Jon here, was a member back in 2009 and 2010 (pre-kids), and now that the kids are more self sufficient I have rejoined the club in 2023 and picked up the hobby again. I do almost purely astrophotography, altho I do have eyepieces in a box somewhere, and I shoot from my backyard in Orange which is somewhere between bortle 8 and 9.
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Hi Jon, Tom here; I joined OCA in 2015 when I moved to Huntington Beach from Redondo Beach, where I was the VP of the South Bay Astronomical Society for many years. I image the solar system from Huntington Beach, where the marine layer, heavy dew, and limited horizons in my small back yard limit me to a few nights per month at best. For deep sky imaging I have a place in Bear Valley Springs, at 6000 feet in the mountains west of Tehachapi, with dark skies (< 21 mag/arcsec2), and usually very good seeing. I try to spend new moon weeks there, although that can be a challenge in the winter months!
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Wow @Tom Bash - that's awesome about your mountain hideaway! I've been dreaming of getting a place like that, but I don't think it's in the cards at the moment as the wife must be around people/civilization. Have you been to the OCA dark site? How does it compare to your conditions?
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Jon, my wife has the same need to be around people/civilization, this must be a common issue for us astronomers. She also needs to be near a beach, which is a tall order in the Tehachapi mountains! I have never been to the OCA dark site, since I've had my Bear Valley Springs get away since before I moved to Orange County and joined the OCA. But I've heard that Borrego Springs is darker than the OCA site, and my place in Bear Valley Springs is darker than Borrego Springs, as I'm a regular at the Nightfall star party held there.
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Ryan Noonan here. I've been an OCA lurker/member since summer of '23. Haven't actually been to any events or to Anza yet. I live up in Los Alamitos and image from my Bortle 8 backyard. Occasionally I lug my rig out to the boonies during one of my kid's scout camping trips, but that isn't very often. I'm far enough inland that I can often (but not always) escape the marine layer, which seems to stop at the 405. My 13 year old has no interest in astrophotography other than looking at my photos and my wife doesn't quite understand why I like to leave my rig set up on the back patio under a shade umbrella all the time… although she does tolerate it as long as we don't have company over. Occasionally I'll set up on my parent's rooftop in Long Beach where it is further towards the edge of the light dome, but closer to the dreaded marine layer.
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