Nightfall features a premium workshop on Saturday and free presentations throughout Friday and Saturday. The premium workshop requires a fee, preferably paid in advance. Space is limited but if seats are still available, the fee may be paid at the door.

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Premium Workshop

We’re very excited to welcome Jonathan Talbot as the Nightfall Star Party & Imaging Conference 2026 premium presenter!

Presenter: Jonathan Talbot
Title: Producing Beautiful Astrophotos from Less than Beautiful Skies
Fee: $100

Description: Beautiful astrophotos often come from dark and pristine skies. However, with today’s software and processing techniques, it’s possible to produce beautiful images from suburban skies, where the majority of our populations live and work. These images can approach the quality of what one can produce from dark skies.

I will demonstrate how to do this during my 2-part workshop using the popular software PixInsight. During the morning workshop I will demonstrate processing an image taken with a RGB CMOS camera and small refractor in a Bortle 5-6 sky and turn it into an image you would think came from your favorite dark site. During the afternoon session, I will show how I combine dual narrow band with RGB data taken with a color CMOS camera using the latest image processing techniques.

Jonathan Talbot is an avid astrophotographer with over 20 years of experience. He has been using PixInsight since it was first introduced in 2004. Jonathan is a Contributing Editor for Amateur Astronomy
Magazine and has had images and articles in Sky and Telescope and Astronomy magazine. Jonathan has
taught PixInsight at star parties across the US. Jonathan is also very active in Pro/Am collaborations and is listed as co-author in four professional astronomy papers published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society and Astronomical Journal.

Jonathan retired from the Air Force in 2016 after 34 years of service as Chief Meteorologist for the Air Force Hurricane Hunters. Jonathan has over 5,000 flying hours and 153 hurricane penetrations. Jonathan mainly images from his home observatory along the Gulf Coast in Ocean Springs, Mississippi where lives with his wife Janice. Jonathan has two daughters and 3 grandsons.

Get more information about Jonathan here:
www.starscapeimaging.com

Jonathan’s workshop will be held on Saturday, November 7. The cost is $100. To register, click the button below. Once on the destination page, scroll down to the Reservation Instructions section.

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Free Workshops

Be sure to attend the free presentations going on all day Friday and Saturday. Get information on the latest astronomy equipment, current sky events, building an observatory, or other topics… all free!

Interested in volunteering? Would you like to help by volunteering to be a presenter? If you have a presentation of astronomical interest you would like to share with Nightfall attendees, please contact presenters@nightfallstarparty.com.

Possible topics include; visual observing, astrophotography equipment and processing, light pollution, space exploration, and just about anything that may be of interest to the star party attendees.

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Additional Activities

• Welcome reception
• Swap meet
• Solar viewing
• Potluck star-be-cue
• Evening Program & Night Sky Tour
• Ice cream social
• Hanging out at the pools, hot tubs, restaurant and bar!

See the General Info page for details about these activities!

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Previous Premium Workshop Presenters

We’ve been fortunate at Nightfall to have the likes of Ron Brecher, Mike Unsold, Neil Fleming, Warren Keller, Adam Block and many other familiar names join us to share their knowledge and love for astronomy and astrophotography. Checkout the archives page for more information on previous Nightfall presenters.