a book called 52 Assignments: Night Photography. In fact, the talk will be closely aligned with the book, in that I will highlight a few astrophotography projects that visitors to the show and aspiring readers of the book can practise so they can appreciate the night sky while learning how to photograph it. 

Other topics I’ll discuss include highlighting how photographers can get in touch with potential clients and how to work with photographic brands, including insight into my role as Sigma’s creative ambassador. I’ll also cover promoting and marketing yourself as a content creator and communicator.

This talk is designed to target a broad spectrum of aspiring and professional photographers while providing an overview of astrophotography as a growing niche genre. 

I’m aiming to inspire others to point their cameras skywards by offering guidance on the equipment required to photograph the night sky and other celestial events, from wide-angle and telephoto lenses to more advanced equipment, including star trackers. However, I’ll also focus on some of the types of images that can be shot with your existing equipment and within an affordable budget. 

Overall, I’d say your readers can expect a talk that will, hopefully, inspire them to produce quality images of the night sky, weather and aurora. I’m going to cover topics such as where to find dark skies, how to plan and execute images as well as edit the images in post-processing. And I’ll aim to simplify the technical language too. 

The important takeaway message for visitors is the demonstrable effects that artificial light at night (ALAN) is having on our environment. Light pollution and satellite constellations have the potential to change our view of the night sky during the course of our lifetimes. Not only does this create pressure on professional astronomical observation, it is already causing devastating impacts on nocturnal and marine wildlife as well as human health.

I intend to present visually stunning images that will inspire others to make a change. I’m a firm believer that we need to be inspired by something so that we can protect it. The more photographers we inspire to look up at the night sky, the more we can spread the message that we need to change our attitude to light and conserve dark skies for the future.