What we’re about
This is a collective of people who share a passion for night and long exposure photography.
This Meetup is about gathering in groups, small or large, to capture the night and share the outcome with each other. Online events for image studies, goals review, training, as well as self-assigned challenges round out the program. Education, respectful and constructive feedback, exhibition of images and socializing during and after our gatherings are all part of our activities.
We explore old, new, popular and exotic places in the greater Boston area, southern New Hampshire and Maine, Rhode Island, northern Connecticut and central Massachusetts and there are occasional field trips to places such as New York or Maine. Inner city nightscapes are as much part of our portfolio, as will be dark sky star, astro-landscape and Milky Way shoots or light painting opportunities.
The group was founded in 2013 and has been active continuously. We average roughly one event every week, and we even keep it alive throughout the winter. Photo shoots are most frequent, but we also have online lectures, individual challenges, conferences and public events and paid excursions. Browse our hundreds of "past meetups" to see what we have been doing.
Most standard meetups are free, membership dues will cover Meetup.com costs, minor group expenses and promotional means, invited lectures and trip organization expenses. There are also some paid events, as announced in those meetups, to provide services to learn from professionals in smaller groups with formal instructions, or to cover venue costs. You can sign up for this group for free and see if this is for you during the one month trial. If you pay right away, you still get 13 months of membership.
Night photography is exciting, presents the world in a truly different light and is serene and calming in many ways. However, it is also very different from daytime shooting, sometimes physically taxing and requires to watch out for yourself and others. All our meetups are conducted with adult and mature members, who provide safety through numbers, but you will always be responsible for your own safety.
We are looking forward to seizing the night with you!
Jürgen, GBNP Organizer
Find me online at https://LinkTr.ee/JMLobert/
Upcoming events (2)
See all- Astro-Landscapes at the BeachScudders Lane Town Landing, Barnstable, MA
We have a chance for some aurora on Sunday night, the 40% moon will set at 10. The location is a Bortle 4, dark enough to see even a fainter northern light, the above photo is from this location, looking north. And if there is no aurora, we still have stars and clouds for trails and streaks.
The tide will be outgoing, which leaves more room for us to spread out and put some interesting rocks in the foreground.
Bring wide to super wide fast lenses, you wan to catch the aurora with an aperture of 1.0 to 2.8, star trails and cloud streaks with 5.6.
If you can't make it to this location, find a dark location looking north. Here is an awesome page with aurora viewing locations in New England.
Parking is tight, make sure not to waste any space and check in with me when you get there.
- Comet C/2025 A6 LemmonAnywhere looking west, Massachusetts, MA
Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) is a non-periodic comet approaching our solar system and making its closest approach to Earth on October 21, when it will be most visible.
The magnitude of the comet will only be a 10, but it may be nicely visible if we have clear skies. The comet will be in the north-west to west direction (see above image from Stellarium), about 17 degrees above the horizon. An elevated location is desirable.
Use the longest lens you got for this, the comet will be small and faint. Take as many photos as you can with the comet centered and stack them using Sequator or Deep Sky Stacker in comet mode (keeps the comet still and creates star trails as it moves from right to left.
For now, this is an assignment, but I may schedule one or more onsite events if I find a good location. The location needs to have an unobstructed view of the western horizon, without too much light pollution. West of Worcester is good, so is VT or western NH.
