I'm Dennis, and if you couldn't tell by the name Bayou Astro, I'm from Louisiana.

Like most kids, my dream job growing up was always to be an astronaut, so I've been fascinated by space for as long as I can remember. I remember seeing the images coming back from Hubble and other observatories and just being in awe. Or maybe I absorbed the fascination by osmosis from all those nights using Mike Rowe's narration in How the Universe Works to fall asleep. 

I think the real journey began when I had the opportunity to travel to see the total solar eclipse in 2017. Thinking it might be a once in a lifetime experience, I bought my first camera setup: a Sony a6500 and an Amazon-special telephoto mirror lens. The whole experience was genuinely life-changing. Within a week, I was already making plans for the 2024 eclipse. 

Later, still years before the next eclipse, I was researching eclipse camera settings and tips when my algorithm started recommending videos from amateur astrophotographers. I was seeing images that reminded me of those Hubble photos I'd admired, but taken by people...in their own backyards. I dove straight into the deep end and never looked back. 

What really hooked me wasn't just the challenge of capturing and processing the images. It was seeing the finished result and knowing that the light that created it had traveled across space and time into my own backyard. I don't think I'll ever get tired of that.