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Shawn Nielsen, AstrophotographerWelcome to my astrophotography site. I’m Shawn Nielsen and I’m a amateur astronomer, astrophotographer and YouTuber. I reside in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.

I’m past chair of the Kitchener-Waterloo RASC Light Abatement Committee and I’m still active in bringing awareness of and reducing light pollution.

Celestron CPC800 with Equinox 80 APO refractor which was used to take some of the images you will see here.
A Celestron CPC800 SCT with Equinox 80 APO refractor piggybacked on top. This was my first setup upon returning to the hobby in 2008.

While I dabbled in some astrophotography as a teenager it wasn’t until 2008 that I became seriously obsessed with it. I have been honoured with some awards for my work and have a few published images in magazines and have had my work featured online.

My images are dedicated to my parents, Lars and Barb, who bought me my first telescope as a child and always encouraged my interest in the night sky. 

Starfield Optics 8inch astrograph imaging the night sky from my backyard.

As well, a special nod to a good astro friend and mentor in the hobby, Dr. Ron Brecher, who’s enthusiasm for astrophotography is contagious and his help along the way has been indispensable.

I enjoy sharing the beauty of the night sky with others through my images but also showing people first hand how to spot the planets and what they can see using simple binoculars.

Photographing the night sky... Northern Lights August 2015 Oliphant Ontario Shawn Nielsen
The Northern Lights photographed in August 2015 by Shawn Nielsen. Taken along the shore of Lake Huron, near Oliphant, Ontario.

There is a thrill and excitement to capturing light that is thousands and millions of years old… revealing the visible dark.

You can email at: Shawn (at) visibledark.ca  – replace the “at” with @

Clear skies and keep looking up!

–Shawn Nielsen