Gearis photographs the night sky

Susan Hardee Steger
August 24, 2016 1:00 a.m.

Mark Gearis, local photographer is drawn to the night sky.  A Carl Sagan quote, “The sky calls to us,” proceeds his Facebook post of one of his most dramatic photos captured at Fort Clinch State Park during the recent Perseid meteor shower.

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Photo courtesy of Mark Gearis.

According to Mark, “The trailing from the stars is caused by the earths rotation giving the appearance the stars are moving at night when in reality we are.”  Mark uses several long exposures over several hours to capture the movement of the stars.

Mark planned his shot for the August weekend a number of years ago.  “I just lucked out it was the Perseid shower.  It was absolutely amazing this year. [The] best I have seen.”

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Mark Gearis views the Milky Way wearing his head lamp and doing what he loves best. A Mark Gearis photograph.

Having Mark share his love for the night sky helps us appreciate its beauty even more. Organizations formed over the vanishing night sky caused by light pollution report, “80% of Americans can no longer see the Milky Way [www.vox.com}.” Those of us on Amelia Island are the fortunate 20% who can.

Mark’s captivating photos placed and shared throughout Facebook caught our attention and curiosity about Mark.

We learned his interest in astronomy began about 10 years ago with instruction from a close friend.  Mark decided he wanted to share the things he saw, so he picked up a camera and learned about photography on his own.  He has been shooting for the last 5 years. “It takes a lot of effort and trial and error but the people who get out there and try to shoot anything at night do it because they are passionate about the subject. For me it was astronomy.”

You might say Mark is a night owl. He works at the Green Turtle, but after hours (midnight until 6 a.m.) on clear nights, he focuses his attention on his passion which is photographing the evening sky.

A native to the area, Mark graduated from Fernandina Beach High School in 2003.

 

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Dave Lott
Dave Lott(@dave-l)
7 years ago

Great photographs! Thanks for sharing.