I became an amateur astronomer at the age of 13 and since then have never lost my fascination for the night sky. I became an astrophysicist, a theorist, but my background as an amateur astronomer and experience in observational astronomy I gained as a student at astronomy department made me a bit an unusual theorist - in contrast to many of my colleagues I know the sky quite well. I do not need a sky chart to show a few wonderful objects on any clear night in a small telescope, or a lunar map to show a bunch of interesting formations on the Moon.
Currently I own a 6″ Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, two small 3″ class telescopes and some other astro equipment. I live in a heavily light polluted area, near Washington DC, and my options to observe the sky from my backyard are limited to the Moon, planets, and double stars. Nevertheless I enjoy it very much to take a telescope out and look at the sky.
Here you can find some of astronomical photos I made with Canon EOS 500D camera using a modest telescope, tracking mount, and a PC with image processing software. These are examples of what one can do with small telescopes and/or a DSLR on a clear night even in light polluted areas.
Here you can find pictures of my instruments: 6″ Schmidt-Cassegrain, 3.5″ Maksutov-Cassegrain, 3″ fast achromatic refractor, and a compact equatorial tracking mount.