10/10/2026
In honor of World Space Week, I have built up the courage to post an image that I have created in honor of my father, Mark Prohaska. My father was an amazing man. He sacrificed many things to give to others and continue to teach and be there for his students as long as he could. He was an avid lighthouse enthusiast, to say the least. It was one of his favorite things to photograph.
One night, a good friend of mine decided to join me on this venture, and seek out the Perseid Meteor Shower, and see what we could observe from the Plum Island Lighthouse. As we sat and stared at the sky above and I fired off images, fiddling with math and a way to actually SEE the shooting stars I knew were there, but could only catch a few an hour with your eyes, at best. It was peaceful and exciting at the same time, and I love when I meet random cool people who are just genuninly interested in what I am doing, so I share my nerdy wisdom...
I was pretty happy with this capture. With all of the elements, I was able to capture more than one shooting star, and a pretty clear view of the constellations at the same time, without introducing the movement of the earth's rotation, AND an added laser superimposed to simulate the light from the lighthouse.
Back in the day, us film nerds used to sit in the middle of a vacant California highway and let the camera roll for 30min-1hr, or until a car came down the highway in the middle of the night and you had to race to grab your camera! "Dialing in the math" didn't become a thing until the digital age came, at the end of graduation. Boy do I feel old now.
Plum Island Lighthouse
8/15/26 3:51:41.000
ISO: 5000 (would have upped it to 6000 in reflection)
16mm, F2.8, 13 seconds, cross-processed
Now to go learn stacking and really get some spins! 🌀
